"Gundam" and the Future of Japanoid Art
Author(s): TAKAYUKI TATSUMI and Christopher Bolton
Source: Mechademia, Vol. 3, Limits of the Human (2008), pp. 191-198
Published by: University of Minnesota Press
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TAKAYUKI TATSUMI
Translated Bolton
byChristopher
Gundam and the
Future of Art
Japanoid
I
When I saw the Kubrick-conceived, filmAI in the sum-
Spielberg-directed
mer of 2001, I immediatelythoughtof the Japanese mecha traditionfrom
Gundamon down to Evangélion.Al is fullof images that look like live-action
realizationsof animes ideas- fromthe settingtwo thousandyearshence,in
a worldemergingfromthe threatof nuclearweapons, to the submarinecity
in the finalscenes.
In the same year,I wrote an afterwordfor the new paperbackedition
of Tsukini mayu,chini wa kajitsu(2000, Cocoons on the moon, fruiton the
earth), a Gundam novel writtenby the popular fictionwriterFukui Haru-
toshi.1It was an assignmentI eagerlyaccepted: Fukui had alreadygained
acclaim as a talentednew writerafterwinninga series of fictionprizes, in-
cludingthreeprominentawards forhis thirdnovel Bõkokuno iijisu(Aimless
aegis) in 1999.2But his reputationderivedless fromsciencefictionthan from
espionage novels centeredon internationalintrigue.His books frequently
addressed the justificationforand latent power of Japans armed forcesin
the contextof the U.S.-Japan JointSecurityTreaty.Still,it is not so sur-
prisingthat a youngauthor with an interestin militaryaffairswould turn
to Gundam, and Fukui puts his characteristicspin on the Gundam world,
0Ш
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highlighting issues associated withJapans self-defenseforces.(For example,
it is in exchangeforlunar technologynecessaryforself-defensethat Gwen
offersuse of the battleshipWillgemand the TurnA Gundams.)
About a monthafterthe publicationof the paperbackeditionof Tsukini
mayu, the terroristattacksofSeptember11and the ensuingIraq warrenewed
controversyover the role of Japans selfdefenseforces,and Fukuibecame a
hotterpropertythanever.In sum,the anime imaginationoffuturewar,with
its emphasison mecha,meshedcloselywiththe emergenceofthewar on ter-
rorand even seemed to anticipateits dynamics.
We can tracethe historyof the mecha back to RobertA. Heinleins 1959
novel StarshipTroopers , whichintroducedthe conceptof the "poweredsuit."
Thenovelspawneda stormyideologicaldebateabout whetherHeinleins ideas
werefascist.In Japan,too, a violentdisputeeruptedbetweenYano Tetsu,the
translatorof the 1967 Japanese version,and the criticIshikawaKyõji.Need-
less to say,the impact of Heinlein on Japa-
nese prose science fictionis complex and
THE ANIMEIMAGINATIONOF
will continueto change. But StarshipTroop-
FUTURE WAR,WITHITS
ers had another legacy: in 1977,Hayakawa
EMPHASIS ON MECHA/
publishersissued a paperbackeditionwitha
MESHEP CUOSEt-y WITHTHE
coverillustrationof the poweredsuit drawn
EMERGENCE OF THE WARON
by Studio Nue (Figure 1), and this image
TERROR ANP EVEN SEEMEP
would have a profoundimpacton the design
TO ANTICIPATEITS pyNAMICS-
of "mobile suits" in Japanese robot anime,
- 1
Ц startingwithGundam.3
Heinleindescribesthe suit as makingits wearerlook like "a big steel go-
rilla."The suit is compactenoughto fitinsidea small space capsule,but pow-
erfulenough that a single soldier can wipe out a tank division.Althoughit
weighstwo thousandpounds, the suits advancedfeedbackand amplification
technologydo not requirespecial trainingto use: it can sense whatthe wear-
er s bodyis tryingto do and magnifyit. Thenoveldescribesthisas "controlled
force. . . forcecontrolledwithoutyourhavingto thinkabout it. . . . that is
the beautyof a poweredsuit: you dont have to thinkabout it."4This idea of
powerwithoutconsciousthoughtsurelyhad greatappeal afterthe turmoilof
the 1960s,duringa new decade in whichdesignphilosophygraduallyreplaced
political ideology,and the postwar emphasis on a politics of perseverance
(manifestedparticularlyin sportsmanga) gave way to an interestin cutting-
edge aesthetics.Tired of agonizingover abstractproblemswithno solution
or conclusion,people were entrancedby a technologythat symbolizedsuch
stylishagility- the mobilityto outflankanyopponent.
