Help Cultural Appropriation

TurkeySloth · 10 Dec 2022

I, a white American, have been aware of Koyama Ryuu's home setting, potentially, being seen as a form of cultural appropriation since I made her more that just a Ruroni Kenshin OC because it involves the Sengoku Jidai, modern Japan's formative event. But, I've never thought to ask about such things until now because it's a roleplay setting. Judging by the help you've offered with both character and setting thus far, I doubt you see it as appropriation for quite obvious reasons. Yet, I still feel compelled to confirm that it's not. Considering the setting's Sengoku Jidai-equivalent occurs in its Japan-analog, am I appropriating Japanese culture.

thomas · 10 Dec 2022

I am unfamiliar with the Koyama Ryuu or Ruroni Kenshin characters, so please ignore my reply. However, I have never fully grasped the debate of "cultural appropriation". Isn't sharing and indulging in other cultures something wholly innocuous and desirable (unless undertaken in bad faith or in an exploitative or racist fashion)?

Is James Clavell's "Shogun" considered cultural appropriation?

TurkeySloth · 10 Dec 2022

Wikipedia's plot summary of Ruroni Kenshin
When arriving in Tokyo in the 11th year of Meiji era (1878), the former Ishin Shishi Himura Kenshin wanders around Japan until reaching Tokyo. There, he is attacked by a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who believes him to be the Hitokiri Battōsai but ends up forgetting about him upon the appearance of a man claiming to be the "Hitokiri Battōsai" - tarnishing the name of the swordsmanship school that she teaches. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battōsai, revealing himself as the actual former manslayer who has become a pacifist. Kaoru invites Kenshin to stay at her dojo, claiming she is not interested in his past. Although Kenshin accepts the invitation, his fame causes him to accidentally attract other warriors who wish him dead. However, Kenshin also meets new friends including the young Myōjin Yahiko who wishes to reach his strength but ends up becoming Kaoru's student, the fighter-for-hire Sagara Sanosuke from the Sekihō Army who realizes the current Kenshin is different from the Ishin Shishi he detested for killing his leader Sagara Sōzō, and the doctor Takani Megumi who wishes to atone for her sins as a drug dealer, inspired by Kenshin's devotion to his past.

I mentioned that Koyama Ryuu was, originally, a Ruroni Kenshin OC because Kenshin inspired me to have her carry a reverse-blade sword. Upon creation, Ryuu was, essentially, a genderflipped Kenshin. While I can't remember how long she remaine in that form, I know it lasted until I gave her the backstory below.

Ryuu's the oldest of Koyama Akemi and Toshio's three daughters. Her mother was a shinobi.

Japan remains torn asunder by civil war in Ryuu's native reality. Her insistence on using hand-to-hand combat instead of ranged combat in battle showcases her strength. She abstains from using weapons with the potential to reach more than three shaku from her hand. On top of that, her choice of weaponry varies according to her mission. She wields a pair of sai for assassinations whereas she carries two reverse-blade wakizashi for capture missions.

However, she didn't decide to become a shinobi until she and her father returned from visiting the smith Tajiri to find her mother and sisters dead. A few days later, the Koyamas returned to Tajiri's forge and commissioned Ryuu's first pair of sai from her. Thus, they resumed their family's patronage of the smith's family.

About three years later, Ryuu received the scars I mentioned earlier during a mission. However, she takes the greatest pride in them because she escaped with what became her first reverse-blade scythe. No more than a month later, another visit to Tajiri's forge resulted in the commission of her first reverse-blade wakizashi.

As for Clavell's book being appropriation, I'll say no, which answers my own question because of loose parallels.

Help Cultural Appropriation

TurkeySloth

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thomas

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TurkeySloth

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