Reading Okinawa

JAPANESE TEXT: Medoruma, Shun. Me no oku no mori [In the Woods of Memory]. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2009.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Medoruma, Shun. In the Woods of Memory. Trans. Takuma Sminkey. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2017.

Additional Information: You can find more information on this novel at my Translating Okinawa page.


1. Introduction

Me no oku no mori [In the Woods of Memory] was first published in twelve installments in the quarterly Zenya from Fall 2004 through Summer 2007. The novel describes a rape that took place during the Battle of Okinawa and how that event impacted on the lives of various characters.

The novel is narrated through various points of view, some in 1945 and some in the present. By retelling two powerful stories that take place during the Okinawa War through various points of view, Medoruma Shun’s novel raises important questions concerning war memory and trauma. The main story focuses on Sayoko, a seventeen-year-old girl who is brutally raped by four American soldiers after they swim across the short stretch of ocean that separates an unnamed island from the Okinawan mainland.

The second story focuses on Seiji, who tries to get revenge by attacking the soldiers with his harpoon as they swim across the strait again to rape other women. After stabbing the soldiers, Seiji hides in a cave in the forest until the ward chief tells the Americans where Seiji is hiding. In front of the villagers, the Americans force Seiji out of the cave with tear gas and shoot him after he throws a hand grenade that turns out to be a dud. Sixty years later, those involved in the incident, both Americans and Okinawans, are still traumatized by the incident.


2. Character List

Japanese

Fumi Tōyama (maiden name: Matsuda) 当山（旧姓：松田）フミ

When she is a fourth-grader, Fumi witnesses both the rape and Seiji’s attack on the US soldiers. She is the only one who has witnessed both incidents. After the war, Fumi moves to Nago, not too far from the island where she lived as a child.

Chikashi　チカシ

From the top of a cliff, Chikashi and Fumi witness Seiji’s attack on the US soldiers as they are swimming across the strait.

Seiji　盛治

A shy boy who lives next door to Sayoko, Seiji attacks four US soldiers with his harpoon as they swim across the strait to rape more women. After the incident, Seiji hides in a cave, but the Americans find him with the help of Kayō, who tells them where Seiji is hiding. The Americans surround the cave and force Seiji out with tear gas. When Seiji comes out of the cave with his harpoon and a grenade, he is shot and then carried off on a stretcher. Blinded by the gas, Seiji ends up being a burden on his family. He spends the rest of his life playing his sanshin and staring at the ocean.

Kayō　嘉陽

The ward chief of the village at the time of the rape, Kayō cooperated with the Americans after the war in the belief that that was best for the villagers. After finding out where Seiji was hiding, he informs the Americans, which leads to Seiji’s arrest. Kayō feels resentful towards Seiji and the villagers, who bully his family relentlessly until they move away. As an old man, Kayō is interviewed about his war experiences, but he does not explain everything that happened.

Nae　ナエ

Kāyo’s wife, who died as an old woman and whose mortuary tablet is now on Kāyo’s family shrine.

Seikō and Hatsu　盛孝とハツ

Seiji’s parents. Seikō is a fisherman and is very strict with Seiji. He hates Kāyo. Hatsu goes hysterical when the Americans capture Seiji.

Buntoku Ōshiro　大城文徳

The man who tells Kāyo where Seiji is hiding in exchange for some canned food.

Kazuaki Tamashiro　玉城一明

A young man who confronts Kāyo at the cave after Seiji’s capture. He angrily asks Kāyo how he knew that Seiji was hiding in the cave.

Megumi Makiya　眞喜屋めぐみ

A young woman who wrote her graduation thesis about the Battle of Okinawa and who interviews Kayō about his war experiences. Since last year, she has been working at the Board of Education in a temporary position.

