Space Battleship Yamato is Journey to the West?
The appeal of two deep and rich stories
Space Battleship Yamato is a monumental sci-fi animation born in the 1970s, right in the middle of the Showa era. Around the same time, many versions of Journey to the West appeared on TV. I discuss the appeal of these two deep and rich stories!
Text and illustrations by Muneharu Takayama
Click here for Wikipedia’s summary of Journey to the West
Space Battleship Yamato is Journey to the West. When I was asked to do a more in-depth study of this sentence, I felt as excited as a boy. In the course of my work, I often receive requests such as “Please unravel the structure of the Tale of Genji” or “Please summarize survival books from the Warring States period,” which are fun in themselves, but the study of Space Battleship Yamato and Journey to the West is a bit different.
The phrase “Space Battleship Yamato is Journey to the West” is known to be the words of Aritsune Toyota, who was in charge of SF research for Yamato. It goes without saying, but Space Battleship Yamato is a monumental work of Japanese SF animation. The first series aired in 1974 and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year in 2024. When creating the concept for this story, Toyota had Journey to the West in mind. (Read his original quote in context here.)
It is a story about a man who laments the desolate world, and after a long and painful journey to India, he brings back precious scripture to save his people. Based on this, the concept was created in which a man travels to the planet Iscandar, 148,000 light years away, to receive the “Cosmo Cleaner D,” a radiation removal device, in order to save Earth, which has been devastated by an attack from the Gamilas Empire.
The key to unlocking the metaphor lies in the details of the story. For example, “Iscandar” is a kind of silk road word, a corruption of the name of Alexander the Great, who led an expedition long ago. Sanskrit words are often found in the names of the aliens as well. However, the relationship between Space Battleship Yamato and Journey to the West goes even deeper.
When I was asked to consider these two stories, the reason my heart was lifted in a different way is probably because of the richness of the narrative.
“To save a devastated country, we must overcome a difficult journey infested with terrifying monsters”
“One year until the extinction of humanity! We are the ones to do it!”
The thrilling feeling of a story filled with an incredible sense of mission and self-sacrifice is not found in I Am a Cat, in which a cat looks at human life from a cynical perspective (although I like it as a novel). In other words, Journey to the West and Space Battleship Yamato have elements that stir people’s hearts. And stories with such easy-to-understand concepts can be reproduced repeatedly.
The Chinese monk Xuanzang actually set out on his journey to retrieve the sutras in the 7th century, between 629 and 645. Eventually, his journey became legendary, and in the 9th to 11th centuries, he was depicted as a “tiger pilgrim” accompanied by a tiger as a bodyguard. In the 12th century, he became a pilgrim accompanied by a monkey and a horse, and in the 13th century, he was accompanied by an anthropomorphized monkey.
In the Song Dynasty (960-1276), works such as The Three Treasures of the Tang Dynasty, which could be considered the original text of the modern Journey to the West, were written, and various elements were added as it was transcribed over time.
For example, the countless skeletons hanging from Sha Wujing’s neck are those that were eaten by the goddess Shinsha in a previous life, while on a journey to retrieve scriptures. The goddess transformed into Sha Wujing, with the fate of becoming his disciple.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), there were many editions of Journey to the West (Yang Zhihe edition), Tripitaka’s Journey to the West (Zhu Dingchen edition), and Newly Engraved Journey to the West (Shitokutang edition), but the most detailed version does not include the name of the author. In other words, it may have been difficult to narrow down the author because the writing was so refined and inscribed in various ways during the transcribing process.
During the Qing Dynasty (1616-1912), many digest versions were published, and the play Xiyou Zaju was frequently performed, becoming a story known to everyone. Reproduction has been repeated even in Japan, with Masako Natsume playing Xuanzang. In anime, there is Osamu Tezuka’s Goku’s Great Adventure, and in a broader perspective, Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball.
Space Battleship Yamato has also had many sequels, but due to its complicated background, it was often difficult to make them consistent with the previous work. This background is very similar to the growth process of Journey to the West, in which different people in different places added various elements over time. Eventually, among these countless authors, a genius emerges who will organize the story while keeping consistency in mind.
In Space Battleship Yamato, it’s someone like Yutaka Izubuchi, who was the general director of Yamato 2199. President Dessler is known for his blue skin, but the skin of the Gamilas suddenly turned blue in the original Episode 11. Before that, they had the same skin color as Earthlings. Many viewers wondered why, and it was probably a sudden change of concept, but the story proceeded without any explanation.
Izubuchi, who was a high school student at the time, thought about it for a long time, and came up with the interpretation that “those who are not blue are second-class subjects from colony planets.” And after many years, he finally corrected the inconsistency in 2199.
This is the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast, and Space Battleship Yamato has had many sequels. But like Journey to the West, it has been added to, refined, and made consistent by various people at various times. I can’t help but think that this proves both works will continue to be loved and nurtured by people for a long time to come.
Muneharu Takayama profile
A researcher of early modern history, a professional historian, a historical researcher, a wine columnist, illustrator, and the head of the Yushoku Dimae (medieval-style tea ceremony) school. Specializes in research into the deeds of those related to feudal lords during the Edo period, the history of the introduction of wine, court etiquette, genealogy, Edo literature, food culture, and yokai (Japanese monsters). While working to popularize medieval tea ceremonies, as a descendant of the Otogishu, he also holds tea ceremonies and lectures on the theme of “storytelling and tea” with a background in history and classics.