「軍鶏」
“Tāchī” [Fighting Cock]
JAPANESE TEXT:
Medoruma, Shun. “Tāchī” [Fighting Cock]. Mabuigumi [Soul-Stuffing]. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1999. 123-147.
1. Introduction
“Tāchī” [Fighting Cock] tells the story of Takashi, a boy who is ten or eleven years old. One summer day, his father, whose name is Yoshiaki, gives him a fighting cock chick. Takashi feels so happy but at the same time feels afraid. From that day, Takashi takes care of the fighting cock, whose name is Aka. A few months later, Aka matures, and Yoshiaki brings Aka to a gambling den to fight. Aka wins and continues winning. Eventually, he becomes so famous that a gangster and named Satohara wants to acquire him. In the middle of the story, Satohara steals Aka from Takashi, who then tries but fails to get Aka back. From overuse, Satohara ends up killing Aka. At the end of the story, Takashi gets revenge by burning down Satohara’s house. The scene is reminiscent of the Koza Riot.
Painting by Seiko Takeuchi
2. Character List
Takashi タカシ
Takashi is the protagonist of the story, and the story is told only from his point of view. He goes to an elementary school and is ten or eleven years old. One day, his father gives him a fighting cock chick. Takashi feels happy and afraid at the same time because he has wants to take care of the fighting cock; however, he worried that he cannot control it. Takashi does not want to be like his father.
Yoshiaki 嘉昭
Yoshiaki is Takashi’s father, who works at a construction firm. He brings fighting cocks to a gambling arena. A year ago, Satohara stole Yoshiaki’s bonsai plants in front of his eyes, but Yoshiaki was not able to do anything out of fear. At the end of the story, he throws a bottle of beer, and then a young man hits him.
Aka アカ
Aka is a fighting cock named by Takashi. Aka has black and red feathers. In general, Okinawan people do not name their fighting cocks, so Aka is highly valued by Takashi. One day, Satohara steals Aka from Takashi. Aka dies after fighting a cock that has knives on its claws.
Satohara 里原
Satohara is a gangster. He is in his fifties, fat, and feared. He is rumored to have retired from organized crime, but nobody believes that. He has a big house, over twenty cocks, and many bonsai. He gets what he wants through threats and coercion. He controls all gambling and has influence over the police.
Takashi’s mother タカシの母親
She always listens to Yoshiaki talk about gambling. As a result, Takashi knows what happens at the gambling arena. She takes care of Yoshiaki well and does not scold him.
3. Plot Summary
In the first section (123-4), during the summer, Takashi, a fifth-grader, gets a fighting cock chick from his father. Takashi feels happy because he has wanted such a chick since early childhood but is afraid because he is worried he cannot control it. His father, Yoshiaki, has various hobbies, such as bonsai, fishing, and bull fighting. He was especially absorbed in cock fighting when he was young. Every Sunday, he goes to a gambling arena to have his cocks fight. As he hands the chick to Takashi, he feels fond of his son but also feels uneasy. So he quickly returns it to the box.
In the second section (124-6), Takashi changes the water and newspapers every morning and evening for a few weeks. Three months later, the three cocks have grown. One of them kicks in the air for the first time, so Yoshiaki separates them. Takashi names his fighting cock Aka. As a result, Takashi begins to feel more attached to Aka. Determined to make Aka strong, he collects insects on the way home from school and gives them to Aka every day. He feels that he has become an adult from taking care of Aka. At the same time, he feels ashamed for playing with his dog. One day, Yoshiaki has Takashi help cut the skin on the face of the birds, something he has never ordered Takashi to do. While he is cutting the skin, Takashi holds the fighting cock. Takashi tries to learn how to do it but fears the fighting cocks because they follow their instincts and live only to fight.
The third section (126-30) describes the cocks’ training. When the cocks grow old enough, Yoshiaki begins to train them. First, he analyzes their ability, as Takashi watches. When Aka stands in front of the mirror, Takashi feels that he is being tested, too. As soon as Aka notices himself in the mirror, he violently runs at it and starts to kick. Takashi has never seen his father get the kick by a cock, but Aka kicks Yoshiaki.
The next day, when Takashi comes home from school, men are watching the cocks fight. A few times of a month, the men bring fighting cocks to train at Yoshiaki’s house. Yoshiaki orders Takashi to bring Aka. The men become interested when Aka overwhelms another cock and shows his talent for fighting. Aka does not stop fighting until Yoshiaki grabs him. Yoshiaki orders Takashi to return Aka to his pen. Aka drinks some water, but he does not calm down and keeps flapping his wings.