Hisako　久子

Hisako moved to the island as an evacuee during the war. She witnessed the rape, along with some of her fourth-grade classmates. After the war, she moves back to Naha with her family. After graduating from high school, she moves to Tokyo, where she settles down. As an elderly woman, Hisako begins to have bad dreams shortly after her husband dies. In order to make sense of her fragmented memories, she decides to leave Tokyo and visit her childhood friend, Fumi.

Sayoko　小夜子

A beautiful and gentle young woman, Sayoko is raped by four US soldiers during the Okinawa War. Traumatized by the rape, Sayoko ends up going crazy and being raped by young men in the village as well. She becomes pregnant and gives birth, but her father takes the baby away and puts it up for adoption. After the war, Sayoko leads an empty life as a seamstress. When she is older, her family puts her in an institution, against their mother’s opposition.

Bullied Junior High School Girl　いじめられている少女

An unnamed junior high school girl who is bullied by her classmates, especially the members of the volleyball team. The girl lives alone with her mother and does not seem to have any friends. Ironically, she seems to be the only student who listens closely to Tamiko’s speech.

Tamiko　タミコ

Sayoko’s younger sister who witnesses the rape, Tamiko struggles her hatred towards her father. Her husband dies young, so Tamiko has to raise her three daughters by herself. Now an old woman in her seventies, Tamiko lives with her youngest daughter and her family. Her daughter talks her into giving a speech about her war experiences, but she ends up regretting agreeing to do so.

M *changed to “Matsumoto” in the English translation

Only referred to by his initial, M is the unnamed novelist’s college friend who lives in Tokyo. He is dying from an illness, presumably cancer, and wants the novelist to throw the pendant, which M received from J’s wife, into the ocean in Okinawa.

Okinawan writer

An unnamed Okinawan writer who receives a video letter from “M.” In college, he wrote a story that sounds a lot like Medoruma Shun’s Me no oku no mori.

Kana Matsuda　松田カナ

The young Okinawan woman who tells the interpreter and Lieutenant Williams the truth about why Seiji attacked the US soldiers.


Americans

Robert Higa　ロバート・比嘉

Robert Higa is the interpreter who tries to talk Seiji out of the cave and who assists with Seiji’s interrogation. He helps Lieutenant Williams investigate the incident and is later transferred to the south, where he saves many Okinawans by persuading them to surrender. As an old man, he does not want to be honored because he still feels guilty as a result of Sayoko’s terrified scream.

Tony　トニー

Tony is a friendly US soldier who often visited Fumi’s tent in the camp. Tony has a younger sister back home and dotes on Fumi.

Kinser　キンザー

The most callous of the rapists, Kinser seems to enjoy killing both people and animals. He is clearly the ringleader of the four men who terrorize the village. On the other hand, Kinser helps to save J’s grandfather’s live after he is stabbed. After being transferred to the south, he dies in the war.

Henry　ヘンリー

Violent like Kinser, Henry actively participates in the rape and even tries to rape the elementary school girls. Like Kinser and McCrory, he is killed in battle.

McCrory　マクローリー

Though less violent than Kinser and Henry, McCrory actively participates in the rape and prevents J’s grandfather from running off. After Sayoko is raped, McCrory prevents Henry from raping the younger girls. After the stabbing, he presents J’s grandfather with a pendant, which McCrory made from the head of Seiji’s harpoon. Like Kinser and Henry, he is killed in battle.

J’s Grandfather (Smith?)　Jの祖父 （スミス？）
*changed to “Jay’s grandfather” in the English translation

Pressured by his friends, J’s grandfather reluctantly participates in the rape. Later, he is stabbed by Seiji as he and his friends are swimming to the island again. As a result of his injury, he ends up being the only one of the rapists that survives the war. As an old man, J’s grandfather becomes a heavy drinker and dies when the car he is driving goes off a cliff. J suspects that his grandfather committed suicide.

J *changed to “Jay” in the English translation

Referred to only by his initial, J is the man that M met in New York City. J received the pendant from his father, who in turn received the pendant from his father, J’s grandfather. After J dies in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, his wife, called K, mails the pendant to M and asks him to throw the pendant into the ocean in Okinawa, in accordance with J’s wishes.

