i
THE UNCOMPROMISING CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
OF NOBUO NAGANO IN AYAKO MIURA’S
SHIOKARI PASS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
AGATHON HUTAMA Student Number: 054214008
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
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THE UNCOMPROMISING CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
OF NOBUO NAGANO IN AYAKO MIURA’S
SHIOKARI PASS
By
AGATHON HUTAMA Student Number: 054214008
Approved by
Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum.
Advisor December 14, 2010
Tatang Iskarna, S.S., M.Hum.
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A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE UNCOMPROMISING CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
OF NOBUO NAGANO IN AYAKO MIURA’S
SHIOKARI PASS
By
AGATHON HUTAMA Student Number : 054214008
Defended before the Board of Examiners on January 26, 2011
and Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Yogyakarta, January 31, 2011. Faculty of Letters Sanata Dharma University
Dean
Dr. Praptomo Baryadi Isodarus, M.Hum.
Name Signature
Chairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. ………
Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. ………
Member : Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. ………
Member : Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. ………
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Perfection, I believe, we forever cannot achieve,
but we can still always be almost perfect after all.
–
Mas Aga
“Mind your meal, it should be
empat sehat lima Sampoerna; if you smoke, though.
If you don’t, don’t start.”
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Agathon Hutama
Nomor Mahasiswa : 054214008
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE UNCOMPROMISING CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP OF NOBUO NAGANO IN AYAKO MIURA’S SHIOKARI PASS beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini, yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 1 Maret 2011 Yang menyatakan
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To be honest, I am a little bit late to finish this undergraduate thesis. It is because there were so many temptations that demanded more of my time, so that focusing on writing this study seemed to have become my priority no more. Anyway, here it is; the non-fiction work that I have finished, finally.
I use as the object of this study a Japanese novel entitled Shiokari Pass. Unfortunately, because I failed to find any studies conducted by other people in order to provide me insights for working on my own, I had to rely on sources of the related studies of the issues seen in the novel. Therefore, I thank you very much, the library of Sanata Dharma University, whose collection of books is vast and among them I could find references that I needed (including few that had never been borrowed since the late twentieth century until I did).
I also would like to express my deepest gratitude to the goodfellas in campus who never gave up supporting me, namely Doni, Fred, Bayu, Anto, Trimbil, Nopek, Karlina, Decy, Estu, Danu and the big family of Teater Seriboe Djendela: Mas Yoga, Mas Kumis, Bang Onal, Mico, Tije, Gedhek, Egi, Eli, Evi, Dian, Helga, Via, Padmo and many more friends whom I cannot mention here one by one because the list will be so long like history, hyperbolically saying.
viii
thesis consultation with you. For Mrs. Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M.Hum., thank you for your criticism and advice on the theory of character development used in this study and for reminding me the right format of the thesis layout. For all of you dear lecturers, I also thank you for the knowledge you have shared in your classes that I attended semesters ago. God bless you all.
For both my beloved parents, Bu Anastasia Tri Widihati and Pak F.X. Giarso, thank you for all the unconditional love that I have received since I was born. Let us celebrate my graduation, alright? My kinsmen from both clans, the Dimars and Pringgo Pudiyantos, thank you so much for your supports, advices, and prayers.
Above all, I thank you my Jesus Christ, whom I believe will always accompany me in all the moments of my life. Praise be to Thou forever and ever. Amen.
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN ………. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….. vii
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ……… 19
2. Theory of Christian Discipleship ………. 21
A.The Characterization of Nobuo Nagano in Shiokari Pass ……… 39
B. Nobuo’s Process to His Christian Conversion ……… 44
1. Rejection……….. 45
a. Grandmother’s Influence……… 46
x
2. Compromise………. 50
a. Kiku’s Return and Different Perspective of Nobuo towards
Christianity ……… 52
b. Osamu Yoshikawa’s Influence towards Nobuo’s Sense of
Righteousness ……… 55
c. Nobuo’s Anxiousness towards Death……… 61 d. Nobuo’s ‘Unconscious’ Actualization of Christian Values…... 66 3. Conversion and the ‘Conscious’ Actualization of Christian Faith .. 70 C. The Uncompromising Christian Discipleship of Nobuo Nagano……. 86 1. Nobuo’s Courage in Actualizing His Faith ………. 93 2. Nobuo’s Faith in Christ as a Costly Grace ……….. 97 3. Single-Minded Obedience in Nobuo’s Actualization of His
Christian Faith……….. 102
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……… 107
xi ABSTRACT
AGATHON HUTAMA. The Uncompromising Christian Discipleship of Nobuo Nagano in Ayako Miura’s Shiokari Pass. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2010.
A Roman poet, Horace, said that literature should be delightful and instructive. His words still find significance today, for it can be found in every literary work of all genres – prose, poetry and drama – a message implied by the author, which is intended to be grasped by the reader. This undergraduate thesis uses as the object of study a Japanese novel, written by Ayako Miura, entitled Shiokari Pass. It was written based on the life accounts of a real person named Masao Nagano whom the author fictionalized as Nobuo Nagano, who became the main character of the novel. The author’s flair to retouch the true story with her literary creativity has made her fiction an enjoyable stuff to read. This is the delightful side of her work. The instructive side can be found in the message implied in her work, seen through the story line and the development of the main character of the novel.
There are two objectives to be attained in this study. The first one is to show that the actualization of Christian faith of the main character can be seen through its development. The second objective deals with main character’s actualization of Christian faith through which a form of uncompromising Christian discipleship can be identified.
The writer used library research in this study to get most references necessary in this study, while the approach applied here is the moral-philosophical approach. Meanwhile, the analyses are sequenced into, first, examining main character’s development to reveal the process of his conversion to Christianity and, second, elaborating the findings in the first problem formulation to show that the main character’s actualization of Christian faith reflects the description of uncompromising Christian discipleship.
xii ABSTRAK
AGATHON HUTAMA. The Uncompromising Christian Discipleship of Nobuo Nagano in Ayako Miura’s Shiokari Pass. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2010.
