Writing: Moribito - The First Japanese Fantasy?

Having seen the Moribito anime, I could not shake the vision of Balsa, Chagum, and New Yogo already instilled in my head. Also, the writing style overlooks character emotion in favor for action. Since early episodes follow the book word for word, I felt I was simply watching the show again. As the story continued, I most events began to feel predictable, like a fantasy story set in ancient pseudo-Japan.

However, it never occurred to me that “fantasy” was foreign to the Japanese. Eastern cultures have such a rich mythology that I thought it would be natural for them to draw from this well and invent their own, similar, genre. I now see how Moribito stands out. Its setting and time period fall within the conventions of European fantasy without being European. It takes place in an imaginary country which is clearly similar to an existing country. However, because the country is fictional, readers suspend their disbelief and accept magic as part of its reality. Also, the setting goes back several hundred years - feudal Japan, like feudal Europe. Stories in a time before the widespread acknowledgment of science, further enforce the magic concept.

During class, a student said that, in Japan, the Moribito release completely overshadowed the Harry Potter one. I believe this has to do with the nature of familiarity. As mentioned in previous reading, familiarity may be more important when marketing to children. Even though it does not take place in Japan, Moribito is clearly Japanese. After all, looking at the Mikado will strike you blind. New Yogo is not a foreign, English boarding school. It is a world that Japanese children read about in history class. I feel this could turn into an issue of nationalist pride, much like Japanese jazz. Must fantasy be defined by a Western setting? Or is it the use of a historical setting, peppered with magic?