Friday, October 9

Today in Culture and Education in Japan, we discussed the concept of Orientalism. Kouji sensei (sensei means teacher) asked us to come to class with examples of Orientalism. Another student from U of I brought up The Mikado, a nineteenth-century operetta composed by Gilbert and Sullivan of England. The only time I have seen this operetta was in the summer of the year 2000, when I was an eleven-year-old going into sixth grade. I loved the operetta at the time, but haven't given it much thought since. But yesterday in class, my classmate discussed how it is an example of Orientalism because it portrays Japan based on views held by westerners that are offensive to some Japanese. As soon as he said that, my mind immediately jumped to the female lead's name, which is Yum-Yum. My classmate said that the operetta became hugely popular in England upon release; however, when a member of the Japanese royal family came to visit Japan in the late 1800s, all performances were temporarily suspended because society knew that the production would offend him. I am now curious to see the operetta again and reevaluate my opinion based on what I learned in class yesterday.