 |
| Photo by: Soohyun Yang |
I had never thought about the yen in the context of Japanese
literature until I took Japanese Literature in Translation with Hanami sensei. He just asked a straightforward
question, “Who is on the 1,000¥?”
 |
| Natsume Sōseki - 1000¥ Photo by: Soohyun Yang |
The class answered, “Natsume Sōseki.” Sōseki is the author of the
most celebrated Japanese classic, Kokoro,
which depicts the internal conflict of the Japanese people as they begin to absorb more western values during the Meiji Restoration.
What is so intuitive about a famous figure gracing the cover of
the most frequently used banknote in Japan? Although I couldn’t pinpoint the
insight right away, the juxtaposition of the Japanese yen to the U.S. dollar
made it clear that the two nations were telling their stories from different perspectives. The dollar glorifies the founding fathers. Their image represents the
importance of political power in the U.S. However, most of the figures on the
Japanese banknotes are writers who propelled the nation through the changes in
Japan’s social landscape. They exposed the struggles of a nation transitioning
into a new era and shaped the image of Japan as a crossroad between the east
and the west.
I hope to guide you all through Japan with respect for the value
of money and the values of the nation shown within it.
P.S.
•Prominent writer in the Meiji Era that depicted life in the red
light district as well as the suffering of the lower class
 |
| Ichiyō Higuchi - 5000¥ Photo by: Soohyun Yang |
•Published the English-Japanese Dictionary
•Encouraged the citizens to shape the political and social
structure of Japan through his newspaper called Jiji Shinpo
 |
| Fukuzawa Yukichi - 10000¥ Photo by: Soohyun Yang |
Soohyun Yang
B.A. International Economics and Japanese Language and Literature 2014
Sigur Center 2013 Japanese Language Fellow
Sendagaya Japanese Institute, Japan
No comments:
Post a Comment