Menurut Horace, seorang penyair Romawi, alangkah baiknya jika sastra adalah sesuatu yang indah dan bermanfaat. Pendapatnya saat ini masih signifikan karena di setiap jenis karya sastra – prosa, puisi, dan drama – terdapat pesan yang disampaikan secara tidak langsung oleh pengarang untuk ditangkap oleh pembaca. Skripsi ini menggunakan novel Jepang karya Ayako Miura berjudul Shiokari Pass. Novel tersebut ditulis berdasarkan kisah nyata seseorang bernama Masao Nagano, yang oleh pengarang difiksikan menjadi Nobuo Nagano, tokoh utama novel. Kemampuan pengarang dalam memberi sentuhan pada kisah nyata tersebut dengan kreativitas dalam berkarya sastra telah menjadikan kisah fiksi yang ditulisnya menarik untuk dibaca. Inilah sisi keindahan karyanya. Sisi manfaat terlihat pada pesan yang terkandung dalam karyanya, yang tampak pada alur cerita dan perkembangan karakter tokoh utama.
Ada dua tujuan yang hendak dicapai dalam penelitian ini. Tujuan pertama adalah untuk menunjukkan bahwa pengaktualisasian iman Kristiani tokoh utama dapat diamati dari perkembangan karakternya. Tujuan kedua terkait dengan pengaktualisasian iman tersebut, yang melaluinya dapat dilihat sebuah bentuk kerasulan Kristiani yang teguh.
Penulis melakukan studi pustaka di perpustakaan untuk mendapatkan sebagian besar sumber. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan moral-filosofis. Sementara itu, urutan pembahasan adalah sebagai berikut: Pertama, melihat perkembangan karakter tokoh utama untuk mengetahui proses yang dilaluinya untuk menjadi seorang Kristen. Kedua, apa yang didapat pada analisis sebelumnya dikembangkan lagi untuk menunjukkan bahwa aktualisasi iman Kristiani tokoh utama mencerminkan gambaran kerasulan Kristiani yang teguh.
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background
A literary work is a vehicle to deliver certain messages to the reader, as the Roman poet Horace said about literature as a delightful and instructive thing (Guerin et al., 1999: 25). This is to say that every form of literature communicates something; even encourages its readers to pay a full attention to what it conveys, so that reading activity can be worth something; not merely an ephemera.
Enjoyment in reading, in accordance to what Horace said, is not temporal but one that can last for days, months, and even years after. How then can such amusement last? It is by finding something inside the book having the utmost significance and being applicable in everyday life.
In a literary work, a message covers either moral or philosophical value, or both of them. There are literary works written purposefully to make the readers aware of moral and philosophical issues implied in the story and share the
authors‟ perspectives towards them as seen in the messages. One subject that
belongs to both morality and philosophy having been so widely explored, ranging from antiquity to contemporary literary traditions in all genres – drama, prose, poetry – is religion.
world. Religion reaches not only the spiritual but also the material world, as what a religious person has spiritually acquired, he or she will then perform it in real life; to apply the spiritual value into action. Thus, determining an action is morally accepted or not, it depends on whether the action meets the spiritual value of the religion or not. However, it is something subjective for every religion existing in this world when it comes to something moral or immoral, for not a few points of
their teachings corresponds to each other‟s.
In philosophical scope, religion is open for questions over those intangible things it deals with, such as the questions over the paradox of the love of God to the world; over the fact that evil things like war, murder, persecution continuously happen and, still, God does nothing to stop them while He is addressed as the God of goodness and love who will never let His people suffer. Terrorism, committed in the name of God, is another motion for philosophical debate. Does religion debauch men, or is it abused?
The writer deliberately points out to such philosophical question above; to the
question over the contradiction between God‟s love and human suffering. It is,
though, suggested by the writer not to immediately link the question to the topic of this study. It is merely an overture to the smaller scope that this study takes as topic: the uncompromising discipleship. Specifically again, this is the uncompromising Christian discipleship.
philosophical spot. The novel, Shiokari Pass by Ayako Miura, focuses on the search for and exploration of the Christian faith by young Nobuo Nagano, its main character. One interesting fact is that the novel was written based on an actual event that in the same way communicated the same message like the one of the novel.
When a fiction is written, there can be only two possibilities. The author might have written a purely fictive, imaginative story which does not correspond to any actual events at all or it is a fact fictionalized into a work of literature that embodies a certain message which both the real story and the unreal one have in common. The message may lie on a certain event of the fact, which in the fiction it can be found in the exactly same happening. However, an author who writes fiction based on fact, like Mrs. Miura did, of course will not confine his or her creativity to retouch the fact in order to make it more enjoyable to read on one
hand and on the other hand to express also the author‟s attitude towards the
The novel itself colorfully describes its setting of time and place, which is the early 20th century Japan, particularly the capital Tokyo and the northernmost large
island of the country‟s four, Hokkaido. At that time it was what the historians call
the Meiji Restoration, a period named after the reign name of Emperor Mutsuhito (1852-1912) of Japan. His reign name „Meiji‟ means „enlightenment‟ and it was during that period Japan was for the first time open for the world beyond its borders after it had been isolated for about 200 years under Tokugawa Shogunate. This era was marked not only by advances of the nation in technology, lifestyle and else introduced by Western world but also by the reformation in religious life, namely the religious tolerance indicated by the permit granted for reintroduction to Christianity.
Although the country had approved the missionaries to begin again their once broken effort to spread the Good News in Japan (the mainstream was not Catholicism like the first mission but instead American Protestantism), it was not guaranteed that the religious tolerance was without discrimination. In the novel it can be found that Japanese society at that time still believed that Japan needed not
„imported‟ religions.
Shusaku Endo in his novel Silence (1966) described the earlier missionary work in Japan that ended in the Church of Japan became underground Church because of persecutions started by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), the predecessor of Tokugawa shoguns, and continued by the latter. A quote from the
sucks up all sorts of ideologies, transforming them into itself and distorting them in the process.” (Endo, 1966: 13)
Not surprising it was that when Western influences penetrated Japan, it only took the ones considered advantageous, especially goods and guns. As for
missionary works, for the sake of „secular‟ things they were tolerated but still to a
certain extent they could not proceed any further. In 1614, the edict of expulsion was issued by Tokugawa Ieyasu, declaring that missionary work could not continue because it might disturb the country‟s stability as the „Kirishitan‟ first gave their obedience neither to their ancestors nor their rulers but to their foreign guides (Endo, 1966: 6). Since then, persecutions had taken place. The 1614 decree runs as follows:
The Kirishitan (Christian) band have come to Japan, not only sending their merchant vessels to exchange commodities, but also longing to disseminate an evil law, to overthrow true doctrine, so that they may change the government of the country and obtain possession of the land. This is the germ of great disaster, and must be crushed (Neill, 1975:160).
