Fat, Disease, and Health: Female Body and Nation in Okamoto Kanoko’s “Nikutai no shinkyoku”

Abstract

“Nikutai no shinkyoku” (The divine comedy of the body, 1937) tells the story of Shigeko, an overweight young woman who leaves her home in Tokyo to undergo a rigorous diet and exercise regimen in a remote mountain village. Although she does not achieve significant results, she attains self-acceptance, and the positive resignification of her body is endorsed by her family, friends, and a marriage proposal from a man in love with her physique.1 Serialized in Mita bungaku (Mita literature) in seven installments between January and December 1937, this text has largely been ignored or described as a “failure.”2 When discussed, it is often read biographically as Okamoto Kanoko’s (1889–1939) affirmation of her own famously plump figure.3 Because Okamoto has been characterized as a narcissist and was known for her elaborate clothes, makeup, and lifestyle, she is often still trivialized despite being a successful and important pure literature (junbungaku) writer.4 To be sure, Okamoto certainly promoted her unique author-image, often by creating powerful female characters reminiscent of herself. Yet her works are more than simple expressions of self-affirmation; they create complex, unexpected meaning by dynamically engaging with the literary and cultural context of the times.