#jjk lore

Overall thesis for this project: Godzilla and Mothra create the cultural context of creatives using powerful monsters (or kaiju) to disrupt Japanese bureaucracy and society, usually to make some larger criticism.

Gege Akutami probably celebrated the assassination of Shinzō Abe as a dream come true. Gege overtly criticizes the bureaucratic powers that Abe specifically aided in restoring within Japanese politics. The powerful bureaucrats, after being accused of irresponsibly handling Japan's funds, and throwing the nation into an economic crisis, regained their political standing thanks to Abe. Yet, the damage has been done, and many different mangaka portray Japanese bureaucrats as antagonists who must be challenged or killed.

Sukuna unleashes an attack that disrupts Japanese society and throws the powers-that-be off balance, challenging the modern status quo that he once dominated in the Heian era. Gojo goes even further and eliminates that status quo, seeing it as the only possible answer to ensuring his students' safety from their political power. Yet, how did the once reverent bureaucratic powers gain such a tarnished reputation that titles like Bleach, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tokyo Ghoul, and One Piece all depict them as antagonists at the very least, and defeated villains at the worst. Below, I discuss the history that perhaps informs an action like Gojo murdering the Higher-Ups, and explore Shinzō Abe's role within that context.

The bureaucracy emerged as a major power center in the Meiji era (1868–1912) (Shimizu 2013). Bureaucratic autonomy was reinforced during the period of military mobilization and war in the 1930s and 1940s, and further institutionalized in the early postwar years. Many political leaders were purged during the Occupation (1945–1952), while most bureaucrats were not, and this enabled the bureaucracy to entrench its power. (Vogel 103)

While the U.S. forced Japanese government reform in the late 1940s, the bureaucrats emerged mostly unscathed. The different ministries mostly maintained their ranks throughout the years by choosing their officials from a small, conservative pool of candidates from the top schools in Japan. Gege directly references the elitist, conservative selection pool with his establishment of the three great houses and the Jujutsu High School campuses in Tokyo and Kyoto. The Zenin, Gojo, and Kamo houses act as politicians who reinforce the will of Headquarters, Jujutsu Kaisen's bureaucrats. The great families possess hidden or bloodline techniques that they keep to themselves; they inhibit and promote certain techniques depending on tradition; they withhold the right to purge their ranks of undesirables; and they often meddle with the Tokyo and Kyoto schools to push their agendas. The great families and the Higher-Ups in Headquarters notably prefer traditional sorcery techniques, which partly led to Kinji Hakari and Maki Zenin forsaking jujutsu society. Headquarters, who appoints grades to sorcerers, would never acknowledge their unique strength, and therefore neither would ever prosper within a jujutsu society maintained by the bureaucrats. Only those who meet the conservative criteria pushed by the Higher-Ups can prosper in jujutsu society. Therefore, Headquarters' conservative nature often conflicts with the main cast throughout the story.

Gege uses Maki Zenin's story arc to demonstrate some of the irrational extremes the great houses go through to maintain Headquarters' conservative ideals regarding jujutsu sorcery. Maki could have been a powerful asset to the Zenin, but their conservative nature and narrow perspectives were the death of them. Gege uses both Maki and Gojo to slaughter the political powers in JJK. While the story addresses Maki and Gojo's actions as extreme and monstrous, it shouldn't go unnoticed that Gege thrives on depicting the death of those debilitating government structures. Despite Toji Zenin having the power to wipe them out, his family still never truly respected his strength because he did not have a cursed technique. The Zenin could easily be blamed for Toji choosing to become a skilled assassin who targets sorcerers. Toji's family inspired his hatred for sorcerers, which led to nothing good for anyone. The Zenin think because Maki was born a woman, she could never reach the heights of Toji, which lulls them into a false sense of security. One might argue that the Zenin used Maki to take out their bottled frustrations for Toji. Despite her talent with weapons, and acknowledgement from Satoru, the Zenin regularly appealed to Headquarters to inhibit her graded promotions.

Gege consistently depicts Headquarters' debilitating laws as irrational measures, and twice it ends in a bloody mess. Gege's references and depictions of Japanese bureaucrats' conservative nature likely comes from a sudden decline in public opinion and power; this loss of the control that was once so carefully maintained includes powerful reforms enacted by Shinzō Abe's first and second administrations. There's a trail of events that leads to Gege's hostile characterization of Japanese ministries. The bureaucrats were once hailed as saviors of the Japanese economy, a force that led them into the luxurious "bubble" era in the late 1980s. Though, when that bubble popped just as soon as it emerged, and Japan as a nation went broke until the late 90s, the bureaucrats lost the trust of the public and government (Vogel 107). In this weakened state, they were now finally vulnerable to reform.

Prime Ministers Junichirō Koizumi (2001–2006); Shinzō Abe (2006–2007); and Yasuo Fukuda (2007–2008) all proposed extreme reforms to the bureaucrats. Though, by time Fukuda took power, his administration was literally locking ministers out of meetings (Vogel 109). The escalating feud between the bureaucrats and Fukuda's administration led to the DPJ "gaining a reputation for incompetence, as they failed to develop a coherent economic strategy; floundered in international diplomacy, especially US-Japan relations; and took blame. . . . for policy failures in responding to the March 2011 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown" (Vogel 109). Because the bureaucratic ministries held the power to draft and revise legislation, barring them out of politics quite literally led to disaster. I won't get into the specifics of the bureaucrats' power, but Fukuda belittling their presence within the government led to Abe's unexpected return.

