THE EQUIVOCAL DAZAI OSAMU: 'ONE HUNDRED VIEWS OF FUJI' AND 'SCHOOLGIRL'

Dazai Osamu wrote The Setting Sun (1947) which defined a generation in post-war Japan in the same way that Sartre defined the new reality and mind-set of post-war France. This was a period in which there was almost no sense of continuity between one generation and the next. The void was filled by a profound sense of nihilism which was most clearly expressed by Dazai.

 

In the short story 'One Hundred Views of Mt Fuji' written in 1939 before the war Dazai was already prepared to cast a disparaging eye on his surroundings, in this case Mt Fuji, the most celebrated mountain in Japan. Deciding to visit his mentor Mr Ibuse at Tenka Chaya (tea-house) at Misaka Pass Dazai observes that the mountain is nothing like the famous paintings by the likes of Hiroshige and Hokusai instead the angle of the mountain is such that it is "almost pathetic as far as mountains go." His trip to the mountain is just as disappointing given that it involves a "bone-shaking, hour-long ride." All is not a total loss, however, and on a trip to his mentor's friend's house he sees a photograph of the mountain's  crater covered in snow like "a pure white waterlily." Glancing at the young woman his mentor has recommended for marriage he is inspired to  marry her. "That" he says, "was a Fuji I was grateful for." Later, when there is a snow fall at Misaka Pass, the narrator is called outside to admire the mountain. Observing the summit he notes that it is "pure and radiant and white." He is moved to exclaim "Not even the Fuji from Misaka Pass is to be scoffed at." Nothing in this world of fleeting sensations is unsullied for long, however, and when a group of prostitutes visit the tea-house the narrator is momentarily pained by his inability to change the world He then looks at Mt Fuji "looking for all the world like the Big Boss, squared off in an arrogant pose" and is relieved of his sense of responsibility.

 

The final insult arrives in the form of a bride who stops her car in order to spend some time outside the tea-house contemplating the mountain before her wedding. This was a scene that the narrator decides is "titillatingly romantic" until the bride does something unforgivable and gives a "great yawn." The mood is ruined and the young female servant at the tea-house condemns her as a "hussy". This embarrasses the narrator as his own plans for marriage are now well advanced and he has overcome the lack of financial support that his family is willing to provide. In the penultimate moment in the story two secretaries ask him to take a photograph of them with Mt Fuji in the background. He imagines their surprise when they develop the film and find he has photographed the mountain in such a way that they are not included in the picture. In this way he pays homage to the mountain saying "Goodbye Mt Fuji. Thanks for everything." The sceptical Dazai has to some extent fallen unwillingly under the spell of the mountain.

This sense of equivocation can also be seen in the short story 'Schoolgirl' when the narrator tells the reader that she occasionally pulls a few weeds near the front gate in order to do her "labor service" for mother. She wonders why, "there are some weeds you want to pull out and some you want to leave alone. They're all weeds, they all look exactly the same, so why are they all so different? Weeds that strike you a s darling and weeds that don't; lovely weeds and hateful weeds - why are they so clearly divided? There's no logic to it, of course. A woman's likes and dislikes are just so random and haphazard." Racked by self-doubt and loathing the narrator gives Dazai the opportunity here to explore some of his more misogynistic thoughts.