The Crab Cannery Ship

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The Crab Cannery Ship

Kobayashi Takiji

Suffering under Crabitalism

In the early twentieth century, neither Japan’s laws nor maritime law applied to its crab cannery ships. Workers languished under brutal conditions, with death, disease, and pain callously accepted in the name of astronomical profits. Kobayashi Takiji depicts one such ship in The Crab Cannery Ship, and ultimately lost his life as a result. ... read more

In the early twentieth century, neither Japan’s laws nor maritime law applied to its crab cannery ships. Workers languished under brutal conditions, with death, disease, and pain callously accepted in the name of astronomical profits. Kobayashi Takiji depicts one such ship in The Crab Cannery Ship, and ultimately lost his life as a result.

The Crab Cannery Ship follows the life of the men of the ship and their eventual transformation into socialists as a result of the abhorrent conditions. There is no protagonist however, and in fact only two characters have a name at all: the superintendent Asakawa, who is more monster than human; and Miyaguchi, who falls victim to Asakawa’s homicidal rage. A few of the fishermen are referred to by some defining characteristic, but for the most part, the fishermen are treated as a group, which helps to emphasize their status as a collective. From all places and of all ages, the fishermen and workers of the ship come from all walks of life but are united by their experience. Much of their mistreatment stems directly from superintendent Asakawa, who is a villain’s villain: cruel, obsequious, greedy, and extremely self-absorbed.

Kobayashi does not beat around the bush. The Crab Cannery Ship is decidedly socialist, and often ham-fistedly so. However, it is not unreasonable that the workers would become radicalized given what they had experienced. Asakawa constantly emphasizes the importance of the profits that the corporation would reap, even though likely none of that money would go to himself. Asakawa is rampant capitalism personified, and the crab cannery ships, as lawless entities, were the perfect place for this kind of mistreatment to occur. The Crab Cannery Ship is oppressive in its mood and at times outright revolting, delivering its message with gut-punch after gut-punch.

Knowing that the novel is based on reality makes it difficult to stomach, and I would not recommend it for the weak of heart. That being said, I think that the abuses of power and the dangers of deregulated work portrayed are relevant now more than ever. Most first-world countries struggle with the treatment of workers, and certain corporations feel more like international superpowers than entities to provide a service or goods. This is not to mention the slave labor that so much of the developed world inadvertently is dependent on, which closely resembles what occurs in The Crab Cannery Ship. In that sense, The Crab Cannery Ship is deeply relatable to many. More than that, it is a moving novel, albeit not in a triumphant way; the workers’ radicalization comes at a steep price. Understated and tender moments underpin the novel and help to effectively convey the weight of the loss of human life. Kobayashi frames the abuses not so much as an economic issue, but as a human one, and that is what makes him so effective in conveying his message.

There are many, particularly in the West, who shy away from anything related to socialism and treat it as anathema. The Crab Cannery Ship is heavy-handed in its messaging, but by no means unreasonable. Rather, it is a deeply moving and human novel. Accordingly, it is both effective in being convincing and successful as a novel from an artistic standpoint. Personally, I would rate it at a 4/5 due to the abruptness of the ending. It is by no means a fun read, but absolutely one that is worthwhile.