K *changed to “Kate” in the English translation

Referred to only by her initial, K is J’s wife, who mails M the pendant and requests that he throw it into the ocean in Okinawa.

Lieutenant Williams　ウイリアム少尉

Lieutenant Williams questions the ward chief with the interpreter. After they go to Sayoko’s house and discover the truth about the rape, Lieutenant Williams tells the interpreter to keep the incident secret.


3. Plot

[Note: In the original Japanese, chapters are neither numbered nor titled but are marked with page breaks. In my English translation, chapter titles indicate the point of view and year; for example, “Fumi (1945)”]

Chapter 1 (3-38)
English Chapter Title: Part 1: Fumi (1945) Part 2: Seiji (1945)

Fumi Matsuda, a fourth-grader, is clamming in the shallows with her friends when four US soldiers swim across the strait, grab the seventeen-year-old Sayoko, and drag her into the bushes. A few days later, the same men return to the village and rape another woman as the male villagers stand by hopelessly. About a week later, Fumi and a young boy are standing at the top of a cliff and witness Seiji swimming after the men and then stabbing one of them. The Americans organize a search to find Seiji. When he is found, Fumi heads to the cave with her mother. (3-21)

Looking across to Yagaji Island from Unten Port

[Halfway through the chapter, the point of view suddenly shifts to Seiji. I made this a separate chapter in my English translation.]

About a week after the rape, Seiji is hiding in a cave after stabbing two of the Americans who participated in the rape. Tormented by his memories and imagining that US soldiers are attacking him, Seiji recalls being bullied as a child, Sayoko’s kindness to him, his time serving in the Japanese army, finding out about the rape, the Americans’ subsequent visit to rape another woman, and how he stabbed one of the Americans as the group of four were swimming over again. After a gas canister is thrown into the cave, Seiji dashes out with a grenade and his harpoon. (21-38)

Chapter 2 (39-61)
English Chapter Title: Kayō (2005)

Kayō, the ward chief at the time of the rape, is being interviewed about his war experiences. Now an old man and widower, Kayō welcomes the opportunity to talk with Megumi Makiya, the young woman interviewing him. Kayō answers questions about Seiji and how he was shot; however, he keeps most of his thoughts to himself. During the interview, Kayō give short answers to the questions, but he recalls various incidents in detail: his anger towards Seiji, a confrontation with some young men for telling the Americans where Seiji was hiding, the bitterness he felt towards the village for bullying his family, and his decision to finally move off the island. After the young woman leaves, Kayō goes to the family altar and sees an apparition of Seiji. As he stumbles back in terror, he calls out to his dead wife, Nae.

Chapter 3 (62-81)
English Chapter Title: Hisako (2005)

Hisako, one of the fourth-grade girls that witnessed the rape, is now an old woman. She arrived from Tokyo last night and has spent the night in a hotel near Naha Airport. Early in the morning, she awakes from a bad dream about a woman running and screaming, a recurring dream she has been having since the death of her husband, Kōsuke. Hisako leaves the hotel and boards a bus heading north. On the bus, she struggles to make sense of her fragmented memories: a running woman, standing at a cave with other villagers, a man being shot and carried away on a stretcher, and women throwing stones at a man. She feels guilty about having avoided Okinawa but realizes she was incapable of facing her trauma. About a month ago, Hisako decided to visit the island to make sense of the memories that have been haunting her. Through a relative, she made contact with Fumi Matsuda, her elementary school friend, and now Hisako is going to visit her. At the bus stop, Fumi is waiting with her eldest son, Yōichi. They drive over the bridge to the island, and Hisako marvels at all the changes. They walk through the forest to a cave, and Hisako recalls Seiji coming out with his harpoon.

