The Fortnightly Rant for January 29, 2011, from The New Hampshire Gazette, Volume 255, No. 9, posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2011.
Friday, January 28, 2011 — The gavel that symbolizes control of the House of Representatives passed from the Democratic Party to the Republicans earlier this month, when the 112th Congress was sworn in — a thing that has happened only five times over the past century.
The historical nature of this event made us wonder what a little research might reveal. Recent history, though, such as Newt Gingrich’s takeover in the 1990s, shed no light. Our answers came from a long time ago, in a nation far, far away ….
We turned to Japan, between the 14th and 17th centuries, because the Republicans seem to be behaving like characters in a Noh play and running Congress as if it were Kabuki theater.
Some might protest that comparing a set of modern American politicians with some actors in an antiquated, foreign, and dramatically stylized theatrical tradition is a gratuitous sign of contempt. They’re wrong. A sign of contempt, yes, but hardly gratuitous.
Not that we’re unsympathetic. After all, the Republican Party’s affinity for Noh could simply stem from its obsession with tradition — something we ourselves are powerless to resist. But, like “strange women lyin’ in ponds distributin’ swords,” an overweening fancy for archaic symbolism is hardly a “basis for a system of government. [Political] power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.”*
As we had suspected, Japanese theatrical traditions do exhibit some surprising parallels with the modern Republican style of governing.
Take Noh, for example, a rigidly codified art form based on about 250 plays, many dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Because those old plays still exist, there is little demand for new ones — innovation is simply irrelevant.
Some other reasons Republicans might find these traditions so attractive include rigorous exclusivity and the transfer of hereditary privileges. Professional Noh actors are all registered members of a single organization which encompasses five schools. The schools all operate on the principal of iemoto, which translates literally as “family foundation.” The iemoto of a given school is accepted by all as its supreme authority. Successors are typically direct descendants. In some cases their lineage can be traced back 50 generations.
The iemoto system has been characterized as “rigid, expensive, nepotistic, authoritarian and undemocratic,” according to Wikipedia. One can hardly be surprised that Republicans find this combination irresistible.
Mythological creatures figure largely in both Republican doctrine and the Noh canon. In Noh plays, monsters goblins, and demons all have active roles. In Republican politics those roles are all played by Demo[n]crats.
In Noh, however, demons wield tremendous supernatural powers, while in Republican mythology, any Demo[n]crat can easily be defeated by any God-fearing “Conservative” with a job. We’re not sure what entity has the upper hand in the Noh pantheon, but in the Republican universe there is no force stronger than the Invisible Hand of the Market.
Noh and Kabuki are not the same thing, but, as with America’s two dominant political parties, it can be difficult for the casual observer to tell them apart.
Kabuki originated early in the 17th century when Izumo no Okuni, the daughter of a blacksmith, began performing nembutsu odori — dances in honor of Amitābha, the Buddha of Infinite Light — in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto.
One might reasonably expect that these performances would be spiritual in nature, but one would be wrong. Okuni’s performances were memorable for their sensuality. She soon gathered about her a troupe of other women, some of them prostitutes. Their performances quickly became popular due to their startling depictions of the interactions between ordinary mortals.
As Kabuki evolved, two styles developed in different cities. Kyoto’s wagoto style was soft, gentle, and naturalistic. In Edo (later known as Tokyo), the aragoto style emerged. Loosely translated, it means “reckless warrior.”
It seems undeniable that many of the fundamental and universal elements of human nature that manifest themselves in Noh and Kabuki theater can also be observed in modern Republicanism. Still, some subtle distinctions must be made.
Kabuki was born in a dry riverbed and was brought to life by prostitutes, but as it grew, it gradually became more reputable. Although it was not born in Washington, D.C., the Republican Party is right at home in that city, which was built upon a pestilential swamp, and the longer the GOP reigns, the more degraded the place becomes.
In Kabuki theater today, both the wagato and the aragoto styles are still represented, often in the same performance. In today’s Republican Party, the name of Nelson Rockefeller is never spoken aloud — it’s all aragoto, all the time.
Lest anyone think we’re being too fanciful with this purported connection between Japanese art and American politics, we offer the following tidbit from a paper entitled The Mikado, Guranto Shogun and the Rhapsody of U.S.-Japanese Relations in early Meiji, by Daniel A. Metraux, published in Education About Asia, a journal of the Association for Asian Studies:
After leaving office, former President Ulysses S. Grant, the second Republican to hold that office, “attended a program of Noh performances at the palatial home of Meiji leader Iwakura Tomomi and later urged his hosts to do everything to preserve Noh. Grant’s words spurred a strong and successful movement by Iwakura and others to save Noh and to pay more attention to traditional arts before they were lost.”
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975.