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In the early twentieth century, neither Japan’s laws nor maritime law applied to its crab cannery ships. Workers languished under brutal conditions, with death, disease, and pain callously accepted in the name of astronomical profits. Kobayashi Takiji depicts one such ship in The Crab Cannery Ship, and ultimately lost his life as a result.
              The Crab Cannery Ship follows the life of the men of the ship and their eventual transformation into socialists as a result of the abhorrent conditions. There is no protagonist however, and in fact only two characters have a name at all: the superintendent Asakawa, who is more monster than human; and Miyaguchi, who falls victim to Asakawa’s homicidal rage. A few of the fishermen are referred to by some defining characteristic, but for the most part, the fishermen are treated as a group, which helps to emphasize their status as a collective. From all places and of all ages, the fishermen and workers of the ship come from all walks of life but are united by their experience. Much of their mistreatment stems directly from superintendent Asakawa, who is a villain’s villain: cruel, obsequious, greedy, and extremely self-absorbed.
              Kobayashi does not beat around the bush. The Crab Cannery Ship is decidedly socialist, and often ham-fistedly so. However, it is not unreasonable that the workers would become radicalized given what they had experienced. Asakawa constantly emphasizes the importance of the profits that the corporation would reap, even though likely none of that money would go to himself. Asakawa is rampant capitalism personified, and the crab cannery ships, as lawless entities, were the perfect place for this kind of mistreatment to occur. The Crab Cannery Ship is oppressive in its mood and at times outright revolting, delivering its message with gut-punch after gut-punch. 
Knowing that the novel is based on reality makes it difficult to stomach, and I would not recommend it for the weak of heart. That being said, I think that the abuses of power and the dangers of deregulated work portrayed are relevant now more than ever. Most first-world countries struggle with the treatment of workers, and certain corporations feel more like international superpowers than entities to provide a service or goods. This is not to mention the slave labor that so much of the developed world inadvertently is dependent on, which closely resembles what occurs in The Crab Cannery Ship. In that sense, The Crab Cannery Ship is deeply relatable to many. More than that, it is a moving novel, albeit not in a triumphant way; the workers’ radicalization comes at a steep price. Understated and tender moments underpin the novel and help to effectively convey the weight of the loss of human life. Kobayashi frames the abuses not so much as an economic issue, but as a human one, and that is what makes him so effective in conveying his message.
There are many, particularly in the West, who shy away from anything related to socialism and treat it as anathema. The Crab Cannery Ship is heavy-handed in its messaging, but by no means unreasonable. Rather, it is a deeply moving and human novel. Accordingly, it is both effective in being convincing and successful as a novel from an artistic standpoint. Personally, I would rate it at a 4/5 due to the abruptness of the ending. It is by no means a fun read, but absolutely one that is worthwhile.

Cans of Promise, Cans of Sorrow

Reading Kobayashi’s The Crab Cannery Ship is like reading Das Kapital with jumper cables attached to your groin. It is without a doubt the most brutal dealing with of capitalism I have encountered, and although it was written in 1929 (and is anything but objective), I would argue it is deeply relevant in modern ... read more

Reading Kobayashi’s The Crab Cannery Ship is like reading Das Kapital with jumper cables attached to your groin. It is without a doubt the most brutal dealing with of capitalism I have encountered, and although it was written in 1929 (and is anything but objective), I would argue it is deeply relevant in modern late-capitalist society. The Japan in which Kobayashi wrote, The Crab Cannery Ship was one of rapid industrialisation, as Japan became increasingly capitalist in order to compete as an imperial power on the world stage post-WWI. The working class became increasingly oppressed as capitalist values merged with traditional oligarchic and absolutist power structures, creating the perfect storm. Instead of crushing a budding proletariat, however, an uncertain political landscape galvanised it as the day to day implications of a capitalist society became clear. This led to the wave of politically charged literature of which Kobayashi was a part. Proletariat literature primarily aims to comment on the effects of political events, systems and theories with then end of promoting social reform/political revolution among the working class. Since tactics like these are employed by those (Socialists, Communists, Anarchists) who rely on support of the masses, the works primarily have to be wide-reaching and highly emotive in order to gain a wide following. Kobayashi clearly understands these sentiments, and so plays with spaces in the text that exemplify the disparity in a capitalist society.

Kobayashi appeals to the reader’s pathos in exemplifying the monopoly the ruling profit-driven class has on the means of violence (the army) and capital (means of production), invoking a sense a fear and urgency. This he does through the “imperial warship,” and its relationship with the factory boat (Kobayashi, pg.26). The government (and by extension the army, since in authoritarian states the latter is the will of the former) profits from an economy built on the backs of workers and the leverage they have over the company for the ‘cost of protection’. The company benefits from the threat of violence they have over their workers and how this allows for egregious treatment of workers (since times were tough and life was cheap). Kobayashi points out how political systems that follow this model are inherently ironic in the rhetorical question, “How the hell can a warship that belongs to the empire not be on the side of the people who belong to that same empire?” (Kobayashi, pg.93). In a world where wars are still being fought for oil while corporations rake in billions, it is easy to see how the Crab Cannery Ship is relevant to a modern audience

