harakiri essay- obligations in conflict

Japanese literature includes themes that deal with Japanese morals and values in their culture. The movie Harakiri, the stories Patriotism, and “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” all have something in common; they all have much to do with obligations in conflict. They deal with specific cultural obligations and a conflict that the main character has with that obligation. Each also has a resolution that makes sense related to their culture.
In the movie Harakiri, the producer depicts an obligation that one of the characters, Hamshiro Tsegumo, must follow through. Hamshiro’s obligation is to commit seppuku and to also to take the message to Motome that Saito had made a mistake. The mistake was not honoring Motome’s request to leave and return in two days for seppuku. Motome had to tell his family that he must perform seppuku because his family was waiting for him diligently at his home. But Saito, being a samurai with his so called “honor,” would not admit that he made a mistake. This is where the conflict begins because Hamshiro now feels that he must fight Saito and his clan of samurais to avenge the death of Motome and to show them that they are not honorable men. In the end the conflict with the dishonorable samurais is resolved because Hamshiro commits seppuku. He would rather kill himself honorably than be shot to death with guns. He went to the House of Iyi to commit seppuku and in a sense he left the House of Iyi through Seppuku.
In the story Patriotism the author, Yukio Mishima, illustrates a couple who were just married who each have cultural obligations. The obligation of the husband is he must go to war with his division since he is a Lieutenant of the Konoe Transport Battalion. His wife’s obligation was to follow her husband’s directions. She did whatever he ordered her to do. The lieutenant however had a conflict. He was certain that it would be his duty to fight against the imperial forces, but he knew he couldn’t attack the imperial forces. This is because his friends and fellow comrades were fighting on the side with the imperial forces. So he decided to commit harakiri. His wife decided she would do the same and commit jigaki, because her obligation was to her husband. The conflict was resolved by the Lieutenant committing hara-kiri. He felt obligated to commit this act to resolve his conflict and in the end he achieved his goal.
Kikuchi Kan demonstrates another good example of a cultural obligation in conflict. Through the story “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” he sends the reader a message. The message is that people need to control their lives and know how to live a long and prosperous life. Lord Tadanao’s whole life to him was expectations and obligations. He always had to be the best at everything he did, until he learned that his life was a lie. He then didn’t know how to live his life because he didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t true. Lord Tadanao thought he knew his life; he thought he was the best and so he acted like he was best. In truth he wasn’t the best and from then on his conflict was that he couldn’t live life the same way again. His resolution was to live in exile so he solved his problem himself. In the same way, people need to see that they have obligations and need to work them out themselves and not have others just give them everything. If people are given everything and told they are the best, then they are not in control of their life. People will then behave just like action figures who just do things because others make them or let them do these things. Lord Tadanao’s resolution worked for him and he made the decision himself. He, like the other main characters, controlled and decided his life for himself.
In conclusion, the creators of the above movie and stories showed the importance of obligations and the conflicts that the Japanese people have in their everyday culture. The Japanese people feel that they have to follow their customs day in and day out. The conflict that each character has is because of the rigid rules that accompany the culture. Each character’s conflict relates to how he deals with Japanese culture and the way he chooses to resolve it fits in with the Japanese way of solving problems. Thus, the authors can use these stories to teach each Japanese citizen who reads or watches the movie how to resolve his or her issue with the Japanese culture.