The bridge connecting Yagaji Island to the Okinawa mainland

Chapter 4 (82-102)
English Chapter Title: Hisako and Fumi (2005)

Staring into the cave, Fumi talks about the rape and how happy she felt when Seiji stabbed the US soldier. She vividly describes what happened to Seiji at the cave. As Hisako listens to Fumi’s account, she gradually makes sense of her disjointed memories. When Fumi finishes her story, the group (Fumi, Hisako, and Yōichi) offers prayers at the entrance of the cave. After this, Yōichi drives past the women’s old elementary school and stops at the community center. Standing under a banyan tree, Fumi points to Seiji’s house in the distance and explains that he returned to the village shortly after his arrest and has been living there ever since. Because he is blind, he has been a burden on his family. Fumi then explains that Sayoko went crazy after the rape and supposedly became pregnant. She points out that the villagers were no better than the Americans. Shortly after the rumors had spread through the village, Sayoko and her family moved away. The group walks over to the site of Sayoko’s old house. Fumi confides to Hisako and her son that she had been avoiding her memories, too. Finally, they drive to the site of the rape, where they see Seiji sitting and staring at the ocean. Fumi explains that he has been coming here for years. Hisako walks over, and Seiji says, “Sayoko, is that you?”

Terraced steps facing the ocean on Yagaji Island

Chapter 5 (103-120)
English Chapter Title: Seiji (2005)

Now an old man, Seiji sits by the ocean and reflects on the past. A cacophony of voices from the distant and recent past fills Seiji’s mind: questions during the interrogation after his arrest, people telling him to cooperate, women gossiping about Sayoko, local boys bullying and beating him, friendly conversations with young children, adults accusing him of molesting children, people gossiping about Seiji’s past, raising birds as a young child, Sayoko’s constant crying after the rape, young villagers raping Sayoko again, and Seiji’s furious anger towards the villagers that hurt Sayoko. The common thread that ties these thoughts together is Seiji’s passionate and loyal feelings towards Sayoko. As he senses that a woman [Hisako] is nearby, a voice urges him to talk to her, but his thoughts turn to Sayoko instead and he asks, “Can you hear my voice, Sayoko?”

Chapter 6 (pages 121-140)
English Chapter Title: Okinawan Writer (2005)

A middle-aged novelist has just received a video letter from an old college friend, only referred to as “M.” In the video, M asks the novelist to throw a pendant, which has been enclosed with the videotape, into Okinawa’s ocean. M explains that the pendant belonged to a man he refers to as “J,” whom he met in New York many years ago. J had received the pendant from his grandfather, who fought in Okinawa during World War II. A young Okinawan had stabbed J’s grandfather with a harpoon, and another soldier from J’s grandfather’s unit made a pendant out of the head of the harpoon after the Okinawan was captured. M returned to Tokyo and lost contact with J, but five years later, he received the pendant and a note from J’s wife, explaining that J had died in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers and that she wanted M to throw the pendant into the ocean near the island in Okinawa where J’s grandfather was stabbed, in accordance with J’s wishes. M explains that he is too sick to go to Okinawa and strongly requests the novelist to carry out J’s request for him. When the video is finished, the novelist stares at the pendant and considers when he will go to the island.

Chapter 7 (pages 141-158)
English Chapter Title: Jay’s Grandfather (1945)

A young US soldier dreams about raping a young woman and then being stabbed in the side. In pain, he wakes up lying in a cot late at night in a school that has been requisitioned for use a hospital. He remembers swimming across a strait to an island with Kinser, McCrory, and Henry, three other men in his unit. When the men reached the island, Kinser and Henry grabbed a young girl and dragged her into a thicket, where they raped her. After McCrory took his turn, the soldier reluctantly climbed on the girl, too. Though unable to get aroused at first, he turned violent after staring at the red fruit hanging over him. The soldier then recalls returning with the other three men to the village to rape other women. He also vividly recalls being stabbed by an Okinawan in the ocean as he and the others were swimming over to the island again. Finally, he recalls Kinser and Henry’s visiting him the night before. During that meeting, he found out that his unit is being transferred to fight in the war raging in the south. Tortured by these memories, the soldier finally drifts off to sleep. When he wakes up, McCrory is standing at his bedside and gives him a pendant that he made out of the head of the harpoon. McCrory leaves, and he drifts off to sleep again. He awakens to a vision of a blood-covered baby and the girl that the men raped.

