In the Footsteps of the Master : Confucian Values in Anime and Manga

Since their introduction to Japan in the Sixth Century, the teachings of Confucius have played an important role in the creation and sustenance of societal values and order. While Japanese society has changed much since the dawn of the postwar era, these same basic principles are still highly influential, but are seen in some surprising forms. Geared primarily at pre-teen and teen-age boys, recent shônen anime, especially Naruto and Bleach, evince Confucian values while encouraging the viewer to identify with and embrace them. While some critics of contemporary culture are quick to point out some of the societal breakdowns and subcultural variances common to the Otaku phenomenon, Confucianism is still alive and well, albeit in reinterpreted forms. Using shônen anime in the classroom to examine traditional values creates a useful device for understanding Japanese popular culture and its connection to larger anthropological and historical themes.

AD.The entire first article of this constitution addresses the Confucian concept of harmony, or wa, stating, Harmony is to be valued, and avoidance of wanton opposition to be honored…when those above are harmonious and those below are friendly, and there is concord in the discussion of business, right views of things spontaneously gain acceptance.Then what is there which cannot be accomplished? 1er the years, Confucianism waxed and waned in popularity as Buddhist doctrines increased in popularity.These doctrines of impermanence and disillusionment with humanity were popular from the Heian era until the beginning of the Tokugawa Period, primarily because of constant warring and cycles of upheaval.It makes sense that amidst all of the death and destruction, people would look for spiritual solutions for their miserable state.However, once the Tokugawa consolidated power and put an end to a bloody hundred years of war, he needed doctrines necessarily different from otherworldly Buddhism to govern the land efficiently.Or, as William Theodore De Bary puts it: Buddhism, which had long since declined on the Continent but was still a living force in Ieyasu's homeland, generally took a pessimistic view of life in this changing uncertain world.It had little hope in human society or the moral order; all laws but the Law of Buddha's Liberating Truth were delusive and burdensome.The Buddhist solution was to 'leave the world' to seek total emancipation by Enlightenment or through the saving power of Amida.But Ieyasu and his successor sought peace and promise of this in the stress on rule of law and order throughout the universe, its optimistic view of man's political and social intelligence, and its insistence upon individual morality as foundation of the state. 2n the Footsteps of the Master Thus, Confucianism once again became the basis for the legal system and moral education throughout Japan, though slightly different from earlier forms.Tokugawa's Neo-Confucianism differed from China in that the relationship of lord and vassal was stressed above all else, along with a focus on Japanese history rather than Chinese classics.However, Neo-Confucianism in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Japan, as represented by Chu Hsi's synthesis of speculative thought in the Sung school was only the culmination of a movement begun much earlier in the Sung period to revive the original Confucian tradition and reassert its validity for later times. 3roadly, some of the key teachings of Neo-Confucianism as adopted by Ieyasu included the classical importance of the five cardinal relationships, each of which is characterized with specific virtues: Between parent and child there is intimacy.Between lord and minister there is duty.Between husband and wife there is differentiation.Between elder and junior there is precedence.Between friend and friend, there is fidelity 4 In addition to these relationships, Neo-Confucianism stressed the supremacy of virtues such as li (rei) <y "ritual propriety" and ren (jin) N benevolence or "human-heartedness," and of course, filial piety, which Tokugawa scholar, Nakae Toju, calls the "summit of virtue." 5

Exploring Shonen Manga and Anime
Despite the overall foundational importance of Confucianism to the understanding of Japanese culture, for new students of East Asia, these relationships and virtues may seem to be a relic of the past, given passing attention as something to be learned one semester for the purposes of passing tests and writing papers.(These facts tend to become stashed in shortterm memory, only to be forgotten the next semester.)For this reason, it is helpful to find contemporary expressions of living Confucian values within Japanese society to illustrate Confucian thinking in the classroom.Taken in conjunction with traditional materials, certain shonen manga and anime illustrate Confucian principles as they might apply to daily life in contemporary Japan. 6That is to say, instead of working only with abstract concepts, when students analyze and discuss shonen titles like Naruto and Bleach from the Confucian perspectives learned in their coursework, they are able to walk away with a more concrete example of how foundational values are referenced and even taught within these media. 7

Naruto
One such example of this media is Naruto, by Masashi Kishimoto.Published by Shonen Jump in both anime and manga forms, Naruto has gained a considerable following in both Japan and North America.The world of Naruto is a fun, fictional pastiche.As an asynchronous representation of Japan, hidden ninja villages exist to ensure the safety and protection of the citizens of the country in which they live.Each country is controlled by a daimyo, 8 yet the viewer is never shown the daimyo or any samurai.The hidden ninja villages are not medieval, nor do they exist in any form of Confucian four-class system favored by Tokugawa Ieyasu. 9Modern technology exists side-by-side with ancient weapons, cup-ramen, and yakiniku. 10Ninja students are educated in special ninja schools where they are taught various forms of jutsu, or techniques.The schools these students attend resemble contemporary Japanese schools, complete with a homeroom teacher and organized seating.Ninja families have high expectations for their students, and each family or clan has specific individual traits based on their bloodline.For viewers, in many ways the inhabitants of Naruto's "Hidden Leaf Village" or Konohagakure, could be friends and neighbors in any Japanese town, albeit with asynchronous vocations and traditions.
