Tokyo Story: Notes

There are many approaches to Tokyo Story, as is the case with most films.

One approach is to think about the narrative in the context of the Japanese family system (ideology), and the changes occurring in the aftermath of the Pacific War.  From this perspective, one can imagine a kind of meta-narrative of the saga of the family as ideology (the Hirayama family being an example of that family), with the film itself being a kind of snapshot of a moment in this narrative, with its mini-narrative of the parents' journey to Tokyo and the immediate aftermath of that trip, and the larger narrative that is presented in ways that are both explicit and implicit.

The social ideology of the Japanese family system is called the "ie seidou," with "ie" meaning household, and "seidou" meaning system.  A brief introduction may be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ie_(Japanese_family_system)

The Japanese audience of 1953 would have had this ideology in mind as it watched the film, and would have been thinking about what transpires in the film against that ideology.  In this ideology, there are certain expectations:

*the continued existence of the family through the patriline is of paramount importance.  The eldest son is expected to produce male heirs, and his family is expected to live in the historical household (in this case, with the grandparents).

*daughters would be married off and would have little contact with the main family.

*the main family's obligations towards any widow of a son would be extremely limited, especially if that marriage produced no sons.

*most "traditional" marriages would be arranged marriages, often arranged on the basis of the mutual interests of the couple's respective families.  The ideology would hold that such couples would "grow into" a kind of affection, even love, as they shared their lives and raised a family.  Romantic love would be a foreign, and perhaps even disruptive, concept.

*such arranged marriages could be seen as "corporate" marriages, with a strict division of labor between husband and wife, and with the wife fully responsible for domestic affairs, child-rearing, etc.

*daughters-in-law would be expected to be solicitous towards their husbands' parents, but they would be expected to do this somewhat grudgingly (that is, as a matter of obligation rather than true affection).