On the Banks of Muddy Waters: Ayako Miura’s Soulful Adaptation of the Story of Job

Abstract

This article explores Ayako Miura’s Deiryū Chitai [“Mudflow Zone”] as a case study of the reception of the story of Job in Japanese literature. Despite the absence of righteous suffering as a theme, and its structural dissimilarity from the biblical book, this work should be read as a Joban adaptation where personal suffering is replaced by systemic suffering, and personal righteousness by social justice. Miura’s Job is the patient Job of the New Testament (Jas 5:11), but this Job, while accepting his lot in life without complaining, does not turn a blind eye to injustice around him. Miura’s message is that, in the face of one’s own suffering, whatever the cause, a Christian must not forget to love one’s neighbor. Not only does the story depict the struggle of a destitute man who, out of unconditional love, never gives up trying to rescue a victim of social injustice, but it also extols the lives of those who transform themselves to become serviceable and restore justice in the world. Set against the Exodus story of bondage and liberation, the work bespeaks the transformative power of a Christian life.