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영어

This paper is to figure out Kenji's view on Nature. To accomplish this aim, what is mentioned has to be developed in order as follows:
1) Kenji's cosmology and imagination
2) nature as a place where all the living things constantly defy each other and deprive the others of life.
3) the modern Western thinking and animism
4) reconciliation between man and the other living creatures

1) As for Kenji's literary works, we can't describe their essence with a word. They should be regarded not merely as childish whimsical fancy, but "the four-dimensional world" evoked without restriction by his imagination. What Kenji calls the imaginative "four-dimensional
world", by which he means not pure intellection so much as sensitivity and self-awareness which are grounded in experience, is originally equiped with imaginative competence and prominent mysterious experience. He believes in the "four-dimensional" realm which is
different from other real domain in everyday life. He was so extremely rich in his imagination that he felt the urge to express himself through many persons and living things. In reality, he represents a wide range of microscopic domain to the maximam, e.g. the crab's biosphere at the
bottom of the river to the galactic cosmos in the infinite sky.
2) What Kenji takes as characteristics of nature is, first of all, that all animals, including human being, lie in the relationship between the killer and the killed, i.e. the eating and the eaten, and yet that only on the basis of this severe environment each of them can keep his own life. In other words, the real domain means nothing other than the place where all living things are subject to the severe laws of nature, e.g. law, such as rule of a food chain or survival of the fittest. As the
weaker is compelled to become the victim of the stronger, Kenji's serious agony in his consciousness of this fact urged him to focus his attention on this theme and to write down many stories, such as "フランドン農學校の豚 (The Pig of Flandon Agricultural School)", "よだかの星 (The Yodaka-Star)" and so on.
3) In the history of the West-European thinking man has challenged nature. He has also conquered everything in nature as he desired. Since the Ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras made an assertion that man is just the only decisive criterion for judging everything, human energetic activties are a sequence of brilliant victories for the outer nature. Similarly, according to "Genesis" of the Old Testment God gave the human race "imago dei", the right to control the outer nature around him. The perspective of both ideas made it possible to win scientific victory and technological control over nature. Under influence of this perspective the modern ego fundamentally doesn't give rise to a guilty conscience by which Kenji was tormented, because he had an animistic way of thinking, like those who we call "savage" or "primitive". So long as he stands on this point of view, he must write "なめとこ山の熊 (The Bears of Mt. Nametoko)", where the hero Kojūrō and the bears, irrespective of adversarial relationship, feel pure friendship with each other. Frankly speaking, it might seem quite funny to say that the bears have close affinities with him and the bear-hunter Kojūrō has a respect for the opponent's life. Anyway, because of this he prays unhesitatingly for the dead bear, praying that it may rest in peace after the bear has been shot dead by him. Afterwards, contrary to this happening, another bear struck him dead, so that it could save its own life from danger. A lot of bears, including the killer-bear, mourn for the dead Kojūrō. It is worthy to note that this story ends with impressive depiction of the last scene.
4) Shintoism and Buddihism have a great influence on Kenji. He insists that all the existing things on this planet, namely minerals, as well as man, plants and animals should equally belong to Nature, that is to say, "Great Life" as the Single One. If that is true, we are not necessarily superior to the other things, and therefore we have not any right to master them. To be sure, Kenji embodies this idea with special emphasis, in such works as "セロ彈きのゴーシュ (A Cellist Gohsch)" and others.
In seeking to find out a method of solution to this crucial problem, there are two ways open to us; one way is to trace the process of being individually reconciled to the hostile. But this way is not the final place for the peaceful soul, because the chief difficulties emerge when inevitable awareness of the sacrifice of the other's life has stimulated Kenji to make explicit his notion of a struggling spiritual reality, e.g. like "さそり星 (the Scorpion)" in his story "銀河鐵道の夜 (At the Night, Riding on the Galactic Train)", trying to do good in a wicked world. In other words, we may be reconciled with particular concrete living things, nevertheless, we must kill the other's life except them ― in compensation for surviving on the earth. Cosequently, the final solution for this problem is unfinished.
Faced with the problem of how to deal with contradictive phenomena in Nature, Kenji took a hint from Shintoism, deriving from ancient Japan and the Buddhism's doctorines, and elaborated the idea that the Universe should interpret as consisting of a harmonic order of substances. By the occurrence of some events others also are produced.
This is the Doctorine of Causal Connection of Buddhism. Needless to say, of many Doctorines it is the last meaning which is particularly important from the point of view of Buddhist philosophy. In the great circular movement the individual goes to Nature and returns to himself as Nature. If we broaden the sight range of human impact on the biosphere, the self isn't entirely reduced to nothingness after the arrival of death. This is another way.
Kenji declares that salvation can already be found in this world, in so far as the natural subject is illuminated by the light of "十力の金剛石 (The Diamond of Jūriki)". Kenji stands inside the great circular movement, so from this point of view there is a great deal of justification in any activities. In all-comprehensive boundaries the individual appears and disappears with brotherhood. Here the relationship between the killing and the killed implies the mutual dependence and the spirit of reciprocity. As a matter of fact, an echosystem in nature shows that the animals die to the earth and they provide microorganism or plants with their nutritional content. And the man who stands at the top of a food chain, is applicable to this case. The man can be re-born into a pig or cow and so forth. And besides the pig can be re-born into the man. When Kenji looks over natural phenomena on the level of a harmonious whole, he realizes that the adversary system consists in a symbiotic relationship. There supports such a cosmology on the back of Kenji's infant stories. We had no difficulty in recognizing that the ideas, based on it, are expressed at inner part of his works.