Shungiku Uchida and the Silence of Clippings: "Kurashi no Techo" and My Mother's Gaze in the 1970s

Shungiku Uchida and the Silence of Clippings: "Kurashi no Techo" and My Mother's Gaze in the 1970s

Shungiku Uchida tells us, "My mother used to cut out articles from 'Kurashi no Techo' and scrap them. My mother used to clip out articles from 'Kurashi no Techo' and keep them as scraps. It was a message that was never spoken aloud, but it was clear. Her testimony quietly reveals how the magazine functioned as a "voice of values" in the home during the 1970s.

After the rapid economic growth, a wide variety of information flowed into the home. Television was widespread, newspapers were distributed every morning, weekly magazines were sold at train station kiosks, and lifestyle magazines such as "Kurashi no Techo" were placed on the kitchen shelf. However, "Kurashi no Techo" stood out from the rest of the media. It did not carry advertisements, did not flatter corporations, and consistently presented "what is the right way of life" from the viewpoint of consumers.

Scrapbooking was education without words. The clipped pages were not handed to anyone in the family. However, the "proper way to clean" and "household detergent comparison chart" posted next to the refrigerator and by the telephone became mother's silent commandments for the family. They did not say, "You must do this. However, there was an atmosphere of "it has to be done that way.

Shungiku Uchida recalls that she felt as if she would be offended if she read the magazine, a sensory memory of this silent pressure. It is not that "Kurashi no Techo" itself made her angry. However, there was an ethical gaze within the family, as if one had to be "worthy" of reading the magazine.

In the 1970s, the mother was not merely a housekeeper, but a conductor of life in the home. The "Kurashi no Techo" was the musical score, and the children built their lives according to the rhythm of the score. But the notes were conveyed not in words, but in pieces of paper. The mother did not speak; the magazine did. And the children learned to read the silence.

This unspoken transmission, this inheritance of silent values, is the most obvious indication of the structure of the family at that time. It can also be said to be "a sign of the domestic media" that is being lost today. Kurashi no Techo" was a quiet textbook that was spread between mother and child in the home.