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  • "The Man from the West" and "The Man from the West: The Sequel"
  • Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
    Translated by Kevin M. Doak and J. Scott Matthews

"The Man from the West"

1. Ecce Homo (Behold the Man)

About ten years ago, I was artistically in love with Christianity, especially Catholicism. Even today, I have a vivid memory of Japan's Temple of the Blessed Mother in Nagasaki.1 In a sense, I am no more than a crow picking away at the scattered crumbs left behind by Kitahara Hakushū and Kinoshita Mokutarō. Then several years ago I developed a certain fascination with Christians who had been martyred because of their Christianity. I took a pathological interest in the mentality of the martyr, which seemed to me just like the mentality of all fanatics. But then finally, in more recent days, I began to love the Christ as handed down to us in the four Gospels. Christ no longer strikes me as a stranger. For that, I will be ridiculed by today's youth, not to mention by Westerners. But I, having been born at the end of the nineteenth century, began to direct my eyes to the Cross, which they can no longer bear to look at and even dare to assault. My Christ, having been born in Japan, does not necessarily gaze upon the Sea of Galilee. He can also see the port of Nagasaki underneath the bright red persimmon trees. This is because I am not so concerned with historical and geographical facts. (But my purpose is not to avoid the challenges of journalism. For those young and serious who wish to take on the task of depicting the historical Jesus, there are five or six biographies of Christ that should suffice.) I cannot dally over precise descriptions of each and every word and act of Christ. I am merely trying [End Page 257] to record my Christ as I believe him to be. I hope the strict Japanese Christians will forgive the Christ described by this hack writer.

2. Mary

Mary was just an ordinary woman. But suddenly one night she was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave birth to Christ. We sense a bit of Mary in all women. Perhaps in all men, too. . . . In fact, one could say that we feel a bit of Mary in the fires burning in the hearth, or in the vegetables fresh from the field, or in an unglazed pot or a solidly built chair. Mary is not the one who is eternally feminine. She is the one who eternally protects us. After all, as the mother of Christ, Mary spent her life traversing the "vale of tears." And yet, she lived with great fortitude. In her life, one finds worldly wisdom, folly, and virtue. Nietzsche's rebellion was not so much against Christ as it was against Mary.

3. The Holy Spirit

We may sense a bit of the Holy Spirit in the wind or in a fluttering flag. The Holy Spirit is not necessarily that which is called "the sacred." It is simply that which eternally seeks transcendence. Goethe was in the habit of referring to it as the Daemon, and he always added a warning not to allow oneself to become possessed by this Holy Spirit. But the children of the Holy Spirit-all christs-run the risk of being possessed by it. The Holy Spirit is neither a devil nor an angel. And it certainly is something different from a kami. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of it passing along beyond good and evil. Beyond good and evil-yet [Cesare] Lombroso [1836-1908], for better or worse, discovered the Holy Spirit in the brains of the mentally ill.

4. Joseph

The father of Christ, Joseph the carpenter, was really Mary herself. This is why he is not venerated as highly as Mary. Joseph, even when seen in a favorable light, is still the most unnecessary person there ever was.

5. Elizabeth

Mary was Elizabeth's friend. It was this Elizabeth, the husband [sic] of Zechariah, who gave birth to John the Baptist.2 One can only write it off as mere coincidence [End Page 258] when...

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