For advocates of Water (unmarked spoilers):

[The Adversary]

I've begun taking an East Asian mythology/folklore/legends course at college and today we briefly went through the World's Creation story of Japan. Part of it I found applicable to Silent Hill 2--specifically James' conclusion.

So it goes:

The Lord set forth pairs of spirits, the Kami, but the first seven pairs failed. The eighth pair, however, Izanagi and his siser Izanami, succeeded in creating the Earth from their place atop a rainbow. The island Onogoroshima was to be their home. And on this island was a pillar. The brother and sister went to the island and walked around the pillar: he from right to left, she from left to right, and when they met, Izanami spoke. Izanagi did not approve of this—of her speaking first—which, essentially, is the basis of the Japanese social structure: that a woman shall not speak unless spoken to. So, they traversed around the pillar again, and this time Izanagi spoke first, and all was well.

At this point he realized, Hey, my body is smooth save for this projection, and she realized, Hey, my body is smooth save for this indentation. Well baby lemme fill that void and see what happens. This act of sexual intercourse created, well, everything, including fire. But Izanami's body wasn't prepared to "birth" fire, so the flames set her organs ablaze, killing her.

Excursus: God, then, the Japanese gods, are not immortal, similar to Silent Hill's gods.

Izanami, then, went to the Land of the Dead and Izanagi went after her to bring her—similar to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. In the dark of the Land of the Dead, Izanagi lit his hair to create a torch so he could see as he travelled down this tunnel. He comes to a large chamber and he hears the voice of Izanami, warning him not to look upon her. Despite her admonitions, he puts the torch so he may see his sister, but she is not how he expected: she is rotting, a corpse. . . . She is also shamed, and because he did not listen, she is angered, and summons her minions to keep him down in the Land of the Dead. During the chase, he comes to the end of the tunnel, throws three peaches—the food of immortality—which scares the Kami away, and manages to escape.

She threatens to kill one hundred people every day in order to wipe out existence, but he claims he shall bear one thousand people every day, thus repopulating all that she takes. And this is the last conversation the brother and sister ever have.

Izanagi, then, in this story of creation, has violated a "ritual fault": contact with the dead. His atonement: to wash himself in flowing water. This ritual "washing" is the Japanese way of atoning for their sin, of which even the gods were guilty. Izanagi did so daily in a stream, and in doing so created more Kami: Amaterasu, god of the sun, and Susanowo, her brother. Japan was divided between them, and Izanagi simply faded away.

The obvious connection, then, is James returns to the Land of the Dead—in this case, Silent Hill—to locate his deceased wife, or: Izanami. But he cannot bring her back, and must cleanse himself of this ritual fault by being "washed in flowing water." Thus: suicide.

I know that the Orpheus/Eurydice connection has been made before, but as far as I know, this hasn't, so . . . there.

[King Crimson]

Ive completely forget about all of this. it has been so long since this has been discussed. thanks for refreshing my memory advesary

[JuriDawn]

This was entirely new to me. Thanks for posting it.

[amphreded]

An interesting, clear, and brief read. This Japanese myth is definitely applicable to SH2. The myth's advocacy (to the In Water ending) works in two senses: a regionally transcendental sense--creators are from Japan, and thus a Japanese myth would be more readily referential than than the non-Japanese myths; though arguable because all myths are derived from the same origin, and because SH itself is western stylistically--and a metaphorical sense--since SH2 emphasizes on the self (conscious/subconscious), it possesses the quality that metaphors myths themselves.
Strangely, the Kami myth ties the existence of Angela with Mary. If Izanami is burned before being talked to by Izanagi in the underworld, this parallels the sequences that James finds Angela on a burning stairways before finally able to "talk" with Mary. I'm not trying to imply that Angela is indeed Mary, just pointing out the similarity.
The atonement via "washing" isn't completely exclusive to this myth, but that's obvious. We still see many traditions and religions today that still use water as a spiritual cleansing agent--holy water, baptism, oriental wedding, and on other sacred occasions.

[AuraTwilight]

While it's an awesome theory, I think it's a bit of a stretch. Especially since Team Silent tend to use western allusions in almost every other instance.

[MisterGrey]

The part about killing 100 people each day versus birthing 100 people each day is interesting, because it's almost identical to a rabbinical writing about Lilith and Adam. For those not familiar, the Talmud (Jewish book of Law) and Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) state that Lilith, not Eve, was the first woman, and that she was birthed from the earth just as Adam was. The two bickered constantly, as Lilith believed herself to be Adam's equal in every way, and was so adamant about this that she refused to engage in missionary position sex with him because she believed that it allowed him to exert dominance over her. At last, Lilith, enraged that Adam didn't share her views on sexual positions, blasphemed the name of God and fled the Garden of Eden. Somewhere along the way she hooked up with Satan, who apparently was into some pretty kinky stuff, and he and his demons endulged Lilith's desires for "sexual equality," which, in this scenario, apparently meant some sort of scissoring. In any case, the offspring of Lilith and Satan and the demons became incubi and succubi. Distressed by this development, God sent a trio of angels to Lilith demanding she return to the Garden of Eden; Lilith adamantly refused. Until she ceased her wicked ways, then, the angels said, they would murder 100 of her children every day. In response, Lilith said she would then bear (101/110/1000, depending on who's telling the story) children every day, negating the angel's plan.

[greenrizz]

Intresting read..thank you st thomas

[The Adversary]

>Team Silent tend to use western allusions in almost every other instance.
They use both.