Chapter 8 (pages 159-182)
English Chapter Title: Bullied Girl (2005)

A junior high school girl picks up some cases of milk cartons after listening to a speech about the Battle of Okinawa with her classmates. She had sat at the front and pretended to listen because the girls who bully her had ordered her to do so. As she heads to the classroom, the elderly lady that had given the speech stops her and expresses her thanks. Before she can muster the courage to reply, three other girls come up and start talking to the lady. In the classroom, the girl helps to distribute the lunches, all the while worrying over what other students will say to her. During lunch, she reflects on the woman’s speech. Although the girl was moved, she knows that the lady was a poor speaker and that the students misbehaved. As lunch ends, the girl spills her stew and is teased by her classmates. Later, she is forced to drink some orange juice from a can that all of the other girls have spit into. She throws up just before the teacher enters the classroom. The lead bully takes the girl to the nurse’s office and warns her not to say anything. In the nurse’s office, the girl is questioned by the nurse but refuses to say what happened. As she lies on bed, she recalls the elderly lady’s story about how several US soldiers raped her older sister and how the incident destroyed her family. On the way home from school, the girl sees a young woman looking down from the eight-floor landing of the outside stairway of an apartment building, where a woman had committed suicide. The girl runs up the stairwell to stop her but no one is there. A man yells at her and she flees. As she run away, he hurls pieces of concrete at her. The girl returns home and collapses in the entranceway. She cries as she recalls the elderly lady’s wish that they all be happy.

Yagaji Junior High School

Chapter 9 (pages 183-202)
English Chapter Title: Tamiko (2005)

Tamiko has just left the principal’s office and is heading home when she sees the girl who listened attentively at the front walking along. As Tamiko expresses her thanks to the girl, three other girls come running up and start making comments. One of the girls thoughtlessly asks what happened to Tamiko’s sister’s baby, who had been put up for adoption. After leaving the school, Tamiko takes a bus to the main terminal and has some Okinawan soba noodles. Then she boards another bus to visit her older sister, who is staying at an institution. On the bus, Tamiko thinks about her family and recalls her father taking Sayoko’s baby away. She gets off the bus and walks up the hill to the institution. After signing in, Tamiko goes to her sister’s room, but she isn’t there. She looks at three somber pictures that Sayoko drew and wonders what they mean. She looks out the window and sees her sister staring off at the ocean. Then she runs off to see her. When Tamiko asks her sister what she is looking at, Sayoko says, “I hear you, Seiji.”

Chapter 10 (pages 203-221)
English Chapter Title: Robert Higa (2005)

In a letter to an unnamed Okinawan, an old Japanese-American veteran declines an award for his heroic actions as an interpreter during the Battle of Okinawa. To explain his feelings, he tells about an incident that occurred in a village in northern Okinawa: A young fisherman stabbed a US soldier with his fishing harpoon, so the interpreter was called in to help with the interrogation. The fisherman, whose name was Seiji, refused to answer any questions, so they decided to question the ward chief. As the interpreter and Lieutenant Williams were questioning him, a young woman calls out, “Just tell them the truth!” The woman explains that Seiji got revenge because some US soldiers had raped Sayoko. To confirm the story, they go to Sayoko’s house. When Sayoko sees the Americans in her house, she lets out a blood-curdling scream, inflicts wounds to her genitals, and runs off in terror. Shocked, the lieutenant tells the interpreter to keep what he saw secret. Later, the interpreter returns Seiji to his home. As the interpreter is standing at Sayoko’s house, hesitating over whether to check on her, Seiji comes over and says, “I’ve come home, Sayoko.” The interpreter salutes and returns to his unit. After that, he never hears anything else about the case; however, he continues to feel guilty about what happened. Though the interpreter knows that he didn’t do anything wrong, and still feels proud of having rescued many Okinawans during the war, his feelings of pride vanish when he recall Sayoko’s scream. He concludes his letter by asking that the receiver keep the incident secret and with a wish that war never occurs again.