Once he returned in 2012, Abe ushered in an entirely new age for Japanese bureaucracy. In some ways, he limited the ministries' powers, but he also created the new cabinet bureaucrats. The new elite class of bureaucrats would dominate his second administration as Abe's most trusted advisors. As the cabinet bureaucrats rose in power after Abe established new and "special “headquarters” (honbu) and “offices” (shitsu) to coordinate major policy initiatives," their public perception continued to dwindle (Vogel 109). In modern Japan, bureaucrats retain only a fraction of their old power, but Vogel points out that for many citizens, that's still much more than they deserve:

The public image of bureaucrats has dropped considerably since its heyday. The share of people who reported that they trust bureaucrats declined from 44 percent in 1994 to 22 percent in 2002, while the share who stated that they do not trust bureaucrats rose from 51 percent to 74 percent (Tsukishima 2006, 286). Meanwhile, many university graduates no longer view the civil service as an attractive career. The number of applicants for civil servant positions dropped from a high of 330,686 in 1995 to 130,090 in 2018, while applicants for the Level 1 (“career”) positions declined from 41,433 to 22,559 (National Personnel Authority 2019b). (111)

Vogel ensures that modern Japanese bureaucrats still maintain strong political power, especially over industry, despite the many reforms they've suffered through the years. The discrepancy between bureaucrats holding onto power despite their poor public perception takes interesting personifications in manga. Below, I examine both Jujutsu Kaisen and Bleach's similar depictions of Japanese bureaucrats in action. Both Gege and Kubo Tite present bureaucratic forces as conservative powers that inhibit growth and the futures of young cast members.

Bleach uses similar visual metaphors of faceless bureaucrats giving orders that challenge the now shaky leadership of the pressured society. In both titles, the bureaucrats reappear after the defeat of the leading force of power in their respective verses. After Genryusai's death and Gojo's sealing, the bureaucrats intervene, often prioritizing their own self-preservation. Doing so, they attempt to enforce laws that hinder the main cast. Bleach depicts Central 46 as cowards who argue against Shinsui's suggestion for Kenpachi to finally evolve and truly inherit his title. In JJK, the Higher-Ups order Yuji's death and declare Gojo a traitor who must not be unsealed.

Both Gege and Kubo Tite characterize the faceless bureaucratic powers-that-be as greedy and controlling forces that will readily inhibit growth if it poses any hypothetical challenge to the status quo; that system being one that allows the jujutsu Higher-Ups and Central 46 to make the rules with little restriction. In JJK 0, the Higher-Ups readily criminalize and attempt to expunge Yuta for Rika being too powerful for them to control. The fact that Gege began with a negative depiction of Japanese bureaucracy before JJK proper existed stresses his honest dislike for that particular sector of government.

Gege provides a straightforward description of the power balance. Interestingly enough, the bureaucratic sorcerers still exist within the whole of the Japanese government. The reason why the Jujutsu Inspector General never appears may be because he resides elsewhere, as a cabinet bureaucrat, the elite position created by Abe; though, take that wth a grain of salt. The Jujutsu Inspector General may also be a reference to the now abolished role of Inspectorate General of Military Training. Both Headquarters (呪術 総監部, Jujutsu Sōkanbu) and (教育総監部, Kyōiku sōkanbu) were bureaucratic powers that performed miliary (sorcery) training and withheld a broad domain of power.

While all the Higher-Ups may not have been a monolith, the conservative faction dominated Headquarters. In the beginning, Gege depicts Headquarters as a corrupt power that manipulates the system and purposely sets Yuji up to die on a botched mission. They discreetly wield power over which sorcerers live and die. Kenjaku gaining control of Headquarters not only erases Kamo's political power that could have been used to aid the cast, but also reinforces Gege's depiction of bureaucrats as an antagonistic force.

Gege demonstrates overt criticism against Japanese bureaucracy in his depiction of them as antagonists that ultimately need to be slaughtered in order to ensure the future of the young cast. The ministries went through a unique journey that included them avoiding American-sanctioned government reforms, introducing an economic boom and crash to the Japanese economy, fighting with Prime Ministers to stay in power, and finally being saved by the infamous Shinzō Abe. Bureaucrats may maintain power, but Gege demonstrates why many Japanese people believe that to be an issue, not a solution to Japan's problems.

Notes:

The manga Noragami depicts the bubble era's sudden end as the God of Poverty, Kofuku's fault. She partied too hard and created an economic crash. As punishment, Ebisu put her under house arrest.

I thought this part would be a focus on Sukuna, but I realized that I really had a lot of foundation to lay before I get there. I had to teach myself a little about Japanese bureaucracy so that I could properly examine it. Thankfully, I found a great source by a clear writer.

Introduction - Part 1

Sources:

The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Bureaucracy, written by Steven K. Vogel, chapter 6 of The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics.