The Emissary―an observation and a reflection of Japan

Yoon: I feel that The Emissary is very contemporary in its content. Though it has often been called a dystopian novel, we both agree that it is not quite that, despite the elements of fantasy and sci-fi where the story takes place in the near future. The novel is more of a speculative situation in a post-catastrophe Japan, where the nation is cut off from the rest of the world under the 'isolation' policy. Even the people themselves are not allowed to go abroad. Interestingly, one of the policies includes the prohibition of foreign languages and culture, including foreign words. What inspired you to use this concept in the story in the first place?

Tawada: After the disaster in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, I recognized that many Japanese, especially the younger generation, have stopped going abroad to study. After the big catastrophe, they wanted to stay in Japan. It made me think about the Edo period in Japanese history, where Japan was isolated from the rest of the world for over 200 years. It was a time where people could develop their own culture. After the Fukushima disaster, some people in Japan developed a nostalgia for the peaceful Edo period and the artisanal way of living. In Germany, too, a similar sense of longing developed after the reunification of Germany under the name 'ostalgie'. In German, 'ost' is the east, thus 'ostalgie' refers to the nostalgia of the Communist Eastern Germany period. I am sure it was not a happy time, but due to the many issues that had risen after the reunification, there were those who wanted to go back to the old ways. These were my inspirations.

Yoon: But actually, it is not so clear whether it is a good situation or not. In the book, the great-grandfather seems to be against this policy. I think that is what makes it interesting.

Tawada: During World War II in Japan, English words were actually forbidden, and English words were translated into Japanese to avoid them. I sometimes think that people use too many English words nowadays, but on the other hand, it is nonsense to stop using it altogether.

Yoon: I find it interesting that after the Fukushima disaster, people tend to stay more in Japan instead of wanting to leave. Is it to give each other support? If so then it is actually very nationalistic.

Tawada: Yes, the sense of nationalism became stronger after the Fukushima disaster.

Yoon: And in your view, is that a good thing?

Tawada: No, not at all.

Yoon: If it were to happen in Thailand, I think the tendency would be for people to leave the country. For example, given the political context in Thailand, there are many who want to leave.

Tawada: You see, with Japan, this is what we call an 'island mentality'. You simply cannot flee. There have been many natural catastrophes in Japan, and whenever something happened, it was always better to stay than to leave. In fact, you cannot leave. If you leave to another village, there will be discrimination against the person. So it is better to stay and give support.

Thipsamritkul: This reminds me of what I heard about how, after the Fukushima catastrophe, Japanese people tend to marry earlier.

Tawada: Yes. And they tend to have more children.

Thipsamritkul: I think it is because they feel that life is so fragile. Perhaps they want to stick together to produce more children and prolong the nation of Japan.

Tawada: There is a book called The Earthquake In Chile by a German writer called Heinrich von Kleist. In that story, he wrote that people became very open and helped each other after the quake, and there was this sense of collective humanity. However, after one week, the people became more conservative than they were before the earthquake. That was exactly what happened in Japan.

Yoon: It is interesting. Because what makes this story so universal is that, though the reasons may differ, it seems that people are now worried that many countries are becoming more nationalistic and rejecting foreign influences. Is that your concern as well when writing this story?

Tawada: Yes, of course. Even in Germany, a very open and democratic country, the nationalistic tendency is returning and nobody expected that. You think that it would never come back, but it is happening in many countries.

The role of language in The Emissary

Yoon: As language is very important to you, how would you define the role of language inThe Emissary?

Tawada: In this novel, the characters live in a monocultural society, and so they have only one language. However, we see that they try to make more out of that one language through wordplay, the association to words becomes deeper and wider―like a net of images sewn together. In this near-future, big nations like the United States are considered poor because they only have one language, perhaps maybe two, if you include Spanish. On the other hand, countries like India or South Africa have become rich nations as they have a more diverse pool of languages which they can export. The idea of a multilingual society is something that is special to me. I can imagine a far future where countries resort to exporting things like culture instead of cars and industrial products.

Yoon: Because The Emissary is often described as dystopic, do you actually see the future that you depict taking place in real life? Do you think it would be a negative one?

Tawada: It is not a positive one. I do think that eventually, we must stop producing so many cars and products in order to export them. But once the production has stopped, what will happen? Perhaps handmade things would become more popular. In fact, that scenario can even be perceived as a part of a utopia.

Yoon: That is another thing. As the story is set in a post-digital era, it sort of goes back to the analogue where people returns to old habits like reading the newspapers and keeping away from electronic devices. Do you yourself have this sympathy with people who think that we should go back to the analogue era?

Tawada: I do not think we can go back, and personally I like the internet. But the internet also comes with fake news that makes you opinionated and close-minded to other ways of seeing things. Now that is a very dangerous thing.

Yoon: You did mention, in the novel, how the analogue method of archiving is more efficient. This is quite true because even though we have digital files nowadays, it is easier for those files to disappear compared to physical things like manuscripts, which can last for hundreds and thousands of years if well-kept. And that is how we learn about history―through written and printed proof. I do not think people will have that a hundred years from now, as all the digital files will have been lost by then. Even if you managed to the files, it might impossible to display them. So a lot of things will be lost from our generation onwards.

Thipsamritkul: I think that is very interesting because right now we have an illusion that we can remember everything as we think that we have all the information saved in digital files and database. But like you said, we might never be able to recall where it is because we do not talk or write about them. The way that we memorize things has changed.

Tawada: True. You can only combine things that you have memorized deep in your mind with your own thoughts. So the books that you read, if they are not truly imprinted in your memory, then you cannot use it in your writing with your own opinion. And there is not enough space for thinking if you have too many images. In the past, there may be fewer photos but there is more literature. You have one author writing pages after pages to capture the essence of a painting or a picture, and people read about it. That was the culture which has now disappeared because there are too many images today―each picture bears less meaning. Language is very important for me, and the same applies to images. One must be able to see it in print and write about it.