An old house on Yagaji Island


4. Setting

The main story takes place on a small island in northern Okinawa in May 1945, a month or so after the US landing at the beginning of the Battle of Okinawa. At this point in the battle, the US occupied the northern part of the main island; however, intense fighting continued to rage in the south. Though never stated explicitly, geographical descriptions in the novel strongly suggest that Medoruma is referring to Yagaji Island, a small island just off the northern coast of the Okinawa mainland. In particular, the novel describes US soldiers swimming from a temporary port to an island separated by a two-hundred-meter-wide strait. In fact, Unten Port was occupied by the US military at the time, and Yagaji Island lies about two hundred meters from the Okinawan mainland. Similarly, the descriptions of the bridge, beach, and flora matches Yagaji Island perfectly. A few minor details, however, do not match the reality. For example, the concrete terraced steps where Seiji stares at the ocean as an old man are actually on the opposite side of the island. Also, the bell to warn villagers that US soldiers were approaching was apparently used in Nago City.

The strait separating Yagaji Island (on the right) from the Okinawa mainland (on the left). Unten Port is visible in the distance.

Seiji’s stabbing of the US soldiers seems to be completely fictionalized, but Sayoko’s rape is a composite of various incidents that occurred after the war, including the infamous 1995 rape incident, in which three US servicemen raped a 12-year-old girl. In Okinawa ‘sengo’ zero nen, Medoruma discusses the war experiences of various members of his family. In his description of his mother’s experiences on Yagaji Island, Medorumu mentions a rape incident that surely provides the inspiration for Me no oku no mori:

During that time, some US soldiers swam across the ocean from Nakijin on the opposite bank. My mother saw them walking in town only in their underwear. They had swum across in search of women on the island. Refugees from Nakijin were living in the Tenrikyō facilities and surrounding homes. The US soldiers abducted one of the women from the island. She returned the next day, but the US soldiers had raped her all through the night. (59)

6. Themes

War Memory

Me no oku no mori raises important questions about war memory, especially the memories of the powerless and victimized. The novel depicts numerous ways in which war memories are passed down to future generations: interviews of war survivors (Kayō’s account to Megumi Makiya); conversations between families and friends (for example, Fumi’s recounting her experience to Hisako and Yōichi); gossip and hearsay (children and adults in the village have skewed views of Seiji); keepsakes, mementos, and the stories associated with them (J inherits the pendant from his father, who inherited the pendant from J’s grandfather); public speeches (such as Tamiko’s speech at the junior high school); letters and personal correspondence (M’s video letter and the interpreter’s letter); art and drawings (the three pictures drawn by Sakoyo); and literature (the unnamed novelist wrote a short story that sounds like Me no oku no mori).

Ironically, most of these methods seem doomed to failure: Kayō’s account is dishonest and self-serving; the pendant will be thrown into the ocean and lost; both M and the interpreter insist that their correspondence be kept secret; the students don’t listen to Tamiko’s speech and the bullied girl who does listen may commit suicide; Sayoko’s drawings are incomprehensible, even to her own sister; and J, who doesn’t know about his grandfather’s involvement in the rape, dies in the attack on the Twin Towers. The novel strongly suggests that the memories of the main story—Sayoko’s tragic rape and Seiji’s heroic resistance—will be lost. The only hope seems to be Fumi’s attempt to pass the story down to her son, Yōichi—and of course, the fictionalized rendering of the entire incident through the novel, which is self-reflexively inscribed into the text through the unnamed novelist.

