Nahoko Uehashi: Cultural Anthropologist and Storytelling Creator of Imaginary Worlds

Introduction

Uehashi, Nahoko is the winner of the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award for writing. This article builds on the original introduction by Roxanne Harde, in which Uehashi was introduced as a nominee for the award.

When I was young, my grandmother told me folktales, my parents read me stories, and sometime around age 10, I encountered and became engrossed in British Children’s Literature. And then, I studied cultural anthropology -- if I had been lacking in any one of these, I would not have been able to receive the International Hans Christian Andersen Award. When I consider this, I feel deep gratitude over-flowing for all that has guided me thus far.

(Translated by Cathy Hirano)

A storyteller of extraordinary talent, Uehashi, Nahoko creates fantasy worlds with a backbone grounded in her work as a cultural anthropologist. In her anthropological work, Tsuki no mori ni, Kami yo nemure [O God, Sleep Ye in the Forest of the Moon], set in a remote village of indigenous hunter gatherers and subsistence farmers who have defied a royal edict to begin cultivating rice, Uehashi noted how difficult it was for people of indigenous cultures to maintain aspects of their traditional ways as they live in changing civilizations. From an anthropological stance, she transposed the idea of how important it is to accept the values of others and coexist with them, into the Moribito fantasy series. Multiple tribes live between a seemingly real world and a spiritual world, and a middle-aged woman guarding the lives of others faces questions of destiny. With fast-paced storytelling that grips readers’ attention, Uehashi’s worlds are fantastic, yet believable.

Background Influences

Early in her life Uehashi developed an interest in storytelling because her grandmother told her folktales from the oral tradition that described the coexistence of humans and animals. These later became the root of her imagination for creating original fantasies in which humans and other creatures lived in interrelated worlds.

Uehashi’s anthropological research focus on aboriginal cultures led her to spend some months as a volunteer teacher in an elementary school in Western Australia where half the students were Aboriginal. It was through this practical, hands-on experience that she came to realize how difficult it is for indigenous populations to retain their cultures. Moreover, this led to close consideration of individuals who are marginalized by their worlds, those who live between the borders of defined societies, and the interactions of those who are outcasts by those in dominant societies.

Fantasy Worlds with Japanese Sensibilities

Uehashi’s fantasy worlds are aligned with epic and heroic fantasies that feature allusions to worlds that appear medieval, that are characterized by grand designs, and that are populated with compassionate yet courageous heroes who command emotional engagement of readers Her created worlds have logic and internal consistency that enable readers to “suspend disbelief,” central tenets of well-written fantasy literature. (Temple, Martinez, & Yokota). Kotani characterizes the fantasy literature in Japan as a case of writers turning their attention to indigenous cultures and reconstructing myths. This would have been a natural inclination for Uehashi as a professor of anthropology. However, the worlds she creates in her books are decidedly original, although based in an allegorical world that stems from roots in Japan.

Uehashi creates a fantasy world that has Japanese qualities. “The (Guardian) series masterfully straddles the boundaries of two worlds. Both are uniquely Japanese: one a mirror of feudal Japan with flourishes of the fantastic; the other a variation of established Shinto mythology, populated by yōkai [monsters] and other spirits of myth and legend” (Jackson 55). At the same time, it is clear that these allusions to Japan flavor the story and are not necessary to be understood deeply in order to enter and live in the worlds Uehashi has created.

Created Worlds as Series

In the Guardian series, qualities of friendships, loyalty, and protective attitudes abound in character relationships in these books. Responsibility and duty are clearly addressed. What is especially evident from Uehashi’s anthropologist background is that she does not...