Tatsuhiko Shibusawa... Japan's Master of the Grotesque

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa... Japan's Master of the Grotesque | Not Lost Media

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Күн бұрын

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@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

This video's visibility may be funky due to (unsurprisingly) some of the more "Sade-istic" subject matter. There's nothing actually NSFW in the video though (beside some antique medical diagrams). I marked it just to be safe. If there's any weird issues, I'll post a copy on my Patreon and find somewhere else for it: www.patreon.com/Pseudiom

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

Okay, I researched Bungo Stray Dogs, I don't know what to feel or think. I'm flummoxed and flabbergasted.

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

Sorry Pseudiom for being so bothersome, I was also quite surprised about Shibusawa's reception in China, wasn't all Japanese media banned in there for decades after WWII?

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

It seems to be a very recent phenomenon, as far as I can tell. It seems like pirated copies started proliferating in the 1990s then there were official releases of Shibusawa's books in the 2010s and 2020s (?). Ying Yu, the main English scholar on Shibusawa who I cited in the video, wrote his thesis and dissertation on Shibusawa in 2005 and 2010. Yu Ying is listed as a Chinese national who was born in Suzhou, attended Nanjing and Fundan university, then attended Ohio University in 2003. I can only assume Ying originally read Shibusawa in Chinese or is maybe his main translator into Chinese, I think? There's not much info on that in English or Japanese so I'm sort of connecting the dots.

@retroroy8720 Ай бұрын

Happy Halloween, Pseudiom.

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

Happy (late) Halloween!

@RememberTheDead Ай бұрын

What a deeply strange and fascinating man. Loving this channel!

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

Glad I could introduce you to a new oddity!

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

What a coincidence just when I'm getting into Suehiro Mario and Shintaro Kaho, thank you Pseudiom for opening Japan to me, to make me see beyond the Kawaii Curtain. Translator of Kafka, Borges and Burroughs, enjoyer of encyclopedias, lover of the grotesque, interested in magic...he is just like me!

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

I do highly recommend Prince Takaoka's Travels, one of the reasons I made this video. It does not have too much Horror (there's are a few effectively very disturbing scenes though), but it is wonderfully surreal. It does not surprise Shibusawa had such an affinity for Kafka and Borges. The translation is very compelling, and Shibusawa's love for history shines through. I would like to see his "Notebooks" translated one day though as those sound very interesting.

@OrdonWolf Ай бұрын

This guy's aesthetics sound right up my alley, I really hope I will get to see more of his work translated within my lifetime

@Pseudiom 29 күн бұрын

I hope so as well. Even if you have a negative opinion (and he was a very questionable individual), he was very influential.

@Yaddlezap 28 күн бұрын

Thanks for bringing this author to light for English speakers

@TheArtofDyingTogether Ай бұрын

Another fantastic, masterful documentary on a man that despite being close to people I already know (Mishima, his obsession with Bellmer) was unknown to me until now. Thanks Pseudiom, vaya con Dios!

@Pseudiom 29 күн бұрын

I made it to get more people interested, either out of naive or morbid curiosity. He was only briefly mentioned in the video, but Yotsuya Simon is another famous dollmaker who was influenced by Bellmer and was friends with Shibusawa. I find his work incredibly unnerving. He is apparently an Orthodox Christian though which is interesting, Shibusawa's death hit him hard and he converted after years of soul searching. You might find him interesting if you like Mishima, Shibusawa, and Bellmer.

@CB-of2fw Ай бұрын

This was so great and enriching to watch - now I'll be going down this rabbit hole along with Edogawa Rampo for the rest of the year.

@obbm Ай бұрын

Man I wanted to watch more videos on him but I guess yours is the only one. Thanks for making this, a new door opened

@Pseudiom 29 күн бұрын

There is a Japanese channel @DilettanteGenet (好事家ジェネの館) that has some videos on Shibusawa and associated artists. The problem, once again, is all the videos in Japanese. I think (?) I referenced basically every English source available about Shibusawa outside a few mentions in books about Mishima and Shūji Terayama.

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

Happy Halloween Pseudiom! ¡Feliz Noche de Brujas!

@ScarletRebel96 Ай бұрын

This will be a fun one to watch

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

Hope you enjoyed!

@someobserver844 Ай бұрын

I love your videos because through them I always learn about stuff I most likely would have never heard about otherwise. I'll definitely snatch up a copy of this recently translated book. This is only related through my association, but are you familiar with the works of the finnish writer Leena Krohn? Her "novels" are basically series of poetic vignettes that are being related by a mysterious narrator (who seems to be tendentially female because of the personality traits they exhibit), set in imaginary worlds that are very strange and very mundane at the same time. "Tainaron: Mail from Another City", which is often named as her masterpiece, even by herself if I recall correctly, is a great read.