>it's almost identical to a rabbinical writing about Lilith and Adam.
Most folk tales share similarities with other regions--or are exactly the same. Many of the Japanese myths are the same as from elsewhere.

[MisterGrey]

>Team Silent tend to use western allusions in almost every other instance.
They use both.

>it's almost identical to a rabbinical writing about Lilith and Adam.
Most folk tales share similarities with other regions--or are exactly the same. Many of the Japanese myths are the same as from elsewhere.

\

Oh, I recognize that most ancient culturs have some overlap in their tales. I remember reading how virtually every ancient culture had a story about the world being flooded (ie, Noah's Ark). I just found the specificities in this particular tale striking because of a paper I read by a Japanese author named Arimasa Kubo, who theorized that the Japanese people are one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, and this reminded me of that.

[Anonymous]

As a shintoist and being abreast with this myth, I'd say that The Adversary's theory is not far-fetched at all. He's bang on yet again.

[JimSmithA]

Hmmmm, it's a bit of a stretch but an interesting idea. Personally I just think they gave James the Water method of suicide so they could have the bubble effects in credits.

Yeah, I think I prefer your explanation.

[Ashmodean]

Thats an awesome post!

I had allways thought that the water in Jame's nightmare was in direct relation to the "In Water" ending in that he has allready driven into the lake and his nightmare is occurring as he drowns. Sometiems the things that we feel or hear around us can effect our dreams. All the water pouring into the car, pooling around his feet. I thought that had acounted for all the water damage and the fact that your sloshing around ankle deep in water for part sof the game.

This idea by The Adversary makes me wonder more abotu the state of Jame's mind. In the parts of the game where you are sloshing through water, could that be James trying to rationalise that he hasn't commited any sins? Trying to jsut wash it all away?

[The Adversary]

I should've put a disclaimer to begin with--though I thought I actually did--stating that I do not believe that the In Water ending is the "correct" one, I just found this parallel interesting to make note of.

[Ashmodean]

I'm not sayign its the correct ending. I just find it awesome that it can change the story and metaphors in such a solid way. Everyone seams to just forget about the endings that aren't deemed "real" or "correct". There is a lot of awesome stuff in there.

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

It is also interesting to note that during the feudal era of Japan, suicide or 'Harakiri' was the honourable way to die in battle.So it wouldnt be a stretch to assume that James' death at the end of the 'In Water' ending was an honourable one.

Q. how can james' death be honourable if he killed himself out of guilt?

A. He killed himself AFTER he owned up to his guilt. His death was of his own free will to be with his wife again.

[SilentWren]

First, I'd like to thank ^ for bumping this. I'm pretty sure I'd have never seen it otherwise.
I'm not sure how much thought he's given this is the past 3 years, and that was a very great read and parallel.
May I throw in my two cents? Yes? Thank you.

The creators have mentioned using films and books for their inspiration. I think one even mentioned that water was an important aspect of Japanese horror. As far as Silent Hill goes, I think parallels like this are due to subconscious influence.
The writers were Japanese.
Parallels between their work and their culture appeared in the finished product.

I'm not saying that anyone is considering things like this to be intentional, I just figured that I needed to say this for the people who take things in this series very literally.
I'm certain that if someone asked me to make a collage about holidays, that there would be A LOT of Halloween pictures in there.
It's just human nature.

Certain motifs are bound to reoccur because of the creator's experience and preference, that's all I'm sayin'.
(Btw, nice work on these comparisons dude.)

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

Here's something else i read on the japanese concept of suicide...

Suicide has never been criminalized in Japan.[clarification needed] Japanese society's attitude toward suicide has been termed "tolerant," and on many occasions a suicide is seen as a morally responsible action. Public discussion of the high rate of suicide also focuses on blaming the economic hardship faced by middle-aged men (see sarakin). However, the rise of Internet suicide websites and increasing rate of suicide pacts (shinjū) have raised concern from the public and media, which consider the pacts "thoughtless."

In 1703, Chikamatsu Monzaemon wrote a puppet play entitled Sonezaki Shinjuu (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki), which was later reengineered for the kabuki theatre. The inspiration for the play was an actual double suicide which had recently occurred between two forbidden lovers. Several more "double suicide" plays followed which were eventually outlawed by the governing authorities for emboldening more couples to “romantically” end their lives.

During Japan's imperial years, suicide was common within the military. This included kamikaze, kaiten and suicide when a battle was lost. The samurai way of glory was through death, and ritual suicide was seen as something honorable. Writer Yukio Mishima is famous for his ritual suicide while taking over a Japanese army base.

The cultural heritage of suicide as a noble tradition still has some resonance. While being investigated for an expenses scandal, Cabinet minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka took his life in 2007. The governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, described him as a "true samurai" for preserving his honour. Ishihara is also the author of the film "I go to die for you" which glorifies the memory and bravery of the kamikaze pilots in WWII.

P.S In Water is my favourite ending...(hehe)

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

Guy Cihi posted this a few minutes ago...
i used to remember arguing with him about the canonicity of the endings a few years ago. fun times. it is a startling revelation though. One that makes the ending a hundred times more creepier.Again, this doesnt change anything. just some new food for thought!

[AuraTwilight]

Wow, Guy Cihi is so completely full of it, because James' actions don't fit the practice of Shin-jyu at all in anything more than the superficial sense; nor is there any indication that Team Silent put any more effort or heart into that ending.

He's clearly just pandering to the Japanophile base at this point. Like he's always been doing.

[The Adversary]

He also can't spell "canon."