3.1 Karate, a Japanese martial art?


Questionnaire: please answer the google form about your image about karate before you start reading
3.1.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfadF00-qVs2w1xWcGgTBUYbMUBstIkSwcnKH0SKnGEnVjLiA/viewform
?usp=sf_link


Supposedly, the best-known karate character would be Ryu from Street Fighter series.


                   Figure 1 Character graphic of Ryu from Street Fighter series
                      (https://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/character/ryu/costume)


Let’s start this week with analysing Ryu in a framework demonstrated by Rachael Hutchinson (2006,
the article is available from Library and the information system of the University) to figure out
which kind of stereotypical images are used.

She examined the detailed profiles (genders, nationalities, heights and weights) and settings
(character graphics, costumes, fighting styles, background graphics, background music, character
narratives) of the characters of Soul Calibour series.


According to the official profile of Ryu, he is a male fighter from Japan with 175-180cm (highest
in SFI) in height and 68-85kg in weight (heaviest in SFV). So, he is big as a Japanese man but in
average in international standard.

His character design was changed a lot in SFII. The most noticeable changes can be the colour of
his hair (red to black) and the shoes that he put a pair of kung fu shoes in Street Fighter
although he fights with his bare foot in SFII. His posture also became more muscled with more worn
karate training uniform. In some sequences of Street Fighter, his black belt has an embroidery of
“風林火山 (Fu-rin-ka-zan, a motto of the warlord Takeda Shingen (1521-1573)” which means “quick like
wind, quiet like a bush, invade like a fire, and stand still like a mountain.”


                   Figure 2 Character graphic of Ryu from Street Fighter (1987)
           (https://jp.ign.com/street-fighter-30-years/14146/feature/?utm_source=recirc)


Character theme songs and respective background graphics was given also from SFII.

In the case of Ryu, his stage is on the rooftop of some Japanese castle (according to the official
settings, the name is Castle Suzaku), and we see also two signboards says “風林火山 (Fu-rin-ka-zan.”
And Japanese percussions like drums, handbells, and wooden clappers are in his theme song.

       Figure 3 Theme of Ryu and his stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEA-kf9utek&t=)


In Street Fighter II (hereby, SFII) (1991), the nationalities of the characters played an important
role in the character designs.

Yasuda Akira who was one of the game developers of SFII told in his interview in 2003 that:


When Nishitani [lecturer’s note: Nishitani Akira, the chief designer of SFII] was imagining the
characters for SFII, he divided them into different nationalities and their respective fighting
styles. First he would choose their country (India, Japan, USA etc), then he would figure out a
fighting style that matched it, like sumo or boxing. After matching all those up, the only ones
that were leftover were “Spain” and “Ninja”. He had wanted to use ninjas for Japan, but Japan
already had karate and sumo. …

                                         sf2 chara select

                            Figure 4 Character select screen from SFII

   There are two Japanese flags which means there are two playable Japanese characters (another
                         playable character is a sumo wrestler E. Honda).


Although the fighting style of Ryu was already set as karate from Street Fighter, the character
design was changed from SFII into the direction of emphasizing more his nationality.

Based on the concept of SFII, it can be also said that karate was more clearly branded as a
Japanese martial art.


However, is it surprising for you if you find out karate was “exotic” for the Japanese in the
beginning of the 20^th century, and the uniform of karate became the current design coincidently?


Discussion 3.1: Try character analysis (ideally characters which use Japanese martial arts) and
describe it in the comment.