A hierarchy governs these hidden ninja villages.At the top of the pyramid is a village elder, known as the -kage, whose title is based on the country of origin.For instance, the Hidden Leaf Village is located in the Fire Country, so the chief village elder is the Hokage (Fire shadow).In the Wind Country, the In the Footsteps of the Master leader of the Hidden Sand Village is the Kazekage (Wind shadow).Each hidden village's kage is ultimately responsible for the growth, order, peace, strength, and security of the entire village.He or she is, in essence, the village's father or mother.Underneath the kage are various jônin (upper-level) ninja who are responsible for the most difficult missions.These jônin are often paired up with genin (lower-level), recent graduates from ninja training school, in order to show them the ropes on lesser missions.They are to teach the genin and chûnin (mid-level) life skills, from teamwork and strategy to discipline and advanced techniques.The village's kage will strategically pair up various jônin with corresponding genin and chûnin based on temperament, skills, and background in order to create capable, self-sufficient teams for the future.All ninja must take various tests to prove their skills and abilities in order to rise in rank, similar to the traditional iemoto system found in various trades, traditional arts, and martial arts.
The main character, Naruto, is quite complex and is worthy of our attention as a postmodern Japanese hero figure.The first Naruto installation introduces the viewer to recent history, including Naruto's birth and vignettes of his early years.Naruto is an orphan who has the destructive spirit of a Nine Tailed Fox sealed inside of him.He becomes the vessel of this spirit when the Fourth Hokage used a sealing technique to subdue the fox inside Naruto when it was attacking Konoha.Due to the attacks of the Nine Tailed Fox, many valiant ninja died and much of the village was destroyed.Sealing the spirit of the Nine Tailed Fox into the body of the infant Naruto cost the Fourth Hokage his life.After the death of the Fourth Hokage, the previously retired Third Hokage took over the leadership of the village once again.Naruto, who is roughly twelve years old when the story begins, is an outcast.Having no parents, he lives by himself in a small apartment, subsisting on cup ramen, milk, and any food that his sensei may treat him to, especially ramen from the Ichiraku ramen shop.Naruto shows great heart and is willing to put forth great effort to be noticed, whether the attention is positive or not.In the first episode, Naruto is willfully defacing a Mount Rushmore-esque monument, containing the faces of Konoha's past four Hokages, with paint and brush.He feverishly works, noting that now people will recognize him.Because the Nine Tailed Fox, the demon who caused so much death and destruction, is sealed up within Naruto, the village sees him as the fox, rather than the carrier of this fox.Thus, he is shunned and seeks to prove himself so vigorously.
Naruto is recognized, but not as he had hoped.He enters into the category of a meiwaku-a nuisance.In fact, throughout the entire series, now spanning multiple volumes and television episodes, Naruto figuratively and literally, is the embodiment of meiwaku, both through the meiwaku creature within him and the meiwaku he creates with his immature bravado.Meiwaku can be defined as an annoyance or a disturbance, especially when the disturbance disrupts harmony or wa, a key value in Confucian teaching.Much of Confucius' teaching was about maintaining harmony with society, with government, with nature, and especially in daily interactions.As Confucius said, "when harmony prevails, there will be no scarcity of people; and when there is such a contented repose, there will be no rebellious upsettings." 11Naruto's rebellious attempts to grab attention have disturbed the wa of the community, and so he must make amends.His sensei, Iruka, makes him clean up the entire mess.When Naruto grumbles, however, his sensei illustrates another Confucian tenet: benevolence.He promises to treat Naruto to ramen at Ichiraku if he finishes up.This gives Naruto the extra pep to get the job done.
