Yamato Damashi

[FastEd]

This could have gone anywhere, but the Iai section was looking a bit thin so...

I'd like to ask anyone interested in answering, what their opinion is on this issue.

How should we as foreign practicioners of Japanese martial arts deal with the concept of "Yamato Damashi"?

Points I'm considering right now:

---Is it irrelivant to us because we are not Japanese? Should we even try?

---Can we express our own cultural (national) spirit through the practice of Japanese martial arts, and is it not just as valid?

At the moment, I am of the opinion that because I am not Japanese I make no pretence to understanding Y.D. and will not pretend to.

The delema, however, is that in-order to relate to Japanese sensei I must try to understand it.

This is probably a stale topic, especially for those of you in Japan, but I'd be interested in your thoughts none the less, or at least, a helpful pointer to sources that I might be able to read.

Sincerly,

[nodachi]

For those of us who are still new (raises hand), can you explain what Yamato Damashi is more clearly?

[ben]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the term yamato damashi (hard to translate, kind of "the spirit of Ancient Japan") is a largely outmoded expression, even in Japan. I personally think the term 'kigurai' contains the positive traits of 'yamato damashi' without the negative nationalistic/historical overtones. The latter, IMHO, belongs to the era of the Rising Sun flag.

I don't think you have to understand it to understand Japanese sensei. There's actually nothing to understand. Besides, any sensei who believes fervently in yamato damashi is unlikely to take a foreigner on as a student!

What are others' thoughts?

b

[Confound]

I've been told I have yamato damashi, which was shocking at the time. Many Japanese who study older arts seriously (from Noh to iai), do believe in Yamato Damashi, but the people I've met seem to think that foreigners can understand this, and even have it. Even though it seems contradictory to the definition, an older lady, who studies Noh, told me that Yamato Damashi is an idea, and it can be understood and embraced by anyone.

Albeit, there will be people (especially in a chronically isolationist and partly xenophobic nation like Japan), that fervently declare Yamato Damashi is only for the Japanese; but like any idealistic claim, there will be dissenting voices.

As to the suggestion that the term may have fallen out of use, I've heard it very often. However, Miyagi is in the traditional backwater of Japan. There are rice fields near my school that are still harvested and sown by hand, honestly. (It could have more to do with Shinto ritual than anything else, but I don't know.)

c

[ben]

Confound is right, there will always be varieties of opinion on something like this. Having spoken with a (not old or traditional) Japanese friend about this term, he confirmed that it is a term he is regular use.

For some reason whenever I hear it though, I think of those big black buses with their PAs blaring nationalist propaganda...

So maybe the first thing to ask is not "how do we deal with it?" but "how do we define it?"

FastEd and others, I'd be interested to hear your interpretation of what it means, or what meaning has been given to you for it.

b

[Confound]

Ben,

Those yakuza busses can run themselves off a cliff! I live in an area crawling with bosozoku (bike gangs), they're like petty yakuza. It's pretty sad. I hear those speeches all the time.

Stupid vans.

In response to the original thread contents:

You don't need to worry about Yamato Damashi. It really doesn't have anything to do with your martial arts studies, unless you are under the delusion that you're studying to be a samurai.

I like to delude myself into thinking that someday the poison known as nationalism will dig itself a hole so deep that it will never be able to crawl out. Your kendou or iai or any other martial art is only about you and your personal development. It has nothing to do with national spirit. It's that kind of thinking that makes the world a dangerous place... Having pride is one thing, but dying for a piece of fabric is another.

c

[kendokata]

Howdy All,
I think I would tend to agree with Confound and that it has to do with personal development. Then again, I was there in the car with Ed and I'm pretty sure this thread is my fault. Sorry to cause you trouble Ed.

Later
Michael

[mingshi]

Kanji feed again:
Yamato: Imperial Japan
Damashi: Soul/ Spirit

I must say, as a Chinese, I would be upset by this term very much. In Hong Kong, there're kids wearing T-Shirts with the writing on it. It may look cool, but when you think about it... can't stop thinking about why... They look like some retard who didn't know what happened during the WWII.

I had strong spirit. Yes.
But not Yamato Damashii. No way, sorry.

That's different from being mistaken as a Japanese. Very different.

[Confound]

Mingshi, I greatly hope that you never come to Japan, because over here, they call the 'Rape of Nanking' the 'excursion' or the 'voyage' to China. Occasionally they might call it a 'civilizing mission'. I shudder to think of it.

c