A Study of Hayashi Fumiko “Borneo Daiya”：The Multiple Faces of Borneo

DEWI, Fitriana Puspita

doi:2021.13.1.139

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 13(1); 2021 > Article

Article

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2021;13(1): 139-152.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2021.13.1.139

A Study of Hayashi Fumiko “Borneo Daiya”：The Multiple Faces of Borneo

Fitriana Puspita DEWI

Ph.d Student. Ritsumeikan University Graduate School of Letters

林芙美子｢ボルネオダイヤ｣論 ―― 多面体ファセットとしてのボルネオ

フィトリアナ·プスピタ·デウィ

立命館大学大学院文学研究科博士後期課程。日本近代文学。

Correspondence Fitriana Puspita DEWI ,Email: fitrianapd@gmail.com

Published online: 30 December 2021.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on Hayashi Fumiko’s short story “Borneo Daiya” which is written based on her experiences in Borneo in 1943. Through stories about Japanese people who were sent to Borneo during the wartime such as Ianfu (Comfort Women) and Civilian Army, Fumiko raises the reality of Japanese Colonialization in Borneo -as the land of Japanese occupation- and its reflection into Japan itself. By exploring the meaning of the diamonds mined in Borneo for each character, this study analyze how these diamonds represent the realities of Japanese Colonialism in Borneo and examine the author’s motives in writing about this theme. In the first section, this study considers the importance of geographical aspects of the novel. In the second section it examines the relationship between Hayashi Fumiko and Borneo. In the third section there is an analysis of the significance of the platonic love between Manabe and Tamae, which emerges in the shadow of the Japanese colonization of South Borneo. In the fourth section, this study illustrates the form of pseudo-patriotism that Manabe’s wife displays in offering the diamond to the government. In the fifth section, this study investigates how Tamae’s body is represented as being analagous to the diamonds themselves from a colonialist point of view. Lastly, this study discusses the author’s closeness to Borneo and the island’s significance for Hayashi Fumiko.

Keywords: Borneo, Japanese Comfort Women, Japanese Colonization, Pseudo-Patriotism, Wartime

キ―ワ―ド: ボルネオ, 日本女性慰安婦, 日本植民地, 疑似愛国心, 戦時中