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

No, I was not familiar. It sounds very interesting! Almost like a combination Gorodischer's "Kalpa Imperial" and maybe Lautréamont's "Songs of Maldoror". I'd definitely add it to my Christmas list! Sounds like a book I'd love just by the description. I've never heard of Krohn either, but I'll fully admit I know nothing about Finnish literature outside the "Kalevala".

@someobserver844 Ай бұрын

@@Pseudiom Neither do I, honestly. If you're german (or french, I guess), it's usually comparatively easy to get a hold on european writers who are obscure or totally unknown in the anglosphere, even if they don't write in your native language; but finnish literature generally does not have much traction in continental europe either, outside of the Kalevala. But then, Finland is not particularly relevant geopolitically, and their language is not even part of the indo-european family, so that is not too surprising, as deplorable as one might find it. Krohn got some attention during the weird fiction renaissance the last decade saw for whatever reason because Jeff and Ann Vandermeer are fans of her, apparently. I read the first few lines of Tainaron in their big "The Weird" anthology and bought the big compilation of her books they published in their own small press pretty much immediately.

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

Interesting, thanks.

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

As soon as I finish The Western Lands I will start with Takaoka's Travels. It's interesting that both are about existential travels, filled with marvelous and grotesque images, tales of escape and liberation. A coincidence.

@Pseudiom 29 күн бұрын

Curious about your thoughts! I thought the first chapter was somewhat slow, but the rest of the book is interesting. Not an all time favorite, but I'd probably put it in my top 100 books, maybe...

@puppperoni Ай бұрын

Hi Pseudiom, somehow every video you make is also a topic I’m familiar with and interested in. It’s almost eerie. Just wanted to say thank you for these. Even though they don’t get tons of views, I hope that doesn’t discourage you from continuing to expand on these fascinating topics. I think maybe these things are a little too esoteric for most people but it’s the kind of stuff I eat up. I got a little wordy there, but I appreciate these immensely. Happy Halloween 👻

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

Thank you! The early comments always make it worth it for me. I honestly went in making this video thinking KZbin would limit its spread, but, surprisingly, it is doing very well! I guess it doesn't have an issue with De Sade as long as you're careful. So I always assumed this was more of a Halloween passion project while making it. The fact so many people have complimented me for it. There's may writers and artists I still want to make videos on, but I think Shibusawa's lack of notoriety in English made him more pressing (also he's a perfect Halloween topic).

@StyleshStorm Ай бұрын

Happy Halloween 🎃

@cherniman Ай бұрын

One weird thing is that he was influenced by the French Avant Garde and translated Antonin Artaud while at the same time Artaud was influenced by Asia in Balinese dances. It was sort of a feedback loop of east and west and a lot of interesting stuff like Butoh came out of it. They have had a lot of indirect influence on media. I actually found out about them by researching the history of industrial music.You could even argue that Hollywood film would not be the same without these influences. Sadly a lot of the people involved are pretty obscure outside of their own countries despite their influence.

@Pseudiom 29 күн бұрын

Interesting! I did not know about the industrial music connection. I was going to go deeper on the Butoh connections, but that could probably be an independent video.

@rosyrose2112 Ай бұрын

tf, i was just thinking of hans bellmer art recently

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

21:34 That's what Dr. Benway complained in Naked Lunch, modern man has become his gadgets.

@Pseudiom Ай бұрын

Marshall McLuhan also argued this. It wouldn't surprise me if Shibusawa picked it up from Burroughs though since he heavily promoted him in Japan, he was fascinated by Burroughs sexuality and addictions. I think Burroughs may have picked up the idea from... Oswald Spengler, maybe? It sounds like it may come from German philosophy. Shibusawa combined the idea with the Tsukumogami from Japanese folklore though.

@georgewilson7432 Ай бұрын

Burroughs read Spengler extensively during his studies at Harvard in the 30s, and recommended him to Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, so it's possible, I have never read Spengler myself, he was also very popular among Argentine writers for a time, so he is always mentioned as an influence in essayists and poets.

@KarlosMorale Ай бұрын

I am here via Bungo Stray Dogs 😅 your video was very interesting, thank you

@Pseudiom 29 күн бұрын

I need I'd get one fan, lol. I have a few viewers who are fans.

@retsz Ай бұрын

Another video that never seemed to show up in my sub or recommended feed ☹️. I only leaned of the new upload cuz i was going to watch an older video and saw one i never watched before. I’m finally going to do something I’ve never done for any channel in the 12 or so years I’ve had this KZbin account: I’m going to hit the bell for alerts. I’m a little ticked off with the algorithm deciding for me that i didn’t want to watch this video. I never miss an upload on purpose. Artificial ‘intelligence’ my ass…

@Pseudiom 29 күн бұрын

I understand the struggle. I don't specifically tell people to set reminders because it is a little too KZbin-y for me, but I'll try to remind people more if it keeps happening. I dunno, do people prefer reminders to subscribe and turn on the bell? Thanks for the constant support!