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Toyomasa Fusé fonds

  • 2023-013
  • Fonds
  • 1930-2023

Fonds consists of manuscripts, personal and professional files, objects, sound recordings and interviews pertaining to Fusé’s expertise in the field of suicidology, autobiographical accounts of his personal life, cultural differences that he observed between North American and Japanese society, and biographical accounts of the Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose.

Personal files

Series consists of Toyomasa Fusé’s personal records, which detail his childhood in Sapporo, academic life, hobbies The records in this series include correspondence, interview responses in newspaper articles, diaries, school yearbooks, notebooks and photographs.

Japanese Newspaper: “Sunny to America: Two International Students Selected”

File includes a Japanese newspaper article featuring a teenaged Toyomasa Fusé and one other Japanese student as they are congratulated by General Douglas MacArthur as two of four selected winners of the Garisa (?) Scholarships to study in the United States. Fusé is quoted as saying that he will be attending a university in Missouri. Lois Fusé’s note on the context of the picture is written on the exterior of the original file folder.

Memorabilia

File includes Fusé’s student identification card and library card from Hokkaido Sapporo High School, dated Showa 24 (1949), tickets to Ninomiya (1949) and Fusé’s membership card from the Student Christian Association at Missouri Valley College (1951)

French Essays

File includes Fusé’s writings in French. Topics include his travel to France, French politics, Japanese society and film,, and multiculturalism in Canada.

Ontario Living magazine, August 1985 Issue

File includes one copy of the August 1985 issue of Ontario Living Magazine. The home that the Fusé family owned from 1976 to 2003 is featured for its traditional Japanese interior design aesthetics.

Toyomasa and Lois Fusé Welcome Dinner in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

File includes a photograph of Toyomasa Fusé, Lois Fusé, their son Kenji with many of Toyomasa Fusé’s high school friends as they gathered for a dinner in honour of the Fusé family on their visit to Fusé’s birthplace, the city of Sapporo. File also includes the guestlist for the dinner, outlining their connection to Toyomasa Fusé.

Mickey Club speech: Movies

File includes Fusé’s speech to the members of the Mickey Club, a public speaking organization. Fusé discusses Japan’s post-war cultural shifts and his own exposure to Western culture through watching films from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. He recommends that his audience watch movies from other cultures to broaden their understanding of the world.

Correspondence: Plans for “Tora-san” Joint Lecture

File includes correspondence and notes in Japanese and English regarding a planned joint-lecture about the film “Tora-san,” which would be discussed by the film’s director Yoji Yamada and lead actor Kiyoshi Atsumi in Toronto. Fusé writes to Mamoru Iwamoto, Executive Director of JETRO regarding the reply he received from Toshio Hatano, the New York Bureau President of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. File also includes a letter written to Fusé by Kiyo Kurosu, a general manager working for Shochiku Corporation (a Japanese entertainment company)’s International Division.

Toronto Tora-san Movie Club

File includes handwritten notes, newspapers, emails and information on the Tora-san film series, which were used during informal meetings of the Toronto fanclub for Tora-san. The Japanese-Canadian newspaper clipping includes a photo of Fusé, founder of the fanclub, with Yoji Yamada, the director of Tora-san.

Correspondence: Kennedy, Robert F.

File includes a signed letter from United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy after Fusé wrote to him regarding the Vietnam War. File also includes a copy of the US Congressional Record regarding Kennedy’s position on the Vietnam War.

Newspaper articles regarding Fusé’s childhood and school life

File includes two newspaper articles, in English and Japanese respectively. The English article features an interview with Fusé’s friend Frank Jones, who recounts stories Fusé shared regarding his childhood during the United States Occupation of Japan and his first experiences living in the U.S. The Japanese article discusses Fusé’s scholarship to study in the U.S. and his academic career in North America.

Goji Tsushin: Fusé’s Essays and Lois Fusé’s translated letter for Goji Tsushin contributors

File includes Fusé’s contributions to the essayist collective Goji Tsushin, where authors agreed to each write essays at the same time each month, at 5:00 on the 5th day of the month), publish and share their work. File also includes a copy of Goji Tsushin’s publication and Lois Fusé’s english translation of a letter she sent to the other members of Goji Tsushin after her husband’s death.