192 TAKAYUKI
TATSUMI
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figurei. Poweredsuitillustration oneofseveral
byKatõNaoyuki, StudioNuecovers
forthe
Hayakawa bunkoedition
ofRobertA.Heinlein's Theseillustrations
Troopers.
Starship exerted
an
importantinfluence
onthevisualtradition
ofJapanese
mecha with
beginning Gundam.
MANDTHEFUTURE
GUNDA OFJAPANOID
ART 193
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TodayJapaneseanime is a globalphenomenon,and whenan authorwith
Fukuis politicalconcernsturnsto Gundamto questionthe dynamicsof early
twenty-first-century globalism,he inevitablyresurrectssome of the ques-
tionsthat Heinleinposed duringthe Cold War.But even todayin thewake of
September11,the tendencyto use science fictionnovels as materialforex-
ploringideologicaldebates (so pronouncedin the 1960s and 1970s) is on the
wane. Fukuis screenplayforthe 2005 remakeof G. I. Samurai(1979,Sengoku
jieitai), forexample,is a quintessentialpiece of new centuryentertainment.5
In her "CyborgManifesto,"Donna Harawayanalyzed the status of the
subject under hypercapitalismand linked the union of technologyand the
organic to the notion of racial and cul-
tural hybridityas well. Haraway declared
ТОРАУAS THE EAST AMP WEST
famouslythat "we are all chimeras... we
TEEM WITHOTAKU,WE HAVE
are cyborgs."6But even if this is becom-
IROMICAUV REACHEP THE
ing a world of cyborgs,thereis one place
POIMT WHERE WE CAM PECCARE
where cyborgsubjectivityhas been more
THATWE ARE AU- JAPAMOIPS-
thoroughly naturalized than anywhere
1 else. That is the discursive
N space of Japan,
whichwas strippedof its ideological certaintiesafterWorldWar II, forced
to discard all but the shell of the traditionalemperorsystem,and made to
accept Americandemocracywhile donning the protectivesuit of the U.S.-
Japan JointSecurityTreaty.And ifall Japanesehave become cyborgsin this
sense, thennow theyare also turningintovirtualJapanesesubjectsthatcan
be reproducedoutside Japan. Fifteenyearsago I startedusing the term"Ja-
panoid" to describethis new subject.7Todayas the East and West teem with
otaku,we have ironicallyreachedthe point wherewe can declarethatwe are
all Japanoids.
Fukuis alternatehistorynovel Shüsenno rõrerai(2002, Lorelei at wars
end) takesplace in thefinaldaysofWorldWarII, whentheJapanesenavyhas
acquireda Germansubmarinewitha secretweapon on board,a sensor array
calledtheloreleisystemthatcan trackand displayanyship on thebattlefield.
I can't help but thinkthat the Lorelei Systemis an analog to the cyborgsof
todays Gundam generation.8In this sense, Fukuis novel presentsan inci-
sive commentaryon thepostwarJapanese,and on the fatethathas rendered
them cyborgsor Japanoids.At the end of WorldWar II, no one could have
foreseenthe strangelyglobal significancethat this Japanoid subject would
assume fiftyyears later. If Fukuis twenty-first-century novel draws on cy-
borgtheoryto undertakea kindofNew Historicistrereadingofthatera,then
its view of the past maywellhintat the futureof Japanoidart.