As stated above, in the novel the attitude of Japanese people of the Restoration era was, at large, still the same with before the Restoration. The fact that Christianity was a religion imported from the West was the reason why Meiji people still held old prejudices upon Christian religion. Christianity, according to Confucius scholar Yasui Sokken, had the potential to disturb the society of Japan and its form of government. (Ion, 2009:5)
its effort to renew the face of the country into a modern one, Japanese identity would not be relinquished. To make it so, Meiji lawmakers had promulgated the
law that made the Emperor of Japan a „sacred and inviolable‟ figure, and therefore
was not responsible for any acts of his ministers. He served not as the head of state but a sacred symbol of national unity instead. (Benedict, 1974:125)
Ayako Miura‟s Shiokari Pass highlighted the era of Meiji Japan, when
Christianity was seen as a wicked thing. Christians were discriminated and many of them were disowned because of their attachments to the faith. Miura‟s focus, however, is the Christian discipleship of its main character, Nobuo Nagano, who was converted to Christian faith after having been since his childhood nurtured a resistant attitude against it. It was because of his grandmother‟s influence and his own disappointment due to his feeling of being abandoned by his mother in his infancy; that he regarded Christianity and Christians as something hateful.
God yet has His own design for Nobuo Nagano. Even since was a child, Christian values had been penetrating him along with his growing sense of responsibility of his. The people who were close to him helped build his character and it developed into one which embodied Christian virtues.
concern of the book he wrote in prison was about „easy Christianity‟ and in his
book The Cost of Discipleship he emphasized on what Jesus Christ said about the world which resents Him and His disciples. Bonhoeffer talked about the risk of being Christ‟s followers.
In this study, Dietrich Bonhoeffer‟s conception of Christian discipleship is
indispensable; meaning that in the analysis it will play a great part for the problems of this study mainly stresses on the Christian discipleship of Nobuo Nagano. Both he and Bonhoeffer were like a sheep in the wolves‟ lair. They lived in the same situation that was unhealthy for Christian faith and in such a time and place they had the confidence that their faith in Christ would support them in the most perilous moments.
B. Problem Formulation
The problems the writer found were related to the life of the main character that portrays his deeds which construct the whole story and to the ideas of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that scrutinizes Christian discipleship and criticizes those who half-heartedly actualize their Christian faith. There are three problems to be thoroughly analyzed in this study.
1. How is the main character in the novel characterized?
2. How did the main character undergo the process to find his Christian faith? 3. How can the actualization of Christian faith in the main character‟s life be
C. Objectives of the Study
The first objective of this study is all about seeing the main character of the novel the way he is characterized. It is necessary to have an intrinsic analysis so that there will be a strong foundation for the further analysis of the main character when he is confronted with the topic this study takes. The analysis of the first problem formulation will highlight the qualities of the main character which is obtainable via reading the novel, but most especially his characteristics. Why characteristics? It is because the next problem formulation is based on the findings of the first one. No-one can investigate something without evidences which, in this study, can be collected from the work analyzed.
The second objective of this study is to show the process of the main character to find his Christian faith. From the previous problem formulation, there are characteristics of the main character that help structure the whole odyssey of the main character from being an unbeliever to becoming a believer. There are two phases of the process itself; both of them point out to the actualization of Christian faith. The writer‟s terms for the phases are the „unconscious‟ and the „conscious.‟
The former phase comprises the main character‟s faith development from
rejecting Christianity to compromising with its values and latter phase the episode after the baptism of the main character, in which he actualized his faith as a Christian.
Christian faith that makes it worthy to be called an uncompromising Christian discipleship. For this analysis the writer employed Bonhoeffer‟s ideas compiled in a book entitled The Cost of Discipleship. In this book, written during his internment in a NAZI concentration camp, Bonhoeffer talked about the cost of following Christ as well as the reward for those who could hold on to Him. Christian discipleship was never an easy thing, so Bonhoeffer said, and Christ had also warned about this. Yet for those who knew the reason of following Christ, it would not be disappointing, for salvation awaited the faithful ones. Bonhoeffer
emphasized the „unpleasant‟ conditions of Christian discipleship, though, which in
Ayako Miura‟s novel is very apparent in its main character‟s actualization of
Christian faith.
D. Definition of Terms
The terms used in this study were all taken from The Cost of Discipleship, the book written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer considered by the writer to have great weight in this study. Also, the book‟s main idea is the one to which the topic of this study refers. There are three terms used; all of which are taken from The Cost of Discipleship. They are:
1. costly grace: a call to follow Christ in a form of discipleship; leaving all in
possession for Christ‟s sake and it is like a treasure hidden in the field; the
2. Christian discipleship: an exclusive attachment to Christ whose grace of call bursts all the bounds of legalism
(Bonhoeffer, 1963: 63)
3. single-minded obedience: the condition of free from any anxiety in the course of following Christ and His commandments
11 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A.Review of Related Studies
1. Honor in Japanese Society
This is the study of patterns of Japanese life found in Chrysanthemum and the Sword by Ruth Benedict. The book provides a sociological study of the Japanese people that highlights their patterns of thought. This book particularizes its scope of research at the era of prewar Japan.
In this book information about Japanese attitudes, ways of thinking, and their world view can be retrieved. From this book the writer quotes the discussion related to personal honor for Japanese people. To maintain good reputation, a Japanese first has to observe whether or not he has fulfilled a duty called giri to one‟s name. This is the very foundation and the most essential thing when one is
to be called a real person of honor.
Giri to one‟s name is the duty to keep one‟s reputation unspotted. It is a series of virtues – some of which seem to an Occidental to be opposites. They are those acts which keep one‟s reputation bright without reference to a specific indebtedness to another person. They include therefore maintaining all the miscellaneous etiquette requirements of „proper station,‟ showing stoicism in pain and defending one‟s reputation in profession or craft (Benedict, 1974:145).
Japan‟s militaristic tradition is old and, until its defeat in the World War II, it
an extraordinary tradition despite its cruelness. The seppuku, an act of committing suicide by mean of disembowelment, is an alternative that has the effect of recovery for a wounded personal honor. Western opinion may regard it as an act of cowardice or desperation, but this is not at all about taking shortcut. This is a matter of chivalry.