Student Diary

File includes Fusé’s student diary for his first year as an international student in university.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1951 diary written in Japanese.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1952 diary written in both English and Japanese.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1953 diary written in Japanese.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1954 diary, written in both English and Japanese.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1956 diary written in Japanese.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1958 diary written in Japanese.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1959 diary written in Japanese.

Diary

File includes Fusé’s 1960 diary written in English.

Professional files

Series consists of Toyomasa Fusé’s professional files and media appearances related to his study and publication of research on sociological issues in the 1960s and 1970s and his contributions to the study of suicide and methods for suicide prevention. Series also includes two framed awards relating to his achievements in the field of suicidology.

The Kazoku – A Vanishing Caste?

File includes two articles written by Fusé on the topic of the Kazoku, the Japanese nobility. The Japanese article is a translation of the English original, first published in the second volume of the journal Asia Quarterly in 1972.

Japanese Canadians [edited collection]; edited with an introduction by David Fujino

File includes a collection of writing and lectures featuring Japanese Canadians’ lived experiences and areas of concern and expertise, which they shared with the Annex drop-in centre, which was a community space for Japanese Canadians located in the East York neighbourhood of Toronto. Fusé’s 1979 guest lecture on “Loneliness and Suicide” is transcribed in this collection.

York Gazette, vol. 11, no. 20

File includes an issue of the York Gazette, which contains an interview with Fusé titled “Cross-Cultural Study of Suicide Yields Surprising Finds.”

La Suisse: “Vague de suicides au Japon”

File includes a newspaper clipping from the Swiss newspaper La Suisse, which tells the story of singer Yukiko Okada’s suicide and that of Yoshiaki Kobayashi, a teenager. Fusé’s expert opinion is that the adjustment period during a shift to new environments can be stressful. For young Japanese people, these changes in relation to schooling and employment often occur in April.

New York Times: “Loyal Samurai’s Suicide: An Alarm Bell for Japan?”

File includes a letter from the New York Times’ Tokyo correspondent David E. Sanger and a photocopy of Sanger’s article on the suicide of Ihei Aoki, a close aide of former Japanese prime minister Noboru Takeshita. Fusé contributed his expertise in the cultural importance of suicide throughout Japanese history to Sanger’s article.

Financial Times of Canada: “Suicide rates and The Swedish Lie”

File includes newspaper clippings of the article “Suicide rates and The Swedish Lie” by Robert Fulford of the Financial Times of Canada. Fusé is interviewed regarding the Swedish Lie, a phrase originally coined from misinformation on Swedish suicide rates by United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

York University articles

File includes three articles published by York University (including York Gazette) that feature interviews with Fusé. Titles include “Measuring Tragedy,” “Global suicide rates reveal surprising patterns,” and “The Pen is Mightier than the Couch.”

Introduction: “The Need for Suicide Prevention”

File includes an introduction written by Fusé for an unknown publication. To advocate the need for suicide prevention, Fusé tells the story of two individuals who committed suicide, which he had previously featured in one of his books.

Social Welfare and Suicide Prevention pamphlets

File includes three Japanese pamphlets with articles by Fusé on the topics of mental health and suicide prevention. One pamphlet is related to Fusé’s book Jisatsu to bunka (translation: Suicide and Culture). The other two pamphlets were distributed by a social welfare organization.

bits magazine, vol. 11, issue 4

File includes two copies of bits magazine, a Japanese Canadian magazine based in Toronto. It includes an interview with Fusé regarding his work in Suicidology and his perspective on the topic of suicide in Japan.

Correspondence: Nawa, Shosuke, Hokkaido Shimbun

File includes correspondence with Shosuke Nawa, an employee of the Hokkaido Shimbun, regarding a double suicide and assistance with research on the Showa Era (1926-1989) and Subhas Chandra Bose. Two Hokkaido Shimbun news articles are attached to Nawa’s letter. Lois Fusé’s annotations on the original envelope provide some context for the articles enclosed.

Cinema Cinema: “Furyo” Interview with Toyomasa Fusé and Naoko Hata

Item includes one VHS cassette featuring Fusé and Naoko Hata’s interview on the subject matter of the film “Furyo” or “Goodbye Mr. Lawrence” on the French Canadian program “Cinema Cinema.” Fusé and Hata provide their lived experience and knowledge of Japan and the Japanese military during the Second World War. Fusé also provides his expertise on the tradition of seppuku, suicide by disembowlment.