Okinawan Betrayal and Communal Conflict

Since the novel focuses on a violent rape committed by US soldiers against an innocent young woman, some readers might jump to the conclusion that the novel aims to condemn Americans. However, Medoruma clearly does not take such a position. To begin with, the Americans are generally portrayed in a positive light. For example, Fumi becomes friends with one of the soldiers that visit her camp, and most of the villagers are impressed that the Americans provide food and medical assistance. Furthermore, the four rapists all pay for their crime: the three most violent soldiers die in the war, and J’s grandfather, who agonizes more than the others over his involvement, ends up driving his car off a cliff many years later. In addition, the Americans that investigate the case are disgusted that Kayō has kept the case secret and are quick to prevent further rapes from occurring—even though Lieutenant Williams decides to keep the case secret.

Medoruma’s portrayal of the islanders, on the other hand, is pointedly negative. Although Sayoko and Seiji both suffer at the hands of the Americans, they suffer much more from the lack of support and numerous betrayals of the villagers. Sayoko’s father, for example, blames Sayoko for the rape, takes her baby away from her, and torments her for much of her life. Similarly, the young men in the village take advantage of Sayoko when she runs naked and rape her when they have the chance. The women in the village gossip about her. Similarly, Kayō and the villagers betray Seiji by assisting the Americans in the search, which leads to his capture. Even then, they fail to tell the truth about Seiji’s action, out of fear of reprisals. As a result, Seiji ends up being tortured. When Seiji is older, the village boys bully him, and the adults accuse him of molesting children. Medoruma also depicts divisions within the community. Kayō, an outsider from Shuri, comes from a higher class than the other villagers. Consequently, he has a scornful attitude towards the villagers, whom he condescendingly believes he is helping. For their part, they resent his position and see him as a traitor.

Medoruma’s strongest criticisms, then, are directed towards the villagers. The novel strongly condemns the villagers for passively standing by while weaker members of the community are abused. Like Sayoko’s father, they deal with their guilt by participating in the process of victimization. The bullied girl chapter rather strongly suggests that Medoruma sees parallels to the current situation. Caught up in the struggles of everyday life, people are not hearing the stories of the past that might be the key to understanding the present. The chapter suggests that today’s youth are too disaffected to properly reflect on the past, and that they are falling into the same unhealthy patterns of passively accepting the victimization of members of their community.


7. Symbolism and Imagery

Screwpine trees (adan)　アダン

Adan (a screwpine tree) on Yagaji Island

The screwpine trees, with their slender thorny leaves and bright red fruit shaped like hand grenades, are an apt symbol of the cruelty of war. Not only is Sayoko raped in a thicket of screwpine trees, but also J’s father feels unnerved by the tree’s bright red fruit, which greets him upon his arrival on Okinawa early in the war. When J’s grandfather is raping Sayoko, he feels that the fruit is staring down at him like a malevolent snake eye that condemns him for his actions.

The banyan tree (gajimaru)　ガジマル

The banyan tree is the village’s spiritual center, where the villagers gather for festivals and consultations. The tree is also one of the few ties to the past after the war. When Fumi and Hisaki visit the site sixty years after the war, Fumi says: “When you get older, the one thing that never changes and that best helps you remember the past . . . are trees. People die, one after another; buildings and roads change; and there’s hardly anything in town that reminds you of the past. But trees like this stay rooted to the same spot for hundreds of years. Standing under this banyan tree has helped me to remember the past more than anything else” (92).

The mandarin orange trees　タンカンの木

Two mandarin orange trees are in the yard of the house where Sayoko used to live. Uncared for, surrounded by weeds, and unable to bear fruit, the two trees become an obvious symbol of Sayoko and Seiji, the two forlorn victims whose love for each other goes unconsummated. In his letter, the interpreter writes, “I’d like to believe that they [Seiji and Sayoko] got married and are living together happily.” This is perhaps the most ironic sentence in the novel.

