ŠĀH-NĀMA TRANSLATIONS

xv. INTO JAPANESE

After ʿOmar Ḵayyām, whose Robāʿiyāt was introduced to Japanese readers around the turn of the 20th Century, Ferdowsi was the first Persian poet to attract the attention of Japanese writers and authors, who translated selections of his Šāh-nāma, first and mostly the tragedy of Rostam and Sohrāb, into Japanese. Adventures and fates of the heroes of Šāh-nāma appeals to the Japanese, who find in them a close similarity to the ill-fated heroes in their own mythology and history.

In both fables and narratives, the Japanese are more interested in and attracted to adventures and fates of heroes, historical ties with other nations, amazing events, similarities between myths and tales of other cultures and their own and their reflection in literary works. The Šāh-nāma is rich in all these elements and relates the adventurous exploits and sacrifices of heroes in fascinating stories. The Japanese specially sympathize with fallen heroes in the Šāh-nāma (e.g., Sohrāb), whose fate and tragic end remind them of some touching scenes of their own history, of which some typical examples are found in the Heike monogatari (Tales of Heike), whose stories were recited with the accompaniment of harp (Jap. biwa) in gatherings (performances called Heike-biwa) in the same way as the narratives of the Šāh-nāma are used in the Persian tradition of naqqāli (professional storytelling).

The Šāh-nāma was introduced to the literary world of Japan in 1916 with the publication of an abridged translation, titled Perushiya shinwa (Legends of Persia), by Bunmei Tsuchiya (1891-1990; FIGURE 3). Higuchi was a pioneer pilot and the first Japanese pilot to fly over China a warplane designed and crafted by Japan, thereby distinguishing himself as a national hero. He later became the military attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Paris, where he developed his literary skills and became fascinated by Persian literature.

In his introduction to Higuchi’s work, Saboru Nagafuji likened Sohrāb’s taking leave from Tahmina to a scene of a warplane (kamikaze) pilot bidding farewell to his mother before leaving for a suicide attack. Nagafuji refered also to the similarity between stories of the Šāh-nāma and Japanese Kabuki plays, naming some famous plays such as Ichinotabi futaba gunki as examples. Nagafuji reminds the reader that values cherished by the Samurai, such as ninjō (affection and tenderness) and giri (zeal, mettle; duties to one’s lord, family or one’s name), find abundant reflections in the Šāh-nāma. He further pointed out that the Šāh-nāma generates in the reader the same feeling as works of Chikamatsu and Mokuami (famous kabuki playwrights) do. He concluded his introduction by stating that the spirit of the Šāh-nāma is opposing the doctrine of Marxism; a typical example of employing literature to fight the most threatening ideology in those years of war.

In the same year, 1941, a brief introduction to Ferdowsi and the Šāh-nāma appeared in Isuramu no jijō (The situation of Islam), a journal published by the Foreign Ministry of Japan. Names of the contributors are not given in the journal. An abridged translation of tales of the Šāh-nāma by Tsuneo Kuroyanagi was published in 1969. The work, aimed for general public and rendered into Japanese in a plane language, has been well received. In his introduction, the translator underscores the importance of the Šāh-nāma for understanding Iranian mind and spirit, and finds in the everlasting struggle between Ahura Mazdā and Ahriman (qq.v.) an element reflecting onerous life and endeavors of ancient Iranians. He also finds a similarity between Iranian’s belief in farrah-e izadi (see FARR[AH]) and their devotion to Shiʿism.

See also: JAPAN xii. TRANSLATIONS OF PERSIAN LITERATURE INTO JAPANESE.