Jerusalem On Line: Suicide Help Line Conference in Jerusalem

Item includes one VHS cassette featuring Fusé and Tal Perry’s interview on Jerusalem On Line, an Israeli news program hosted by Mike Greenspan. Fusé and Perry, the director of the Jerusalem-based crisis helpline Eran. both participated in the Crisis Help Line conference in Tel Aviv. The interview centres on the training and importance of crisis services. The segment begins at the timestamp 00:10:00 and ends at 00:20:21. They discuss the difference between “telephone befriending” and psychotherapy when speaking with people in distress. Fusé also discusses the growth of crisis helplines in post-Soviet Union nation states, which were not accessible before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Suicide and Culture Interview, Scene et Mirroir: “Japan, Inc.”

Item includes an interview with Fusé conducted in English regarding his book “Suicide and Culture,” an interview with Fusé conducted in French regarding the 1980 National Film Board (NFB) Documentary “Japan, Inc.” and recordings of contemporaneous Japanese televsion shows and advertisements. The first interview (in English) with Fusé begins at timestamp 00:02:00 and ends at timestamp 00:11:00. Fusé discusses his book “Suicide and Culture,” the “Hungary Pattern” of suicide and the increase of suicidal ideation with age in some cultures and Japan’s history of suicides for atonement, such as the two suicides of aviation crew members in the aftermath of the Japan Airlines Flight 123 tragedy in which 520 passengers were killed. The second interview (in French) begins at the timestamp 00:11:30 an ends at 00:57:50, with discussion of the documentary “Japan, Inc.” an NFB documentary about the fast-paced and collective-focused work culture in Japan and the lessons it could hold for more individualistic Western work cultures. From timestamp 01:11:00 to the end of the tape at 01:19:33

NHK Educational Programming: How to Face Death with Professor Alfons Deeken

Item includes one VHS cassette featuring Professor Alfons Deeken’s 9-part educational series “How to Face Death,” which was originally broadcast on Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corporation) in 1993, and the CBC Radio-Canada documentary “Cine Club: Voyage a Tokyo,” which was likely also recorded in 1993. “How to Face Death” is separated into the following 9 parts: 1. Introduction (00:00:00 to 00:30:00), 2. Grief Work (00:30:00 to 00:37:25), 3. 12 Stages of Grief (00:38:00 to 01:06:00), 4. Fear of Death and Death in Art (01:08:00 to 01:37:00), 5. Hospice Care, 6 Stages of Grief and Life Review Therapy (01:38:00 to 02:07:00), 7. How Children Process Death (02:38:00 to 03:07:20); 8. Thnking about Your Mortality, Life Review Therapy and Preparing for Death (03:08:00 to 03:37:00) and 9. Hospice Care (03:38:00 to 04:07:00). “Cine Club: Voyage a Tokyo,” is documentary film analysis of the central themes used in the 1953 film Voyage a Tokyo (also known as Tokyo Story in English and Tokyo Monogatari in Japanese). It frames “Tokyo Story” as the seminal postwar depiction of Japanese family life already drastically different from the traditions and family structure of that of the first half of the 20th Century, and contrasts it with life in Tokyo during the 1980s and 1990s, with its many technological advances, Westernized lifestyles and social problems. Included in both the film and the documentary is a focus on the Japanese relationship with the dead.

Couchiching Conference 1987: The Future of the American Empire

Item includes a recording of the 56th Couchiching Conference (1987), which includes a discussion featuring Fusé and Black activist Jan Douglass on the World After America Panel. The panel begins at timestamp 00:38:10 and ends at 00:56:00. Fusé talks about his early years as a student studying in the United States in the 1950s and his eventual disillusionment with the country due to what he perceived to be its “moral and visionary decay” from the late 1960s onward, where the pursuit of “freedom” and “Individual pleasure” led to “excessive individualism.” Fusé also discusses the possible causes of higher suicide rates in Canada (14% in 1987) compared to the United States (12% in 1987).

