I started off this week’s readings with Realizing Fun Things Through Water, which I had mixed feelings about. I started off thinking that maybe her sister wasn’t actually real and was instead a metaphor for Hatsuoka being stuck in her old habits and overall not being very confident, so I was kind of surprised at the ending. It made me wonder if the sister had been waiting for Hatsuoka to break through this social barrier, thus why she finally texted back when she learned of her marriage. I also thought the “miracle water” was silly, but most likely worked for Hatsuoka because she was able to let out her emotions and inner thoughts, letting the water “purify” her, which also happens later when she submerges her face in the bath.
Next I read Sea Horse, which also has imagery using water but in a very different way. This one confused me as at first I was picturing a seahorse (tiny) but then later it became clear that they were referring to a horse of the sea (large white body, long hair, etc.) The themes of this one were also a little confusing to me. In a very literal sense, it depicts the physical and emotional abuse of women in intimate relationships, but I feel like it’s getting at something else. The symbolism of the horses and the sea make me think of freedom, but also danger. I wonder if the woman being passed down from husband to husband is a depiction of generational trauma, with her child returning to the sea being a symbol of the breaking of that cycle. At one point I also thought it might be something about climate change, with the woman representing “mother nature” and the men, our abuse of the planet and unwillingness to let her return to her natural state.
I loved Convenience Store Woman, I’ll be adding it to my list of full books to read. Furukawa specifically seems to be a woman with autism, but in a broader sense represents women who have no interest in getting married/having kids. To me, she and Shihara seem to be two sides of the same coin. They both have a dissatisfaction with societal norms (you must get married and have kids, you must get a good job and make lots of money) but they express it in completely different ways. Furukawa finds her passion and sticks to it despite what the people around her think (even if she must wear a sort of “mask” around friends and family) while Shihara falls into self-pity and cares very much about how he is perceived. Thus while living together, Shihara tries to drag Furukawa to his level, but is ultimately unsuccessful as she is able to reunite with her passion and take pride in it while Shihara cannot.
Dissecting Misogyny: A Live Demo! I thought was very very fun. While we know the main character works as a department store demonstrator, the monologue almost makes it feel like some sort of hospital/medical theatre. This theme felt kinda straight forward to me, which is that misogynistic men are only held up by their hatred, and without it are just fragile, empty shells.
Picnic was interesting, I felt like it had similar themes to previous stories we read where the woman of the story does not value/experience sex in the same way as a man, thus leading to the downfall of the relationship. It seems like the couple in this story was not very close, but through the romantic idea of a picnic, they try to connect a little more, perhaps they think being perceived as a happy couple from those around them will fix their relationship. I also thought it was interesting how the man kinda de-humanized the woman by calling her a “witch,” which I think also leans into the expectation that women must have sex or else be perceived as “other.”
Tomo-Chan’s Happiness had another unexpected ending for me, but I thought it tied everything together really nicely. Tomo-chan to me really embodied resilience, even in moments when she was “alone,” but as the ending suggests she was not exactly alone. She was surrounded by beautiful, little things in the world that we often take for granted, and her ability to notice them helped her through each tragedy she faced (very Shinto). I loved how she treated each person as an individual, with distinct thoughts and goals, thus letting her understand them better than most.
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