Giri to one‟s name also demands acts which remove a slur or an insult; the slur darkens one‟s good name and should be got rid of. It may be necessary to take vengeance upon one‟s detractor or it may be necessary to commit suicide, and there are all sorts of possible courses of action between these two extremes (Benedict, 1974:145).
The importance of honor for Japanese people is, indeed, a crucial matter. Rather than living in shame, it is better to die an honorable death. Suicide is an accepted way to remove all blemishes and restore the honor. There are, of course, accounts of great men committing suicide by disembowelment that serve as reminders for others not to neglect the duty called giri to one‟s name.
2. The Polemic of Christianity in Japan
Not until the end of World War II, though, did Japanese government leave Japanese people to perform their religious activities without control from above. The authoritarian rule of Tokugawa Shogunate exercised a strict control over religious life and this policy was continued by its successor, the Meiji government. The control was actually to limit the threat to the morale and, ultimately, the nation of Japan which the two governments believed came from one source: Christianity.
Arai Hakuseki, a Tokugawa philosopher, implied his opinion towards Christianity in his writing about the incompatibility of the religion with Tokugawa Japan‟s bakuhan state and social order. In Hakuseki‟s point of view, rests the
argument that state authority would not be accomplished unless there were controls over territorial integrity and political stability. Such controls were necessary in order to dodge foreign threats and one thing that could be done was to control the spiritual and religious lives of the people, allowing only beliefs suitable with the socio-political culture. (Ion, 2009:4) Another scholar, Yasui Sokken, commented on Christianity in the same flavor Hakuseki did. He argued that Western religion (Christianity) threatened to disturb Japanese society and its form of government. It was based on, as Robert Bellah has shown, the knowledge that the Japanese emperor was the one to whom loyalty at all levels was expected. (Ion, 2009:5) Benedict wrote that
Christianity, on the other hand, does not recognize worship to a worldly object and this became a problem in Japan. Japanese Christians were seen as rebels, for they gave their loyalties to something else rather than the emperor.
The polemic itself came from Christianity as well. Since Christianity is considered a universal religion, the missionaries might have in their minds that it was unacceptable if in a certain place Christianity was not well-received and Christians are treated hostilely. At least it can be seen in the rebuke of a foreign missionary when a number of Japanese Christians of Uragami was arrested.
Why does your country prohibit our Christianity? This religion is the very religion which is followed by millions and millions people in the world. I am now trying to spread this religion in Japan in order to let them serve the true path. Nevertheless your country is oppressing this religion. This is completely unreasonable (Kato, 1973:80).
There was yet another reason why early Christian mission was successful: there was a deep dislike towards Buddhism which was the religion of Japan (it is important to note that in Japan both Shinto and Buddhism affiliates, so that when someone says about „religion of Japan,‟ it can be either Shinto or Buddhism, for
the term Shinto itself appeared only after the introduction of Buddhism, to distinguish it from the latter). Oda Nobunaga, one of the most prominent figures in Japanese civil war who respected the Jesuits because of their wide learning and courtesy and favored them for the sake of trade faced another enemy, the warrior monks of Buddhist Tendai sect who formed alliance with his enemies. Nobunaga fought them and gave a fatal blow to ensure their defeat. He burned the ancient and sacred monasteries of the sect in Mount Hiei.
When they saw that he intended to destroy the place both Emperor and Shogun as well as some of his own generals asked him to desist. But he took no notice of them, and on October 20, 1571, attacked and set fire to all the monasteries so that they were completely destroyed and nothing at all remained, while the monks without exception, with many fair ladies and children, who had little excuse for existing there, were brought before Nobunaga and put to death to the number of several thousands (Sadler, 1978:82).
The breach started when Toyotomi Hideyoshi, chancellor of the empire after the civil war ended, issued the edict of expulsion in 1587. At that time there were already more or less 500,000 Christians in Japan (Neill, 1975:159).
Japan is a country of the Kami (the gods of Japan) and for the padres to come hither and preach a devilish law is a most reprehensible and evil thing...Since such a thing is intolerable, I am resolved that the padres should not stay on Japanese soil. I therefore order that having settled their affairs, within twenty days, they must return to their own country (Neill, 1975: 160).
During the next reign by the Tokugawa Shogunate, a decree was issued in 1614, declaring a ban to Christianity with severe punishment for anyone who preferred to retain the faith rather than renouncing it.
The Kirishitan (Christian) band have come to Japan, not only sending their merchant vessels to exchange commodities, but also longing to disseminate an evil law, to overthrow true doctrine, so that they may change the government of the country and obtain possession of the land. This is the germ of great disaster, and must be crushed (Neill, 1975:160).
There are at least two incidents that led to the banning of Christianity. The first one was the affair of Landecho in Hideyoshi‟s time. Japan had a law that allowed
it to confiscate any foreign ship swept ashore with whatever it carried. A certain Spanish ship, San Felipe, had its cargo appropriated and its captain, Landecho, made a complaint. Enraged, he told Hideyoshi‟s envoy by telling the might of his
foreign lands. They had ever been almost invaded by the Mongolians when, by the help of, they believed, the wind kami or kami-kaze, the enemy‟s fleet was engulfed by raging sea storm. (Kato, 1973:52)
The second occurred during the Tokugawa rule, when a peasant revolt arised in Shimabara, caused by merciless tax and oppression by the magistrate of Nagasaki. The rebels carried banners with the inscription „Praise be the Most Holy
Sacrament,‟ and shouted the name of Jesus and Mary. Had it been crushed, the
government then issued the sakoku (isolationism) policy in the late 1630s to keep away foreign influence that could disturb the nation‟s peace and stability, while at
home Christian persecution continued with the most horrid and systematic method ever used in the history of Christian persecution. (Endo, 1977:9)
mid 17th century, Japan closed its door until Matthew Calbraith Perry with his US armada arrived at Ryukyu, Okinawa.