Kobayashi understands his target audience inasmuch as he makes the text as accessible as possible. While the text is also chock full with political ideology, he draws on the proletariat ‘pamphlet’ technique in relying on strong imagery conveyed in colloquial text, so that even the undereducated can engage with it politically. The constant descriptions of the squalor the fishermen live in (lice, excrement) and the level of physical/mental abuse they receive make it so the hold becomes a hell on Earth in words (Kobayashi, pg.58). In doing so, Kobayashi alienates the reader from capitalism, presenting it as a system hellbent on squeezing profit from the working masses at the expense of their lives. Would-be skeptics find it harder and harder to disagree as each day new atrocities are committed. I found this wearing down of the reader through repeated shocks to the system effective to the point even the most cynical of modern readers might think twice about ordering Christmas presents off Amazon this year.

I believe that in an age where no action is truly apolitical, and where the defining issues of our time haven’t changed in decades, we should look to our past for direction. Empires may rise and fall but it will always be true that the strength of the many can overcome the will of the few. I believe we should look to optimism in our times of anguish as Kobayashi did, let it fuel us, and think about what it is we’re actually going to change.

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Reading Kobayashi’s The Crab Cannery Ship is like reading Das Kapital with jumper cables attached to your groin. It is without a doubt the most brutal dealing with of capitalism I have encountered, and although it was written in 1929 (and is anything but objective), I would argue it is deeply relevant in modern late-capitalist society.                                                               The Japan in which Kobayashi wrote, The Crab Cannery Ship was one of rapid industrialisation, as Japan became increasingly capitalist in order to compete as an imperial power on the world stage post-WWI. The working class became increasingly oppressed as capitalist values merged with traditional oligarchic and absolutist power structures, creating the perfect storm. Instead of crushing a budding proletariat, however, an uncertain political landscape galvanised it as the day to day implications of a capitalist society became clear. This led to the wave of politically charged literature of which Kobayashi was a part. Proletariat literature primarily aims to comment on the effects of political events, systems and theories with then end of promoting social reform/political revolution among the working class. Since tactics like these are employed by those (Socialists, Communists, Anarchists) who rely on support of the masses, the works primarily have to be wide-reaching and highly emotive in order to gain a wide following. Kobayashi clearly understands these sentiments, and so plays with spaces in the text that exemplify the disparity in a capitalist society. 
Kobayashi appeals to the reader’s pathos in exemplifying the monopoly the ruling profit-driven class has on the means of violence (the army) and capital (means of production), invoking a sense a fear and urgency. This he does through the “imperial warship,” and its relationship with the factory boat (Kobayashi, pg.26). The government (and by extension the army, since in authoritarian states the latter is the will of the former) profits from an economy built on the backs of workers and the leverage they have over the company for the ‘cost of protection’. The company benefits from the threat of violence they have over their workers and how this allows for egregious treatment of workers (since times were tough and life was cheap). Kobayashi points out how political systems that follow this model are inherently ironic in the rhetorical question, “How the hell can a warship that belongs to the empire not be on the side of the people who belong to that same empire?” (Kobayashi, pg.93). In a world where wars are still being fought for oil while corporations rake in billions, it is easy to see how the Crab Cannery Ship is relevant to a modern audience
            Kobayashi understands his target audience inasmuch as he makes the text as accessible as possible. While the text is also chock full with political ideology, he draws on the proletariat ‘pamphlet’ technique in relying on strong imagery conveyed in colloquial text, so that even the undereducated can engage with it politically. The constant descriptions of the squalor the fishermen live in (lice, excrement) and the level of physical/mental abuse they receive make it so the hold becomes a hell on Earth in words (Kobayashi, pg.58). In doing so, Kobayashi alienates the reader from capitalism, presenting it as a system hellbent on squeezing profit from the working masses at the expense of their lives. Would-be skeptics find it harder and harder to disagree as each day new atrocities are committed. I found this wearing down of the reader through repeated shocks to the system effective to the point even the most cynical of modern readers might think twice about ordering Christmas presents off Amazon this year. 
I believe that in an age where no action is truly apolitical, and where the defining issues of our time haven’t changed in decades, we should look to our past for direction. Empires may rise and fall but it will always be true that the strength of the many can overcome the will of the few. I believe we should look to optimism in our times of anguish as Kobayashi did, let it fuel us, and think about what it is we’re actually going to change. 
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This story reminds me a lot of We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen, which traces the history of a sailing town across numerous generations. The sailing industry eventually ends up being crushed by the wife of one of the sailors, who swore to crush the industry after loved ones passed away at sea after having refused to hear her pleas about it being dangerous. The fundamental nature of the stories is rather different, but the brutality of life at sea is integral to both. In We, the Drowned, a central theme is sailors being drawn to sea in spite of how dangerous and rough it is, and more or less depicts the immense appeal as only barely offsetting this risk. However, in the Crab Cannery Ship none of the workers have that passion and are driven by a cruel taskmaster, so the awfulness of their situation is difficult to overstate. What do you think the particular significance of this story taking place at sea is?

