Post by Justin Yu on Oct 30, 2015 16:04:48 GMT
Although Ryuunosuke Akutagawa was widely criticized by the socialist literature movement after his suicide, the satirical themes in “Kappa” have shown a strong criticism for the current (at the time of publication/production in 1920s Japan) worker’s rights and social constraints in Japan. These satirical themes were shown to the readers by the various customs/laws used by the citizens of Kappaland. For example, the working conditions in Kappaland are so oppressive that the Kappas followed the custom of “slaughtering any worker who loses his job, and we use his flesh as meat” (Akutagawa, 83). Not only were they subject to such harsh conditions, many could not protest against it due to “laws covering the butchery of the worker”. This was an allusion to 1920s Japan, which was undergoing rapid industrialization and required many workers to be subjected unfavorable conditions in order to achieve efficient production. Due to recent laws being passed at the time as well (The Public Peace Police Law of 1900), worker protests were illegal. It was because of this Akutagawa had a relatively strong dislike for capitalism and even went so far as describing one such capitalist in Kappa. Gael, the biggest capitalist in the country, made excellent returns on the war and was able to use money to control political parties and third party newspapers. Yet with all the bad that was described in Kappaland’s customs, the narrator (or should I say Akutagawa himself) felt that Kappaland was more preferable to Japan especially when he came to miss the Kappas.