The Meiji restoration in 1868 brought great impact to the empire. The Iwakura mission was sent to Western countries in 1872 and when they returned it was decided that it was the time for Japan to undergo a total reform to make it a modern country. However, the reformation did not fully work in the field of religion, despite the promotion of religious freedom. The policy of making Japan a Shinto-state country, as seen in the account in Ruth Benedict‟s Chrysanthemum and the Swords,
Early Meiji statesmen wrote after they had visited the nations of the Occident that in all these countries history was made by the conflict between ruler and people and that this was unworthy of the spirit of Japan. They returned and wrote into the Constitution that the ruler was to „be sacred and inviolable‟ and not reckoned responsible for any acts of his Ministers. He was to serve as supreme symbol of Japanese unity, not as responsible head of a state (Benedict, 1974:125).
nevertheless put Christianity still in a polemical position despite there was an opinion that Christianity was the motor of Western civilization and therefore becoming a Christian was something patriotic. (Ion, 2009:3)
deal of information that fits the intrinsic elements of the novel, namely the setting of time and place and character‟s qualities. Now on this basis, the position of this
study is both developing the already-existing studies reviewed here, for the novel itself is weighed with the same issues as the related studies‟, and to promote this study as the first one that analyses Shiokari Pass thoroughly.
B.Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
A character, according to A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Themes by Edward Quinn, is a person depicted in narrative or drama with descriptions of its physical appearance, mind, and motivation (Quinn, 2006:72-73). Stanton in his An Introduction to Fiction book states that the term character is used in two ways. Firstly, a character designates the individual present in the story and, secondly, a character may refer to the description of attitudes, interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles of the individuals (Stanton, 1965:17). Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren in The Scope of Fiction assert that a character has to resemble human beings in all senses (and this is not to say that a character must be in the form of human being), only there must be some characters that are described more fully and therefore more special than others (Brooks & Warren, 1960:148), while M. H. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms talks about characters which are given particular moral, intellectual and emotional qualities seen through their dialogues and actions whose grounds in character‟s temperament, desires and
From three opinions above, it can be seen that a character is equipped with qualities; “moral, intellectual, and emotional,” according to Abrams. All of the
qualities of a character are created by the author in order to characterize the character itself, especially in the case of the most prominent character which is commonly termed as the main character. A main character will be endowed with distinctive qualities that exalt its importance above other characters also present in the story. A main character is a round instead of flat one because, according to Kennedy and Gioia in Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, it shows changes through enlightenment, growth, or deterioration. It is different from a flat character, which remains constant or unaltered from the start to the end of story (Kennedy et al., 1998:61). Identifying whether a character is a main character or not can be easier when the fiction is based on true story, besides the already telling evidences that such character experiences distinctive alterations, either to better or worse state.
The main character of Shiokari Pass was created based on the accounts of an actual person living in the relatively same time as the setting of time of the novel. The most visible indicator is similarity of their surnames, “Nagano.” Yet that alone is not enough. Looking back to Stanton‟s idea that when a character “may
refer to the description of attitudes, interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles of the individuals,” the reference might be coming from a certain
Interesting perhaps is the opinion of William Gass who said that “a character,
first of all, is the noise of his name” (Kennedy et al., 1998:61). In describing a character, according to Quinn, one can start by pondering the character‟s name
and think whether or not that name refers to certain qualities. Biblical or mythological characters‟ names are often used, not merely for the sake of naming
but also characterizing (Quinn, 2006:73). A character built based on a true living or ever living individual may bears the real person‟s name as well, or at least has a
hint in its name that refers to the real name, just like the case of two Naganos in Shiokari Pass and in the real world: Nobuo, the protagonist, and Masao, the actual man.
A literary analysis that involves character of the analyzed literary work will not be effective, however, without first knowing the character. One has to identify how the character is characterized in the work before proceeding to the real topic of discussion. Even if a character is a fictional reflection of a real person, one must start from the character first instead of the latter, inasmuch as there is a literary analysis on the way and not an attempt to trace one‟s biography.
2. Theory of Christian Discipleship
Disicpleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ (Bonhoeffer, 1963:63-64).
Discipleship, however, is a crucial thing and it is the freedom for those who want to follow the path of Jesus, for discipleship needs a ready heart and sure mind with a ripe consideration that following Christ is walking on a rocky road. Bonhoeffer asserted that to follow Christ was an option. “If any man would come after Me,” said Jesus. (Bonhoeffer, 1963:97) To choose to follow Christ means one must be ready to carry the cross. But if cross is seen as a burden, it is not so, according to Bonhoeffer. He said that
To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When it comes, it is not an accident but a necessity. It is not a suffering per se but suffering-and-rejection, and not rejection for any cause of conviction of our own, but rejection for the sake of Christ (Bonhoeffer, 1963:98).
Discipleship thus is not an easy thing. The strength acquired to strengthen one‟s discipleship will take effect if it is seen as the gift of grace. Grace is
something that is given, not asked for. Thus, it needs a high sensitivity of mind to realize that God waits for the response from whom He gives the grace for. Y. B. Mangunwijaya in his Sastra dan Religiositas highlighted this through his interpretation on The Beatles‟ Nowhere Man song lyrics.
He‟s a real Nowhere Man Sitting in his Nowhere Land
Knows not where‟s he going to.
In his interpretation, Mangunwijaya pointed out a subtle clue that particularly lay on the last three lines which was the belief that has always been held by Christians as well as Moslems and Jews. It shows that enlightenment does not come from the endless search of someone but from God, by whom grace is bestowed to lead to the enlightenment (Mangunwijaya, 1988:122).
Not because the nature of grace is a gift that it automatically becomes the opus operatum that justifies sins and a guarantee for salvation. Grace alone does not do everything. It depends on how a Christian regards the gift he has acquired. In Bonhoeffer‟s point of view, grace is a call to follow Jesus that demands
determination and no turning back. Bonhoeffer thus emphasized the importance of regarding grace as something costly. He differentiated „costly‟ grace from „cheap‟
grace.
Costly grace is what the followers of Christ must realize; therefore identifying one‟s self as a Christian is an act to do and practice the gospel of Christ and not
merely be proud and particularly „guaranteed‟ with what is called the promise of
heaven in the afterlife, comfortably adhering to what is written in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh into the Father, but by Me.” Bonhoeffer attacked this point of view in what he called as „cheap grace.‟
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks‟ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate (Bonhoeffer, 1963: 45, 47).
A quote from Martin Luther featured in The Cost of Discipleship says pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo, “sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ more boldly still.” (Bonhoeffer, 1963:55) This is just the description of
someone who thinks that sins need not be reckoned in Christian discipleship, for there is an opus operatum of grace that will justify the sins; grace alone does everything. This is just a very, very false perspective.