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<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Segoe UI', system-ui, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">This story reminds me a lot of We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen, which traces the history of a sailing town across numerous generations. The sailing industry eventually ends up being crushed by the wife of one of the sailors, who swore to crush the industry after loved ones passed away at sea after having refused to hear her pleas about it being dangerous. The fundamental nature of the stories is rather different, but the brutality of life at sea is integral to both. In We, the Drowned, a central theme is sailors being drawn to sea in spite of how dangerous and rough it is, and more or less depicts the immense appeal as only barely offsetting this risk. However, in the Crab Cannery Ship none of the workers have that passion and are driven by a cruel taskmaster, so the awfulness of their situation is difficult to overstate. What do you think the particular significance of this story taking place at sea is?</div>

This is clearly a work of proletariat literature. In what ways is capitalism mocked? The first thing that comes to mind is the consistent mentioning that the crab cannery ships are factories and their workers are just bodies.

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Apart from the crab cannery ship the workers are on, there is an imperial warship in the story that stirs much nationalistic sentiment, rumor and imagination among the workers. What do these reactions triggered by the warship's presence tell us about the workers? Is the warship a symbol? How does the relationship between the workers and the symbolic warship fluctuate as the plot progresses?

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How can the worker’s rebellion be interpreted—is it more toward a voluntary actualisation of awakening consciousness, or the result of self defense stimulated by Capitalist’s repression?

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Crab Cannery Ship Question: Early on in the text we learn that many of the "fisherman farmers" have been forced to leave home and work on the ship to put food on the table, despite having worked their fields from before dawn each day. They are forced to leave their families behind and sometimes send them to work in factories to make ends meet. The brutish ship manager represents cold hard capitalism and the erosion of communal values, evident in how he leaves the sinking ship for dead. What comment is Kobayashi trying to make about the gradual subjugation of workers in a rapidly industrialising nation? Is a more traditional (agricultural/tradesman) way of life all but impossible in the new capitalist Japan?

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<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Segoe UI', system-ui, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Crab Cannery Ship Question: Early on in the text we learn that many of the "fisherman farmers" have been forced to leave home and work on the ship to put food on the table, despite having worked their fields from before dawn each day. They are forced to leave their families behind and sometimes send them to work in factories to make ends meet. The brutish ship manager represents cold hard capitalism and the erosion of communal values, evident in how he leaves the sinking ship for dead. What comment is Kobayashi trying to make about the gradual subjugation of workers in a rapidly industrialising nation? Is a more traditional (agricultural/tradesman) way of life all but impossible in the new capitalist Japan?</div>

Crab Cannery Ship Question: What elements of this story highlight the changing national and international situation in Japan? What elements of Japanese culture are distinctly different? What elements remain?