The pendant　ペンダント

McCrory makes a pendant out of the harpoon and presents the pendant to J’s grandfather before heading off to the front. J’s grandfather begins wearing the pendant from the time he hears of McCrory’s death. The pendant is passed down to J, and ultimately becomes a symbol of karmic blowback, when J dies in the terrorist attack on the Twin Tower. As if to make the point blatantly obvious, Medoruma has M explain: “If there’s anyone in Japan who can understand the meaning of 9/11, wouldn’t it be that man who stabbed that American sixty years ago? Well, if he’s still alive today, I mean. This might just be my own wild imagination, but as I stared at the pendant with this thought in mind, the shape of the harpoon point began to look like one of the planes flying into the towers” (138-9).


8. Criticism

Kobayashi, Kōichi. “Kotoba ni naranai mono to kotoba to no aida de katarareru monogatari.” Review of Me no oku no mori. Dokushojin. 14 Aug 2009.

In his review of Me no oku no mori, Kobayashi Kōichi argues that the novel challenges the typical Japanese response to the war: blaming all the tragedies of the war on war itself. Kobayashi argues that although the novel at first seems to avoid blaming anyone, the pointed descriptions of the villagers become an accusation of the general public. After the rape, the men of the village are passive and cowardly, and when Seiji gets revenge, not only do they fail to protect him, but also they betray him by helping the Americans capture him. When Sayoko’s father takes away Sayoko’s baby, Sayoko’s younger sister feels intense hatred towards him and the villagers. As a result of their desires to survive, the villagers become voyeuristic and scornful of other people’s misfortunes, irresponsible in their pretentious self-righteousness, cowardly, and egotistical. According to Kobayashi, the novel expresses Medoruma’s annoyance at the public’s passive and irresponsible response to the war and his attempt to rescue personal stories that are on the verge of being lost forever. When Tamiko overhears her sister Sayoko whisper, “I hear you, Seiji,” that voice is on the verge of being lost forever. The story that Medoruma attempts to recover, however, is a story beyond language buried deep in the woods of the memories of those who can only groan.


9. Discussion Questions

1. Why isn’t Fumi worried when she realizes that American soldiers are swimming towards her?

2. How does Seiji feel towards the Japanese army? How does his attitude change?

3. What are the discrepancies between Kayō’s account and his memories?

4. Why does Kayō feel so much resentment towards Seiji and the villagers?

5. How is Seiji treated by the villagers over the sixty years following the war?

6. Why did J’s grandfather participate in the rape? How does he feel towards his comrades?

7. Why does the interpreter feel guilty even though he saved many Okinawans’ lives during the war?

8. Why do the interpreter and J’s grandfather respect Seiji?

9. Which characters’ memories will be passed down to future generations and which memories will be lost?

10. What role does the “Bullied Girl” chapter play in the novel? How is the girl’s victimization similar to or different from that of Seiji and Sayoko?

11. Why doesn’t Medoruma include a chapter told from Sayoko’s point of view?


10. Works Cited

Ikeda, Kyle. Okinawan War Memory: Transgenerational Trauma and the War Fiction of Medoruma Shun. New York: Routledge Press, 2014.

Kobayashi, Kōichi. “Kotoba ni naranai mono to kotoba to no aida de katarareru monogatari.” Review of Me no oku no mori. Dokushojin. 14 Aug 2009.

Medoruma, Shun. Me no oku no mori [In the Woods of Memory]. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2009.

---. Okinawa ‘sengo’ zero nen [Zero years after the “end” of the Okinawan War]. Tokyo: NHK Press, 2005.

Suzuki, Tomoyuki. Me no oku ni tsukitaterareta kotoba no mori [A Harpoon of Language Thrust into the Eye]. Tokyo: Shōbunsha, 2013.

Report by Kasumi Sminkey.