Kishōtenketsu is a 4-part narrative structure from East Asia, and over the years, it has slowly been making its way into Western writing communities. From Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, to the award-winning horror film Parasite, to anime and manga like Demon Slayer topping the charts, and the climbing craze for k-dramas, many Westerners have fallen head over heels for the kishotenketsu (pronounced "kee-show-ten-ketsu") storytelling approach (whether they know it or not). Unfortunately, though, there have also been quite a few misunderstandings about what kishotenketsu actually is, and how it works, on its way to the West.
Last year, a student in my writing course asked me to comment on kishotenketsu. And while I will openly admit I'm not an expert on it, or East Asian culture, I'm not completely clueless either. Japan has long held a special place in my heart because my dad, brother, aunt, uncle, and cousins lived there. My best friend's dad did work there. And my other brother's close friend was half-Japanese--he'd sometimes share cool shows with us (fun fact: my first Studio Ghibli film was all in Japanese, no subtitles, thanks to this friend).
I wish I could say these people helped me write this article, but the truth is, they didn't; they haven't studied kishotenketsu or writing in depth . . . and with the research I've done, I know more than them on this topic now. (It probably also helps that I inhaled a lot of anime during my formative years 😉) With that said, I am open to hearing corrections from those who know more than me--I just ask they be given with kindness.
I am not East Asian, but what I am is a professional editor and writing instructor who has studied a lot about stories and their structures. I believe my thoughts on this topic are worth sharing. Also, I did look at sources that were actually East Asian, because I do prefer to learn straight from the originators. My references are listed below.
Let's get into it.
(*Notes: I sometimes use West and East in this article as generic terms; I'm aware they are imprecise, but this allows for simplicity. Based on the content of this article, I'm sure you'll get what I mean. Also, plurals are handled differently in English versus Japanese, so I've coined the word "tens" to reference multiple "ten" for clarity, for my audience--I'm aware this isn't how it's handled in Japanese.
Finally, because this ended up being a longer-than-normal post, I've included a table of contents 😊)