Later on in the episode, the viewer learns more about Naruto's failure.Because he does not have the support of a loving family, he is not able to excel at school.He cannot do the complicated jutsu that require concentration and use of spiritual energy, or chakra.While he has sheer strength, he cannot channel it properly, and he cannot pass the qualifying tests at school to become a junior grade ninja.This results in his already weak self-confidence being sapped almost entirely.While his whole class graduates from ninja school and becomes genin, Naruto is left out.We see him sitting off to the side on a swing while the rest of the new ninjas are being congratulated by their families.One of the mothers says, "Isn't he the one?It's good that he failed, he shouldn't become a ninja" in a shameful voice, referring to the fact that the Nine-Tailed Fox is sealed within.This is where the story begins to shift.
The benevolent and wise Third Hokage tells Iruka that he paired Iruka with Naruto on purpose because Iruka had a similar background.Like Naruto, he was always clowning around for attention and had no parents.(Iruka lost his parents during the rampage of the very same Nine Tailed Fox that Naruto is carrying.)Iruka remembers his shame and loneliness as the Hokage tells him to be more lenient on Naruto, but, knowing that the Nine-Tailed Fox killed his parents, there is also tension within Iruka over the fact that Naruto is the vessel of this creature.
The example of the Hokage's relationship with Iruka-sensei and Iruka-sensei's relationship with Naruto are examples of contemporary takes on three of the cardinal Confucian relationships: Ruler-ruled, father-son, and elder brother-younger brother.The Hokage fills the role of brother, ruler and father for the entire village.He is characterized, as Confucius prescribed, by his wisdom and his benevolence, by duty and precedence.In the first episode, Iruka clearly shows benevolence and care for Naruto as his "younger brother" in the ninja hierarchy.(Other jonin fill this role in subsequent installments).Naruto works for acceptance and recognition both by the Hokage and his teacher.Where Naruto is a meiwaku, he is to be admonished and corrected, where he is weak, he is to be strengthened, and when he does well, he is to be rewarded.The Confucian relationships serve to shape Naruto into a respectable and productive member of society.
Throughout the series, Naruto's meiwaku constantly comes into play as teachers and friends attempt to shape him into a person who fits better with the group, being an individual in context, rather than a brash individualist.Naruto has lacked the parent-child bond, and has had very few ways of being actualized and encouraged.He has needed these relationships to guide him on his way toward becoming a genin.Once Naruto has become a genin, he is put on a three-man team with some very different personalities, being instructed by one of the town's Jonin heroes: Hatake Kakashi.
Kakashi understands the importance of friendship within the context of striving to excel, follow the rules, and win the battle.When working with this new three-man group to introduce the importance of teamwork, he puts the three young ninja to a test.He has Naruto tied to a pole for disobeying, and gives two bento to the remaining ninja, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Saskuke (neither Sasuke nor Sakura like Naruto, but they tolerate him because he is on their team).While Naruto is tied up, they are told that they are not allowed to feed Naruto, and they should get ready for another test.Naruto is starving and both Sakura and Sasuke decide to give him some of their lunch, finally acknowledging their need for teamwork; a weakened member would be of no use in their quest.Naruto receives the lunch tearfully, and an enraged Kakashi-sensei explodes out of nowhere.After instilling much fear, he gently tells them "gokaku" (you passed!) and explains that they did the right thing.Sometimes rules should be broken in favor of taking care of your comrades.Feeding Naruto was the right thing to do, because those who abandon their comrades are kuzu (garbage). 12In this exercise, Kakashi was trying to instill the values of duty and friendship into the next generation, to make a team viable and strong, building a sense of wa among disparate personalities.This is also the ultimate will of the Hokage for the entire village.Thus, Kakashi is illustrating the Confucian importance of benevolence and reciprocity.
That the Hokage plays such an important Confucian role is further demonstrated in another story arc.When Team Kakashi (the moniker given to Naruto's team) go on their first mission, it seems to be an easy one: to be yojimbo (bodyguards) for a certain bridge builder on the way to a neighboring country.Because the bridge builder lied regarding the serious danger of the mission, a relatively weak team was dispatched.They did not know that this man was highly targeted by corrupt officials and ninja who left their village (these rogues are similar to rônin).These characters did not want the bridge to be built and were willing to kill to prevent this from happening.After safely leading their charge back to his village, team Kakashi works very hard to keep this man protected, and then help defend his village and workers in order to get the bridge built.When the truth of his pretense comes out, the bridge builder asks them why they continued on and helped him.Kakashi responds, "Not doing right when you know it is right is the coward's way.There are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander.They're teachings of the previous Hokage."This was taken straight out of Analects 2:24.Confucius said, "Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage."Kakashi wanted to help his young team train and succeed in a difficult situation, one that was even created under false pretenses for much less money, demanding the skills of much stronger ninja.When asked why Team Kakashi went above and beyond the ordinary yojimbo work, the words he uses essentially equate Confucius with the previous Hokage.Kakashi's morals and integrity come from the same source that all the Hidden Leaf Village ninja look up to and strive to become.As most Japanese students have been exposed to the Analects from an early age, these values and moral authority would not be foreign to them; here too, readers are given concrete examples of Confucian values in action as we delve into the fantasy world of Naruto at our leisure.