Christian discipleship needs to heed grace as something costly and because of its costliness it has to be actively actualized. How it is to actualize the grace that has been acquired is by following the examples of Christ and obey His words in the Scripture, exactly and absolutely. This is called single-minded obedience
the most illustrious scenes of the Bible, in which Jesus was walking on the water in a great storm and Peter whose fear of the rolling sea was greater than his confidence in Jesus, that he was not able to reach Jesus by doing likewise. Bonhoeffer pointed out here that when Jesus called Peter, it should have been something, and one thing only to rely on.
Again, when Peter was called to walk on the rolling sea, he had to get up and risk his life. Only one thing was required in each case – to rely on Christ‟s word. The forces which tried to interpose themselves between the word of Jesus and the response of obedience were as formidable then as they are to-day. Reason and conscience, responsibility and piety all stood in the way, and even the law and “scriptural authority” itself were obstacles which pretend to defend them from going to the extremes of antinomianism and “enthusiasms.” But the call of Jesus made short work of all these barriers, and created obedience (Bonhoeffer, 1963:87).
Bonhoeffer emphasize this kind of obedience so strongly. It is a single-minded obedience, not a so-so. Being obedient single-mindedly means not to question the righteousness of the word of The Lord, for it is truth that lies there and from the truth itself grace is radiated. It is therefore adhesively related to costly grace and discipleship and the cross, since the chance of getting plunged into hardship (the cross) is huge but to those who have performed a single-minded obedience, salvation is promised. Yet, from time to time, there are always obstacles that stand on the way. The worst of all is the re-interpretations of what Christ has told His followers to do.
Christian Bible, it is true, is open for interpretation for rather than series of explicit lectures and commands, it is more in the form of prosaic compilation. Bonhoeffer‟s warning from the example above is that to make such an
interpretation, far from the literal meaning of the words, is a consolation made to evade the burden called the cross. To reject the cross is to deny Christ, and to deny Christ means deserving not His grace. Since it is apparent that a single-minded obedience to God‟s commands is to be carried out with eagerness, the
followers of Christ must prepare themselves to risk even their lives for Christ. It is the cost of discipleship that must be paid.
3. View on Choice
Aristotle in Magna Moralia, Book I, defines choice by first asking whether it is a desire or not.
It now remains for us to inquire into choice. Is choice desire or is it not? Now desire is found in the lower animals, but no choice; for choice is attended with reason, and none of the lower animals has reason. Therefore it will not be desire (Stock, 1984:1880).
4. View on Courage
Courage is something which is needed to make a choice. There is no need to calculate or speculate over and over again. All risks will be taken, however dismaying they appear to be.
Since then, courage has to do with feelings of confidence and fear, we must examine with what sort of fears and confidences it has to do. If, then, any one is afraid of losing his property, is he a coward? And if any one is confident about these matters, is he brave? Surely not! And in the same way, if one is afraid of or confident about illness, one ought not to say that the man who fears is a coward or that the man who does not fear is brave. It is not, therefore, in such fears and confidences as these that courage consists. It is with human fears and confidences, then, that the brave man has to do; I mean to say that anyone who is confident under circumstances in which most people or all are afraid, is a brave man (Stock, 1984:1883).
Aristotle gives his view above in Magna Moralia, Book I, that, different from choice, courage emanates from feeling, while choice from reason. Someone is courageous when he or she is able to overcome bad feelings to grab the choice that has been made. It is therefore the matter of seizing, not the matter of deciding. Of course, someone cannot be said as courageous when he or she does not reason first but immediately do as his or her heart wishes.
5. View on Death
Someday a life will come to an end. Mortals cannot exactly predict in what way they are going to die. Will they die a peaceful or violent death? Nobody really knows.
minute, God only knows, they may die in any way. They become afraid of it, especially if they have ever been witnessed somebody died in pain and agony, all of a sudden without preceding premonition.
Lars Sandman in A Good Death: on the Value of Death and Dying said that
…death is something we avoid getting acquainted with, something we avoid talking about nowadays and hence something we are less familiar with compared to our forebears (Sandman, 2005:60).
Now, that death is something people are afraid to talk about, fearing that a discussion about it will trigger an unexpected occurring, people become trapped in their own fear and cannot see death from the other side; the good one of it.
In battling this kind of fear, people look for spiritual guidance from religious advisors. In the case of Christians who are afraid of death, Christian priests or spiritualists may serve to console the troubled hearts and put new perspective towards death, which is not the end but simply the beginning.
Death, for Christians, is always a hopeful moment because those who believe in Jesus as the Way of life will be granted salvation and a place in the House of God (John 14:6). Jesus said that God is the Master of the living, not the dead (Matthew 22:32). St. Paul even stated more earnestly that the resurrection, the state of being alive after death, would surely happen otherwise to put faith in Christ was a futile thing to do.
whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished (1 Corinthians 15:12-18).
In other words, Paul encouraged his fellow believers not to worry about the moment of death because the resurrection of Christ from the grave was real and literal, and that would surely happen to those who believe in Christ.
“Verily, verily I said unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Jesus said that men are to fall, to die. No-one can escape death. Yet, a Christian death is never a meaningless death. Every deceased Christian is a seed for the world to fertilize its soil for faith to grow.
6. View on Righteousness
The view on righteousness used in this study is taken from Paul‟s letter to the Romans.
Righteousness, according to Paul, is something that belongs only to God. It is unjustifiable for men to commit vicious conducts despite admirable intention lying beneath. All men were liars, wrote Paul, hence their vulnerability to sins.
Righteousness can be said as something that a Christian can pursue but he will never achieve it for his own sake. Therefore a righteous Christian can be said as one who dares to admit his sinfulness, always and always, and is never absent from confessing his sins. Even the judgments of God apply also to the most pious Christians. If God was not righteous, Paul argued, how would He made his judgments?
C.Theoretical Framework
There are three problems in this study. The first one deals with the way the main character characterized in the story. For this analysis, the writer used the theory of character and characterization. The main character embodies certain qualities and they have to be identified first, before moving to the second problem formulation that questions the main character‟s process of finding his
Christian faith.
how he was willing to lower himself to the place of dishonored group of people, while in the beginning he had displayed a hostile attitude towards the religion? It was on that basis that the second problem formulation is analyzed and the related studies was helpful to give a clearer description of what actually happened in Japan at that time, thus developing the related studies selected by applying them in a case – in this case a case in a literary work.
