The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

In the West, Japan was traditionally viewed as an “alien” culture, at least in the way
that it was represented in the tabloids. It was often crudely caricatured as an
incomprehensible, rule-bound society in which ritual humiliation was the order of
the day for its citizens. Bowie’s Ziggy dignified Japanese culture and showed him
open to ideas outside Anglo-American rock. Bowie helped internationalise pop,
starting a long-running fascination with the East. He later became one of Japan’s
biggest idols, and has retained an interest in the Far East…. The result, sartorially,
of this kabuki appropriation was a… [juxtaposition of] the rock gig (connection
and camaraderie) and that of kabuki theatre (stately, though garish, formality). 28
In 1983, David Bowie and Kansai Yamamoto were again involved in a
collaborative project between their two cultures, a motion picture that
referenced this perception of Japan “as an incomprehensible, rule bound
society” founded in “ritual humiliation”. Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (Jap.
Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu) was adapted by screenwriter and director Nagisa
Ôshima from Laurens Van der Post’s novels, The Seed and the Sower (1963)
and The Night of the Moon (1970). It starred Bowie as Major Jack “Strafer”
Celliers and, while he was not credited for the role, Kansai was the film’s
concept designer. Based on real-life experiences of the original author as a
WWII POW in Japan, this story is notable for its brutal honesty in
portraying the torturous treatment and harrowing ordeals suffered by British
allied forces under internment while simultaneously showing a
compassionate side to individual Japanese officers who had occupied
difficult and imposed positions.
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