Bleach
Bleach, like Naruto, is also a story of hard work, friendship, and winning at all costs, but stresses dimensions of struggling with the self and the spirit world.The main character, Kurosaki Ichigo, is a Japanese high school student with "naturally" blond hair (hence the title, Bleach, since everyone thinks he bleaches his hair).Ichigo can see ghosts, and eventually becomes a "Death God" (shinigami) helping direct the shades of the deceased to the afterlife.He becomes a shinigami after the shinigami assigned to his town, Kuchiki Rukia, is gravely wounded fighting a "hollow" or evil spirit.She has him plunge her spirit sword into his abdomen to give him a measure of her power so that he may destroy the hollow.(Hollows are attracted to people with strong spiritual energy, known as reiatsu.Ichigo defeats the hollow, but all of Rukia's powers are mistakenly transferred to Ichigo.Now, Ichigo must accept the responsibility for his actions (had he not blindly attacked the hollow, he would not have endangered Rukia who blocked the hollow's counterattack, leaving her gravely wounded) and keep his town safe from the other hollows.Here, the concepts of on and giri are introduced, in the sense that Ichigo must atone for his meiwaku against the shinigami when he blindly rushed into the thick of a battle he did not understand.Ichigo spends a great deal of time establishing himself and training to defeat these hollows, getting progressively stronger and more impressive with each episode, despite his penchant to continue to rush into difficult situations headlong.
Ichigo spends lots of time establishing his identity as a substitute-shinigami as well as a high school student, loyal friend, and family member.Ichigo's relationships also evince Confucian underpinnings, despite the fact that they are often non-traditional.For instance, Ichigo's father is very odd; he is always shadowboxing and picking friendly fights with him.Everyone thinks he is a buffoon, only later to be surprised when they learn that he, too, is a very powerful shinigami in disguise.Initially, it seems that Ichigo does not respect his father much, and in most cases his father does not seem to relate well to his children.Due to a hollow's attack, Ichigo's mother, Masaki, died when Ichigo was very young.The hollow, Grand Fisher, used a lure to trick Ichigo into believing that a young girl was drowning in the sea.Masaki went to save him, and she was killed by Grand Fisher, who absorbed her soul.Thus, Ichigo blames himself for her death.Only later, in the story arc where Ichigo and his family go to the mother's grave on the anniversary of her death, does Ichigo learn that it was Grand Fisher who killed his mother, not Ichigo's wandering off.Grand Fisher shows up to try to kill Ichigo at this point, and Ichigo takes his new shinigami form and battles this hollow until it flees.
At the end of the arc, each of the members of the family prays in front of the grave and talks to the spirit of the mother.Ichigo's father smokes a cigarette, which he explains he only does on the anniversary of her death, since she once told him that his "hand looked cool" while he smoked.Ichigo wonders how his father can smile and why no one blames him.Ichigo's father tells him that Masaki would be angry with him if he blamed Ichigo for her death, and that the woman he loved did not mind dying to protect her son: Ichigo is the one Masaki died protecting.Then Ichigo's father kicks him in the back and tells him to "live life to the fullest, age to the fullest, bald to the fullest, and die long after I do.And if possible, die with a smile.Otherwise, I won't be able to look Masaki in the eye.Don't be wishy-washy, you're still too young to look cool carrying your grief around."He lets his father walk away, and then addresses Rukia, who was listening nearby, saying, "Let me be a shinigami a bit longer, I want to grow stronger and stronger and protect them from the hollows.Otherwise, I won't be able to look my mother in the eye." In this interchange, we see a father and son bonding in a moment of intimacy before the grave of the mother.Both father and son want to live up to her memory.The father encourages the son to live life to the fullest and have no regrets, especially since his wife gave her life for Ichigo without hesitation.The son wants to protect the family the way his mother protected him.There is a sense of Confucian reciprocality in this scene.The father, generally portrayed as an unconventional oddball now appears "cool" and gives his son samurai-like advice.The son begins to embrace his identity as a strong young man with a purpose, and in turn wants to overcome his past and grow stronger still for his family.These echoes of old Japan still reverberate and resonate with today's youth.

