Abstract:
In this paper I examine two speeches of Japanese Prime Minister Kaifu with the purpose of interpreting those texts and explaining how they function rhetorically. Second, using that critical interpretation as a vehicle, I include some suggestions for a theoretical perspective which I think may inform Japanese prime ministerial oratory in general. The aim of this analysis in part then,is to identify some characteristics of this type of Japanese rhetoric which, should they prove useful in critical application,may further our understanding of Japanese rhetoric and suggest new ways of looking at it. My discussion of the theoretical and approach suggests two characteristics that seem important:generic constraints-particularly with respect to the first speech-and the importance of ethos, or creating ethos as a primary strategy in both speeches. The importance of ethos was suggested firstly by the particular circumstances of the position of prime minister in Japanese political culture. The two texts examined may not necessarily be part of some future anthology entitiled Great Japanese speeches of the Twentieth Century. The first speech examined was Kaifu's first policy speech after being chosen as prime minister, in circumstances, as will be described below, that posed considerable rhetorical challenges.The second, to an American audience,ostensibly a ceremonial speech, was chosen as a comparative foil to the first,due to similarities in rhetorical strategies employed, which seem to grow from the nature of premiership in Japan and the rhetorical exigencies in both speaking situations. On the surface they seem, like many Japanese political speeches, to offer little to entice the critic to engage them. Having said thus, however, the discourses do have unique characteristics which recommend them. The most noted of these is the popularity of Prime Minuster Kaifu as a speaker in Japan. His skill, first recognized when he was in the oratorical society at Waseda Univversity, was much touted in the media when he became prime minister in August 1989, and his quick rise in popularity is said to have been in no small part due to this skill. His reputation is another good reason for looking at these speeches. However, in view of the goals mentioned above, I chose to examine them both as samples of Japanese prime ministerial discourse in general, and also as the rhetoric of an individual speaker, as the letter helps to sharpen the focus of the former.