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For me, the effect this narrative had was that each of the sailors could have been any of them. They become more of a cohesive group and their mentalities are all connected. Because of this, I actually feel more isolated from the story. I had a harder time emotionally connecting to the text and it felt colder and more isolating. I think out of everything, I felt the most amount of emotion (distress) when the manager was present because he was given a name and identity markers and his cruelty was not contained to a few.

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What is Kobayashi trying to convey through his portrayal of inanimate objects throughout what we’ve read so far? For example, the ship is sometimes referred to as an “ox” (p. 20). Additionally, in other scenes, the ship’s ropes become “snakes” (p. 41). What is the purpose of these metaphorical inferences?

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what sort of relationship ( parallels and contrasts) does Crab Cannery Ship draw between man and machine (which here is the boat)?

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Kobayashi puts in much effort in describing the occurrences beyond the human level, especially the ship and the sea. Is the relationship between the ship and the sea a metaphor for the working class' struggle? Or how do you think his focus on these non-human things adds to our understanding of the purpose of his writing?

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What elements can we point to thus far that identify this book as proletarian literature? How does that compare with Diary of a Vagabond?

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Crab Cannery Ship Question: In its first pages, the Crab Cannery Ship introduces a large cast of characters that inhabit the ship, leaving most of them curiously unnamed. Additionally, we do not experience the events of the story through the eyes of one main protagonist—instead, an omniscient narrator observes the chaos of the ship and its numerous inhabitants. What is the effect of using this type of narrative format? Did you feel more connected or less connected to the events of the story because of this choice?

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Kobayashi, Takiji, Zeljko Cipris, and Yōichi Komori. The Crab Cannery Ship: and Other Novels of Struggle. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2013. 1-17.

Offers “the most systematic and precise commentary on the basic characteristics and structure of the novel.” (7) Also offers background on Kobayashi’s upbringing, and how he came to be involved with the Communist party and proletarian writing.

Offers additional insight into Kobayashi’s intention when writing the novel, taken directly from his own writing.

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Bowen-Struyk, Heather. Rethinking Japanese Proletarian Literature. Ann Arbor, MI., Michigan: UMI, 2001.

Chapter 5 Covers The Crab Cannery Ship and the “rewriting of proletarian literature” (iii).

Covers the history of proletarian literature, the various approaches to it, and a variety of seminal works of Japanese proletarian literature (e.g. Hayama Yoshiki’s “The Prostitute” and Life on the Sea, Miyamoto Yuriko’s “The Family of Koiwai.”)

Bowen-Struyk seeks to reread “proletarian literature in terms of the way that literary concerns have impinged upon the political and vice versa” (7). The relationship between class and gender is also explored.

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Bowen-Struyk, Heather. Rethinking Japanese Proletarian Literature. Ann Arbor, MI., Michigan: UMI, 2001. 
Chapter 5 Covers The Crab Cannery Ship and the “rewriting of proletarian literature” (iii).
Covers the history of proletarian literature, the various approaches to it, and a variety of seminal works of Japanese proletarian literature (e.g. Hayama Yoshiki’s “The Prostitute” and Life on the Sea, Miyamoto Yuriko’s “The Family of Koiwai.”) 
Bowen-Struyk seeks to reread “proletarian literature in terms of the way that literary concerns have impinged upon the political and vice versa” (7). The relationship between class and gender is also explored.

Streets of Promise, Streets of Sorrow: Kobyashi Takiji and the Proletarian Movement

By Heather Bowen-Struyk

Bowen-Struyk seeks to “read the public space and streetscapes of early-Sho¯wa Tokyo through the lens of

proletarian writers.” She uses the “conceptual tools provided by cultural geographers, in particular the

concept of emotional geography.”

Discusses the role of Tokyo as the center of the proletarian movement.

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Streets of Promise, Streets of Sorrow: Kobyashi Takiji and the Proletarian Movement
By Heather Bowen-Struyk
 
Bowen-Struyk seeks to “read the public space and streetscapes of early-Sho¯wa Tokyo through the lens of
proletarian writers.” She uses the “conceptual tools provided by cultural geographers, in particular the
concept of emotional geography.”
Discusses the role of Tokyo as the center of the proletarian movement.