TATSUMI
194 TAKAYUKI
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RESPONSE
ChristopherBolton
It is ironicthat TakayukiTatsumitraces the originof Gundams distinctive
visuals to StarshipTroopers,because whateverelse that novel is, it is reso-
lutelyverbal.Evenwhenit is not preachingitsparticularpoliticalphilosophy,
Heinleins narrativeis virtuallydevoid of visual descriptions.This contrasts
sharplywiththe visual richnessof Gundam,somethingthat was on display
at a recentJapanese exhibitionof Gundam-inspiredcontemporaryart. Tat-
sumi's essay appeared in the catalog forthis exhibition,titledGundamGen-
9
eratingFutures:Kitarubekimiraino tameni (Figure2). The show (curatedby
AzumayaTakashi) touredseveralJapanesemuseumsfrom2005 to 2007,and
I saw it in spring2007 at the newlyopened KyotoInternationalManga Mu-
seum.10
The venue was certainlyappropriateto the show: the museum- a joint
-
projectby KyotoSeika Universityand the cityof Kyoto has a researchand
readingcollectionof hundreds of thousands of prewar,postwar,and con-
temporaryJapanese comics,all housed in the formerTatsuike Elementary
School buildingdowntown.On the lowerlevel,olderor rarermaterialssit on
rows of compactshelvingin a climate-controlled space, but the upperlevels
the
preserve nostalgic feel of the old elementaryschool,withpatronsofvari-
ous ages wanderingthroughhalls and formerclassroomsthat are now lined
withshelvesofmanga.When I was there,thevisitorsreadingon the spacious
(if artificial)lawn outside were watched over by a giant mecha stenciledon
the museumwindows,the icon of the Gundamexhibit(Figure3).
As if takingtheircue fromthis initialimage,severalpieces in the show
inside used effectsof scale to underlinethe intimacyand alienation Gun-
dam fans feel toward these humanoid shells or machines. One room was
completelyfilledwitha huge plastersculptureof the series'scharacterSayla
Mass, six meterslong and almost threemetershigh. The figure(by Nishio
Yasuyuki)was down on herhands and knees,hermouthtwistedin a grimace,
her stomach gaping open to reveal a life-sizedcockpit.Also playingon the
size of the machines,calligrapherYokoyamaHõran createda giant wooden
writingbrush in the shape of the outsized beam riflescarriedby the mo-
bile suits. Yokoyamaalso contributeda scrollwith dialogue fromthe series
renderedin archaichentaiganacalligraphy, and therewere otherpieces that
combinedtraditionalfineartswithavant-pop:TenmyõyaHisashi produceda
screenpaintingofthe iconicRX-78-2model suitin thestyleofthe Edo-period
Kanõ school,completewithgold leafbackground.(Thisinversionofpast and
ANDTHEFUTURE
GUNDAM ART 195
OFJAPANOID
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figure2 (left).Gundam
exhibit
flyer.
figure3 (below).InterioroftheKyoto
International
Manga Museum. Thebuilding
mixes modernarchitectural
elements, like
thiselevatedbridgeandtheglasswallat
with
right, traditional
featuresthatrecallthe
building's as
origins anelementary school.
Partsoftheinterior theclass-
preserve
rooms, wooden
hallways, andother
stairs,
features
oftheprewar school,adding an
elementofchildhoodnostalgiathatseems
from
inseparable themanga experience.
PhotographbyChristopherBolton.
196 TAKAYUKI
TATSUMI
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futureand the notion of a traditionaltomorrowcorrespondto an important
currentin Tatsumis work,whichoftentreatsthe waythatJapanese "deriva-
tions"trumptheirso-calledoriginals;forexample,the complexweb of Gun-
dam influencesand appropriationstracedin the presentessay undermines
any simplenotion of originaland copy.)
Elsewherein the exhibitionand the catalog,artiststook up the Gundam
franchisein digitalphotography, abstractsculpture,graphicart,and partici-
patoryinstallations, with effectsthat ranged fromplayfulthroughdarkly
pessimisticto simplyironic.TokiwaHibikis photo series "a girlin the room
withacguy"depicteda fetchingmodel posing withthousands of LP records,
includingseveralwith Gundam images on the recordjackets. Tokiwa'spro-
vocativebut clearlystaged photographsaddress the notion of otakufantasy
moredirectlythan most of the otherart.And his image of the youngperson
standingbeforea wall of recordsactuallyresemblesthe scenes ofyoungpeo-
ple browsingshelves of manga elsewherein the museum. But Tokiwas was
certainlynot the onlypiece to hold a mirrorup to the viewer,nor was the gi-
ant Sayla Mass sculpturewithits open stomachcockpitthe onlyinstallation
thattemptedpatronsto literallyenterinside the art.