Fusé Lecture

Item includes a recording of Fusé’s suicide seminar at a Buddhist organization in 2003. In the lecture, Fusé provides the Western etmology of the word ‘suicide,’ and its negative connotations (e.g. being defined as self-murder) in Western countries and contrasts it with over 30 different terms used to describe acts of suicide in Japanese, with indication of the motive and the number of people involved in the suicide. He makes additional references to Eastern and Western cultural differences as he compares Western individualism to Japanese collectivism, which are further showcased in the Western film “Shane” (1953) and the Japanese comedy “Tora-san.” As this lecture took place during the Iraq War, Fusé discusses the suicide attacks committed by Al-Qaeda hijackers that crashed two passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001. He explains that the tragedy caused his pacifist stance to waver momentarily and reignited memories of his own wartime experience, with memories of kamikaze pilots flying overhead and his military training as a teenager in the final years of the Second World War that prepared him for the same fate, had the war not ended in 1945.

CBC Sunday Morning: Recruit Scandal

Item includes a sound recording of the program CBC Sunday Morning, which features an interview with Fusé on the topic of the Recruit Scandal in Japan. Fusé provides an expert analysis of the scandal and how the suicide of Ihei Aoki, an aide to Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, relates to Japan’s samurai culture. On Side A of the cassette, Fusé’s interview starts from the beginning of the tape and ends at the timestamp 9 minutes, 30 seconds.

Canada This Week: Fusé Interview

Item includes a sound recording of the Radio-Canada International program “Canada This Week” featuring an interview with Fusé. On Side A of the cassette, Fusé engages in a conversation with the host on the topics of biculturalism and billingualism. Total duration of Side A is 27 minutes and Fusé’s segment begins at the timestamp 14 minutes, 0 seconds and ends at the timestamp 18 minutes, 0 seconds. On Side B of the cassette, Fusé discusses the difference between the cultural identifies of people living in Ontario and Quebec. Total duration of Side B is 26 minutes, 30 seconds and Fusé’s segment begins at the timestamp 14 minutes and ends at the timestamp 17 minutes, 20 seconds.

Canada This Week: Fusé Interview

Item includes a sound recording of the Radio-Canada International program “Canada This Week,” featuring an interview with Fusé. On Side A, Fusé’s segment starts at the timestamp 19 minutes nd 20 seconds. Fusé discusses the film series Toro-san and suicide.

Canada This Week: Fusé Interview

Item includes a recording of the Radio-Canada International program Canada This Week, featuring interviews with Fusé. Side A includes an interview with Fusé on the topic of Quebec. Side B includes an interview with Fusé at timestamp 8 minutes, on the topic of cultural changes occuring in the City of Montreal.

Canada This Week

Item includes a sound recording of the Radio-Canada International program “Canada This Week.” Total duration of Side A is 27 minutes, 20 seconds. Total duration of Side B is 27 minutes, 20 seconds.

Manuscripts

Series consists of Toyomasa Fusé’s unpublished manuscripts for a book on Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose and the Greater East Asia Conference of 1943, his autobiography “Going My Way,” and “Marginal Man’s Perspective,” Fusé’s semi-autobiographical examination of his worldview and identity, which he believed was shaped by his existence as a ‘bicultural’ individual living between two different cultures.

Subhas Chandra Bose Book: Indian National Army Research

File includes articles compiled by Fusé on the subject of Subhas Chandra Bose’s leadership of the Indian National Army during the Second World War, the Subhas Chandra Bose Academy and information on and correspondence with prospective Japanese publishers for the Bose book Fusé wanted to write.

Personal Recollection: “Subhas Chandra Bose in Tokyo”

File includes Fusé’s personal recollection of seeing Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose in person as Bose and other Asian leaders arrived for the Greater East Asia Conference hosted by the Empire of Japan in 1943. Fusé describes his experience going to Tokyo with his father to witness the event, expresses his admiration for Bose and his long-held desire to write a book about Bose.

Japanese Newspaper: Fusé on the 59th Anniversary of Japan’s Defeat in the Second World War

File includes a Japanese newspaper article featuring Fusé’s commentary on the legacy of the 59th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Second World War. Fusé shares his recollection of the end of the war, war films, the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and his perspective on Japanese war crimes in China, particularly those committed by Shiro Ishii’s Unit 731. This article was printed on August 6th, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

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