Besides the two related studies, the writer also employs views on righteousness and death to help explain the anxiety over both of them felt by the main character searching for consolation. It was in Christianity that the main character finally could be satisfied and got the answers to his problems; a factor that accelerated his conversion to Christianity.
In the third problem formulation questioning how the Christian life of the main character can be regarded a form of uncompromising Christian discipleship, the writer, again, uses the study of Japanese pattern of thought related to personal honor to help make analogy for explaining the changing perspective of the intolerant society as a result of the main character‟s sacrificing himself to save the lives of the others. The other study is useful too to help describing the condition of Christianity in Japan at that time, when Christian discipleship was significant and crucial at the same time, in the time of distress. The view on courage, therefore, is also significant in this section.
explain how the main character‟s life be regarded as a form of uncompromising
33 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a Japanese novel written by Ayako Miura entitled Shiokari Pass, the 4th edition of the year 2000 by Tuttle Publishing. This paperback edition was printed in Singapore. It is an English translation done by Bill and Sheila Fearnehough, while originally in Japan the novel is entitled Shiokari Toge.
This novel is based on actual event happening in the early 20th century. That is what makes this novel is captivating for the writer, as well as the colorful portraying of the Meiji Japan era before the war broke between Japan and Russia (1904-1905) and slightly after it. Another merit of this novel is the author’s successful effort to weave the plot into one that involves emotions and conflicts arranged delicately in a storyline which can stir the readers to feel the feelings of each character in the novel.
outlying station on his way back, an incident befell him and this was the main inspiration of Ayako Miura to write Shiokari Pass. All the information about Masao Nagano came from the records of the Asahikawa church and an old man who remembered him and became a Christian because of his influence (Miura, 2000:10).
The novel began with the childhood of the main character, Nobuo Nagano, living under the roof of his family’s hereditary home in the district of Hongo, Tokyo. Nobuo did not know how his mother looked like, for it was said by Tose, his grandmother, that his mother had died two hours after giving birth to him.
The Naganos were of samurai stock and Nobuo’s grandmother was so
proud of their status that he, replacing the role of Nobuo’s mother, brought up
Nobuo to be a man befitting the profile of a samurai. Tose did not welcome Western ways and ideas introduced to Japan via Meiji Restoration, whereas
her son, Masayuki, Nobuo’s father, had a broader insight and
open-mindedness and had therefore become a modern Japanese man.
With such attitude towards Western influence, Tose hated Christianity too, whom she despised because of the Western flavor it brought. Moreover, Christianity in Japan itself had ever been a banned religion before Meiji government allowed the missionary work to start again, after nearly 200
years. That was why Tose banished Kiku, Nobuo’s mother, when she learnt
her daughter-in-law was a Christian. Kiku stood for her faith and left her
Kiku returned to the house after Tose’s death. She brought another child,
Machiko, whom Nobuo had never known before. It was not a good reunion, though, for Nobuo was already convinced by his departed grandmother that Christianity was an unholy and evil religion and not suitable for Japan. Also, the majority of Japanese society was intolerant to Christianity at that time. Little Nobuo grew under hatred towards Christianity because it caused his mother left him, a more personal reason than considering it having a Western flavor.
Yet, as time went by, Nobuo could not help following his curiosity towards Christian religion. People around him made him aware that there was something in Christianity he had never known before, for he had been too long seen it from his own point of view, which was full of prejudices. His mother, his best friend Osamu Yoshikawa (though he was not a Christian) and
Yoshikawa’s sister, Fujiko, dragged him to undergo a series of events that
made him wonder about realities of the world which were beyond his ability to grasp.
Indeed, Nobuo was the man of his words. He died for others, when on a railway at Shiokari Pass on his way back from Asahikawa to Sapporo for his engagement with Fujiko, Nobuo used his own body to stop the coach where he and other passengers were in the danger of derailment and crash. He
jumped in front of the coach and it stopped after rolled over Nobuo’s body.
Besides him, there was no victim in the accident.
The impact of Nobuo’s sacrifice was so great. Knowing that a Christian
was brave enough to commit such a thing, people began to reconsider what they thought about Christianity. They now could see Christianity from different side, that it was not at all a bad religion as what had been believed by the intolerant Shinto-Buddhist society of Japan. So touching was the heroic deed of Nobuo that after his death a number of people entered Christian faith.
B. Approach of the Study
It is important to select the appropriate approach when an analysis of a certain literary work needs a particular pattern of thought that will help determine the limitations so that the analysis can be conducted fairly as the objectives of the study demand. Based on what become the objectives of the study, the analysis of the novel Shiokari Pass employs moral-philosophical approach.
Horace’s definition of literature as a ‘dulce et utile’ thing shows that there
is something to say in a literary work which is intended to take effect within the scope of morality and is based on a certain philosophical point of view. Thus, moral-philosophical approach is an approach in the study of literature whose perspective is based on the tenets of morality and philosophy. Employing moral-philosophical approach means scrutinizing a literary work from its moral and/or philosophical substance, most easily from the message implied.
In analyzing Shiokari Pass, the writer chose the moral-philosophical approach partially on the basis that the novel is based on a true story and at the same it talks about a development of Christian faith of the main character. There are Christian as well as Japanese philosophical values employed here in this study, and also the message of the novel itself is clearly intended to encourage its readers to never give up faith to God no matter how it costs. That is why the writer considers moral-philosophical approach the suitable approach for this study.
C. Method of the Study
The primary source was the novel Shiokari Pass by Ayako Miura and the secondary data were taken from various sources and used to support the analysis conducted upon the topic. The secondary data consist of related studies and theories, as well as the historical background. Most important of the secondary data was Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship which contains the theory of uncompromising Christian discipleship.
The analysis began with identifying the main character’s qualities as seen in the way he was characterized and was followed by explaining the process of his Christian conversion; how he changed from being an unbeliever into a believer. The characteristics of the main character had important roles in each of the stages (there were three stages identified in the process). Also, in the analysis of this process, there were two different actualization of Christian
faith identified; the ‘unconscious’ and the ‘conscious.’ These two were about
the main character’s practicing Christian faith when he ‘unconsciously’ did it
as an unbeliever and when he ‘consciously’ did it after his conversion.
39 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
A. The Characterization of Nobuo Nagano in Shiokari Pass
A main character in a story is built by the author differently because of its importance throughout the whole story. Either way, black or white, good or bad, hero or villain, a main character‟s role surpasses other characters‟ present in the story.
The process of creating the most prominent of all characters in a fiction depends on the creativity and ideas of the author. One way to do that is by fictionalizing actual person, like in Musashi and Taiko, both written by Eiji Yoshikawa, whose main characters were the actual Miyamoto Musashi and Toyotomi Hideyoshi; back to Japanese era of feudalism. Yoshikawa did not alter the names of his heroes, for the two novels could be restrictedly read as biographies.
Altering name, however, is possible but not qualities, since there are historical evidences of the real person, more especially if the purpose of writing such
„biographical‟ fiction is to communicate or socialize the moral message related to
the accounts of the real person. Such occurrence can be found in Ayako Miura‟s
In the Chapter III the writer has given a glimpse about who Masao Nagano was, the similarities between him and Nobuo, and what deed the latter had committed; one which inspired the author to write her novel.
The first problem formulation analysis of this study attempts to identify the characterization of Nobuo Nagano as the main character of Shiokari Pass. It is all about the fictive Nagano, not the real one, mind that. The findings in the first analysis will be significant in analyzing the process of his Christian conversion, which is the second problem formulation analysis.
Born in a samurai family, Nobuo was taught by Tose that they were of higher position in the society. Tose introduced Nobuo to a set of rules so that her grandson would have a noble attitude that met the ideals of Japanese samurai. The first thing Nobuo learned was to be strong. A samurai would never be seen crying, so Tose said when she caught Nobuo cried, though it was because he played with his uvula while looking at himself in the mirror (Miura, 2004:15). This characteristic of being strong, that he could not be shaken by unexpected occurrences, remained to the end of his life. This was stoicism in pain, something that gave Nobuo courage. When Nobuo threw himself to the rail to prevent the railcar when he and other passengers were in, he did it in a manner of a samurai who did not fear death at all (Miura, 2004:259-261).
Nobuo inherited the stubbornness of his grandmother and his mother, both of
whom were opposites. Kiku, Nobuo‟s mother, was stubborn enough not to
Christian family member there, for at that time, the Meiji era, most Japanese displayed resistance against Christian religion which they saw as disastrous germ imported from the West (Miura, 2004:36-40). With Kiku‟s leaving, Nobuo was brought up by his grandmother.
Nobuo‟s stubbornness can be seen in how he persistently managed to achieve
what he wanted, like when he asked his superior, Reinosuke Wakura, to pardon Mihori, his colleague, for the theft the latter had committed in the office. He even
said, “Mr. Wakura, if Mihori can’t be forgiven dismiss me with him” (Miura, 2004:205-206). Overcame by this stubbornness, Wakura granted Nobuo‟s appeal. Back to his childhood time, Nobuo was stubborn enough not tell the truth to Masayuki, his father, when he received injury because Torao, his friend, pushed him off the rooftop. He said that it was because he did not watch himself, though his father knew what exactly happened. Nobuo did not let Torao admit his fault (Miura, 2004:19).
Besides stubbornness, however, both events also suggest that Nobuo had a compassionate heart. He could not stand the sight of others suffering. A clearer clue of his compassion can be seen in his romance with Fujiko, the younger sister of his best friend, Osamu Yoshikawa. Nobuo loved Fujiko whole-heartedly
though he realized that Fujiko‟s disease which was spinal tuberculosis could affect
him sooner or later. Yet, for Fujiko he was willing to do anything for her recovery, like consulting the best doctor in Hokkaido (Miura, 2004:186-187).
Nobuo‟s compassion was more evident when he decided to sacrifice himself to
would happen to himself, his only concern was the safety of the other passengers boarding the same railcar, when it got separated from the string and rolled down the slope. He used his own body to stop the railcar (Miura, 2004:259-261).
From his unwound love to Fujiko and his compassion towards her, Nobuo, too, displayed a great amount of loyalty. He could not turn away from something that he loved. Fujiko, his beloved one, and Christ, had he been converted to Christianity. Nobuo could not leave Fujiko for healthier and better-looking girls,
like Wakura‟s daughter whom Wakura himself had offered Nobuo to marry
(Miura, 2004:191-193). Even when Yoshikawa himself, Fujiko‟s older brother,
and Takashi, Nobuo‟s cousin, begged him to marry someone else for they did not
want something terrible befell him like what happened to Fujiko, Nobuo refused. He was sure that Fujiko was the love of his life, and no-one else (Miura, 2004:233-235).
As a Christian, Nobuo displayed his loyalty to Christ by not skipping the
opening ceremony of a branch of Young Railwaymen‟s Christian Association in
Nayoro, a day before his engagement to Fujiko (Miura, 2004:247). No matter how occupying the preparation for his engagement, Nobuo still spared time for God. In his religious activity a regular speaker in the Bible Study Group, Nobuo, too, displayed vehemence (Miura, 2004:235-236). For the work of God he readied himself, at no cost.
His tight adherence to principles that he believed made him an admirable man, a rare species indeed among people of his age. Nobuo once had ever been asked by Takashi, his cousin, to accompany him to Yoshiwara, a red-light district in Tokyo. It was acceptable custom in Japan for men to have fun with some girls in such a place and Takashi wanted Nobuo to taste what it was like, for his cousin was always too serious. When they got near the gate of Yoshiwara, however, Nobuo turned away and ran home, refusing to enter. He stuck to his principle that he had to steel himself against such weakness, for it was a vain amusement and good-for-nothing (Miura, 2004:99-100).
Nobuo was pensive, and this made him a little too serious all his life. His chief anxieties were the questions over righteousness and death, as expressed in his letters to Yoshikawa. Nobuo could not help thinking about righteousness – whether or not the most righteous person existed – after he read The Fig Tree, a novel given to him by a Christian author (Miura, 2004:123-124). When his father died suddenly, just like his grandmother, Nobuo was seized by the feeling of fear of death. He somehow felt his life would not be long (Miura, 2004:82). These thoughts were almost unbearable for him, until Christianity gave him satisfying answers.
Being serious and straight, Nobuo always restrained himself from over-indulgence. It had become Nobuo‟s routine to straightly go home after work. He
did not drink and smoke (Miura, 2004:124). Since his father‟s death, Nobuo had
become the family‟s breadwinner and he was responsible to his duty. By not