Tatsumis notion of cyborgidentityincludesthe wayhumans absorb and
become absorbedby technologyas well as a broaderkind of culturalamalga-
mation,but it also embracesthewaysthe storiesof our own livesmergewith
fictionto produce new hybridnarratives.In his writing,this is sometimes
expressed with autobiographicalanecdotes, like the personal experiences
of 2001 that structurethis essay. In the Gundam exhibition,the pieces by
Tokiwa,Nishio, and other artists engaged patrons personallyin this same
kindof narrativeand bodilydialoguewiththe art. In thatrespectthe exhibi-
tion representsat least one fascinatingtrajectoryof the Japanoid art that
Tatsumidescribes.
Notes
1.FukuiHarutoshi, Tsukinimayu,chiniwakajitsu
(Cocoonsonthemoon,fruit on
theearth),3 bunkobonvols.(Tokyo:
Gentõsha,2001).Based onthe VGundam orTurn A
Gundam in
published 2000
thisnovelwasoriginally
series, withthetitle
TaanЕе Gandamu
(TurnA Gundam), 2 vols.(Tokyo:HarukiNoberusu).
2. In1997,FukuisfirstlongnovelKawanofukasa ni(Howdeepisyourriver,Mr.
guard?)wasa nominee fortheEdogawa Rampòprizeformystery andfantasy,andhe
wontheprizethefollowing yearwithhissecondnovelTwelveY.O.In1999Bõkoku noIijisu
scoreda triple
sweep:thesecond Õyabu Haruhikoprizeand theannual from
prizes the
ANDTHEFUTURE
GUNDAM ART 197
OFJAPANOID
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Mystery Writers ofJapan, Inc.,andtheJapanAdventure FictionAssociation. (Allthree
novelswerepublished by Ködansha inTokyo.)
3. Robert Heinlein, StarshipTroopers (NewYork:G.P.Putnam's Sons,1959);trans-
latedbyYanoTetsuas Uchu. nosenshi (Tokyo: Hayakawa Bunko, 1977).Fora brief discus-
sionofHeinleins for
significanceJapanese science see
fiction, the introduction toRobot
GhostsandWired Dreams: Japanese ScienceFiction from to ed.
OriginsAnime, Christopher
Bolton, IstvanCsicsery-Ronay Jr.,andTatsumi Takayuki(Minneapolis: University ofMin-
nesotaPress,2007).[There wasalsoa Starship TroopersanimeOVAreleased in1988.It
wasproduced bySunrise, thestudiothatmadetheGundam anime, anditsdirector, Amino
Tetsurõ, worked onthestoryboards fortheMobile SuitZetaGundam andTurn A Gundam
series.- Trans.,withthanks toBrianRuh]
4. Heinlein, StarshipTroopers, 123-26.
5.Sengoku dir.SaitõMitsumasa
jieitai, (1979);translated as G.I. Samurai, VHS
(Xenon, 2002);Sengoku jieitai1579,dir.TezukaMasaaki, screenplay byFukuiHarutoshi
(2005).Bothfilms werebasedonHanmura Ryö's1971novelSengoku jieitai(Tokyo: Ka-
dokawaBunko, 2005).
6. DonnaJ.Haraway, "ACyborg Manifesto: Science,Technology, andSocialist-Fem-
inismintheLateTwentieth Century," in Simians Cyborgs,and Women : TheReinvention of
Nature (NewYork:Routledge, 1991), 150.
7. Takayuki Tatsumi, Japanoido sengen (AJapanoid manifesto) (Tokyo: Hayakawa
Shobö,1993).
8. [Fukuisnovelwasmadeintoa live-action filmin2005thatfeatured thecontribu-
tionsofmanynotable namesinJapanese anime, including HiguchiShinji, OshiiMamoru,
Izubuchi Yutaka, AnnoHideaki, andGundam s ownTornino Yoshiyuki. - Trans., with
thanks toBrianRuh]
9. Takayuki Tatsumi, "Japanoido aatonomirai" (Thefuture ofJapanaoid art),in
Gundam Generating Futures:Kitarubekimirai notameni(Forthefuture thatshouldcome),
ed.Sugawa Yoshiyuki, Hattori Reiji,andAzumaya Takashi (Tokyo:Sötsü,2005),102-3.
10.http://kyotomm.com.
198 TAKAYUKI
TATSUMI
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