Manga
Understanding this atavistic tendency of the youth, manga publishers seek to deliver stories that will sell well in this climate.And it makes sense that such stories with strong values should be published by Shônen Jump.In Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga, manga expert and translator Frederick L. Schodt shed some light on Jump's success and popularity with pre-teen and teenage boys, as well as middle-aged corporate employees: …Weekly Boy's Jump established a firm editorial policy that continues to this day.First, it conducted a survey of young readers, asking them to name (1) the word that warmed their hearts most, (2) the thing that they felt most important, and (3) the thing that made them the happiest.The answers were yujo (friendship), doryoku (effort, or perseverance), and shôri (winning, or victory).These three words then became the criteria for selecting the stories, whether adventures or gags. 13arlier Jump titles, like Dragon Ball Z, Slam Dunk and Dr. Slump catered to the readers' survey.The main characters never died, were never defeated, and succeeded on sheer force of will and determination.These manga also repurposed old Samurai values that were eschewed in the postwar era.As Schodt also explains, this is a major reason manga took off after the Second World War; people like Tezuka Osamu and one of his editors Kinai Takashi were looking to help create a better society and provide ways for children to find themselves in the destitute postwar conditions. 14As is true for Naruto, Bleach, and other contemporary manga, importance was placed on friendship, duty, training, and winning, key values that the readers embraced in the postwar era.So, there is an interplay between societal Confucian values already adhered to at some levels in the readership and what the editors and authors may be trying to promote into their stories.

Language of Keigo
These stories also illustrate core Confucian values that underpin Japanese society, from which much may be learned.For instance, rules of sonkeigo include three levels of politeness in the Japanese language: the plain or direct style, the distal or polite style, and the honorific style, Sonkeigo or keigo.Keigo is a type of language that requires a speaker to know his or her place within the context of whichever group or person with which he or she is speaking.If a speaker is in the out-group, she/he will need to use honorific language to honor the speakers with whom one is not as close, while using different language to humble oneself.Special verb forms and honorific prefixes are attached to nominals in order to show this respect.Mastering In the Footsteps of the Master keigo is important to make native speakers feel more comfortable when they are being addressed.When speaking with an older Japanese gentleman, it would be terribly inappropriate to use familiar forms, as it would show disrespect.Thus, keigo is used to preserve wa (harmony) by acknowledging differences between the speaker and who is being spoken to.
However, because of its power to localize and show the relative relationship between a speaker and the in or out group, keigo may also be used to distance oneself from an embarrassing or meiwaku person.In the Bleach series, there is an insecure character who is named Keigo, who is a class clown and given to excessive displays of emotion.He is often ignored or downplayed by members of the group who are embarrassed by his behavior.One classmate in particular, Mizuiro, often speaks in keigo to Keigo who catches on and asks why everyone is shifting to keigo (thereby distancing oneself by being overly polite.) In fact, as relationships grow into friendship, Japanese friends may tell foreign friends that they no longer have to use the polite or "distal" style, because they are comfortable with the degree of commonality and closeness that plain-form Japanese implies.Thus, not only are manga and anime excellent tools for students of Japanese language, but for students who wish to explore how the language functions to create harmony and establish group norms within the Confucian hierarchy.

Conclusion
Recent attention has been given to Japan's social ills.Stories of parasite singles, shut-ins (hikkikômori), freeter, low birth rate, oyaji-gari, and a few random acts by outlandish otaku are easy fodder for western reportage. 15While these stories are undoubtedly true, it is a sad fact that as a result of these stories, many in the West are given a mistaken impression that Japanese popular culture exists in a freakish, dysfunctional world of self-absorbed fantasy and abnormal obsession.Some may be inclined to think that the youth of Japan has abandoned its traditional values and gone off the deep end, but this is most certainly not the case.As is true with any subculture, those involved in these types of activities are by no means in the majority; a few bad examples do not represent the entire culture, in the same way, a few racy or depraved manga do not define the entire genre.On the whole, it is safe to say that members of Japanese society still adhere to a strong work ethic, traditional values, friendship, reciprocity, and propriety.In the examples of Shônen Jump manga and anime, we can see that these values not only are crucial to the power of the narrative, they are welcomed by readers.In the first chapter of his book, Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga, manga expert Fred Schodt demonstrates that manga are an important cultural medium worth studying due to their "unfiltered" nature, offering "the reader an extremely raw and personal view of the world" (31).This is true for many original titles, but in the case of publishers like Shonen Jump's Shûeisha, they are heavily edited; manga authors tend to create more of what they are required in conjunction with their editor.It would be worthwhile to study to determine whether or not the editors of Shonen Jump are purposefully directing the authors to infuse Confucian and other traditional values into their titles.As Shûeisha's senzoku system is being challenged, this may change.For more on the senzoku system, see Sharon Kinsella, Adult Manga.