This thesis explores the relationship between the Japanese urban myth of Kuchisake-onna and expectations of motherhood in postwar Japan. The following study was performed with the goal of establishing Kuchisake-onna’s spontaneous emergence in 1970s Japan as a response to the Ūman Ribu (a contracted transliteration of “Women’s Liberation”) Movement, a new wave of feminism. Historically, a Japanese nuclear family unit (ie) was considered to be fundamental to the structure and stability of the nation. As women increasingly sought to shift from their roles as mothers within the domestic sphere in order to pursue employment outside as sararī ūman (“salary woman”), the ie was threatened. At the same time, unrealistic expectations and the pressure of motherhood resulted in numerous cases of filicide in Japan in the 1970s. This research study engages textual history, feminist theory, news/magazine articles, and an analysis of the film Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007). I conclude that Kuchisake-onna’s representation within Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman serves to address a perceived need for liberation from the overly rigid expectations that mothers in 1970s Japan faced to excel within their roles as the custodians of the domestic sphere. However, it also allows for a reading whereby the Kuchisake-onna’s emergence cannot be attributed to a single notion of the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ mother. Rather, it is the failure of the ie system which creates insurmountable pressures for these women to fulfill the role of the perfect mother which allows for the manifestation of Kuchisake-onna.

The hero Sarutobi Sasuke (literally, “monkey-jump Sasuke”) is one of the most popular Japanese literary characters of the twentieth century. The Tachikawa Bunko book series released in the 1910’s told the story of the samurai Sasuke, who used magic and trickery to defeat his foes. The character garnered so much interest that many other writers wrote their own books, manga, and stories about Sasuke, and filmmakers went on to adapt his story to the big screen throughout the twentieth century. Sarutobi Sasuke’s influence is so wide in Japan that he still maintains some level of relevance in Japan today. From the postwar period onward, however, modern academic and non-academic writers and media figures in both the West and Japan have advanced two controversial claims: first, that Sarutobi Sasuke was either real, or based on a real person, and second, that Sarutobi Sasuke has always been a “ninja.” By investigating the Tachikawa Bunko series that popularized the character of Sarutobi Sasuke, this thesis surveys the evidence available on both of these claims. Firstly, this thesis explores the fact that though there are a wide range of sources available that show Sarutobi Sasuke is a completely fictional character, many authors still write about the character as though he were a historical figure. Secondly, the thesis examines the sources that have characterized Sarutobi Sasuke as a “ninja” by historicizing the idea of “ninja,” which is a term that was never actually used in the original Tachikawa Bunko series to describe Sasuke. Evidence suggests that Sarutobi Sasuke was only ever understood to be a “ninja” after the ninja boom of the 1960’s, and that many of these claims characterizing Sarutobi Sasuke as a ninja have come from the anachronistic misinterpretation of the Japanese words ninjutsu and ninjutsu-tsukai. This thesis thus tells the story of the origins of an often overlooked, yet important fictional character of the twentieth century, while also highlighting a strain of Orientalism, as described by Said, in English-language ninja writing. These issues have led popular writers to ignore Japanese literary creativity and treat all Japanese texts as literal history.

Boy’s Love (BL) and yaoi are a subculture that originated in Japan that refers to sexually explicit male-to-male romantic fantasies in Japanese popular culture (Martin, 2012, p. 365). The term fujoshi, a belonging term of BL and yaoi, refers to females interested in male-to-male romantic relationship fantasies (Suzuki, 2013). In the early 2000s, cultural consumption and artistic communication between China, Japan, and Korea became more frequent (Oh, 2009). A large number of Japanese animations and television series have been imported to China for national communication and cultural sharing. Since then, various genres of Japanese popular culture, including BL (relating to intimate relationships) and yaoi (relating to sexual content), have become widespread in China. Globally, the public understands BL and yaoi as a subordinate portion of the otaku culture that heavily relates to Japanese anime, games, and manga (or comics in English); and a broader homosexual subculture with a deep connection to sexual desires (Bai, 2022). However, in China, the focal point of BL and yaoi is relatively different from the fujoshi communities elsewhere. This project explores BL and yaoi’s development in China, introducing perspectives of what, how, and why the Chinese fujoshi form their community within the public digital spaces shared by the mainstream media culture. Additionally, through anonymous personal interviews, this project brings Chinese fujoshi’s consumer views on their past and current BL and yaoi consumption within and outside of the fujoshi community (see detailed interview process and interviewees’ information in Appendix C-E). Eight Chinese females who have self-identified as fujoshi or had similar practices were selected for the interviews. The chosen participants’ age is from twenty-two to mid-thirties. All of them have had at least five years’ access to BL and yaoi and received higher education. Each participant had at least two interviews answering questions regarding their attitudes as fujoshi and their viewpoints on consuming BL and yaoi products. This thesis analyzes the Chinese fujoshi community’s uniqueness in making BL content visible and yaoi content invisible in China. Consequently, they are forced to have a limited preference for BL and yaoi content, adapt the shared space with other popular cultures on mainstream social media, and utilize alternative communication methods to avoid violating China’s law and censorship. These factors indicate the need for specified classifications or designated digital spaces for BL, yaoi, and even the greater homosexual culture.