In the fourth section (130-3), Yoshiaki brings Aka to the gambling arena the the next Sunday. When Takashi heard that, he thinks that he will lose Aka, but he does not refuse because he wants to know Aka’s ability. He asks his father to bring him to the gambling arena, but his father refuses because the arena is controlled by gangsters. Yoshiaki does not reveal the location of the gambling arena to his family; however, he talks about what happens there. One day, Yoshiaki brings Aka and another cock to the gambling arena. Later that day, Yoshiaki comes back from gambling, smiles at Takashi, and praises Aka. Aka has a slight injury, but the other cock is almost dead. Yoshiaki kills it, and his friend asks Takashi’s mother to boil water. Yoshiaki makes soup from the dead cock. Yoshiaki urges his son and friends to eat the soup, but Takashi refuses.
The fifth section (133-41) is the longest section. Over two months, Yoshiaki brings Aka to the gambling arena four times, more than any other cock. Soon, Aka becomes famous, and a lot of people come to watch him. One day, Satohara comes to Yoshiaki’s house to watch Aka. Takashi notices that Yoshiaki is nervous because Satohara is a gangster. Takashi knows he has a big house and more than twenty fighting cocks. Satohara asks Takashi to buy Aka, but Takashi quickly refuses. Yoshiaki urges his son to sell Aka, but Satohara gives up and goes home.
Takashi remembers that a year ago, Satohara came to Yoshiaki and wanted his bonsai. Yoshiaki refused, but that night, Takashi woke up when he heard people running in their yard. He went to tell that to his parents, but they had already noticed and didn’t do anything. The next morning, Takashi learned that more than ten bonsai had been stolen. After remembering this incident, Takashi feels determined that he will not let Satohara get Aka.
Four days later, when Takashi comes back from school, he sees another cock in Aka’s pen. Furious, he goes to Yoshiaki’s office, but he is not here, so he goes to Satohara’s house. When he tries to enter the house, a German shepherd runs at him. Satohara comes over and smiles. Takashi tells him to return Aka, but Satohara refuses. Takashi wants to destroy the bonsai, but he cannot do that because he is afraid, so he goes back home. Yoshiaki ignores Takashi’s complaints about Aka, but when he hears that Takashi has gone to Satohara’s house, his expression changes and he hits Takashi with a hose. Takashi does not cry but thinks that they are like defeated fighting cocks.
In the sixth section (141-3), in the next morning, Yoshiaki tells Takashi that he will give him a new cock to take care of, but Takashi is not interested. After that, Takashi does not watch the cock fights. Three months later, Yoshiaki brings home a hemp bag and lays it on the ground. Yoshiaki seems to want to say something but does not. He nods to Takashi, opens the bag, and reveals a fighting cock, which is almost dead. Takashi notices that it is Aka. His mother comes over and pities it, and Yoshiaki tells her what happened at the gambling arena: as a handicap, Satohara let Aka’s opponent wear sharp spurs on its claws. After fifteen minutes, Aka could not stand it any longer and died. Satohara laughed at Aka and made Yoshiaki bring Aka back.
In the final section (143-7), Yoshiaki tells Takashi to bury Aka on the beach, and Takashi feels the warmth inside the hemp bag. On the beach, Takashi hears Aka’s little cry from inside the bag. He stops burying it and throws the hemp bag in the forest. He goes home, gets some gasoline and some pork, and puts a cutting knife inside the pork. Then, he goes to Satohara’s house and climbs over the wall. He throws the pork to the German shepherd and watches him eat it. Then, he scatters gasoline and sets the house on fire. Finally, he runs away to a nearby forest and watches the fire. People come to Satohara’s house, and a man throws a bottle. A young man hits the man who threw the bottle. As Takashi watches the two men fighting, he realizes that the man who threw the bottle is his father. Takashi wishes that he could make the fire spread to the village.
4. Point of View
The story is told in third person from Takashi’s point of view. Sometimes, the narration seems to move away from Takashi; for example, readers are told that Yoshiaki brings Aka to the gambling arena, and about Satohara’s background. However, Takashi could have acquired this information from his father and friends, so even these descriptions can be understood to be from Takashi’s point of view. In other words, the narration is completely limited to Takashi.
Therefore, readers must be careful not to completely believe Takashi’s interpretation of evensts. The narration is limited to Takashi, so readers do not ever hear Yoshiaki or Satohara’s point of view. In other words, this story gives us a boy’s point of view, but never tells us what the adults are thinking.
5. Symbolism and Imagery
Bonsai
Yoshiaki has many hobbies, and bonsai is one of them. A year ago, Satohara stole the bonsai that Yoshiaki valued. Yoshiaki did not want to sell them, even if he could make a lot of money. So the bonsai symbolize an important aspect of Yoshiaki’s identity. Since bonsai is a traditional Japanese art, Yoshiaki’s interest in them also suggests his connection to Japan. After the bonsai are stolen, Takashi loses his respect for his father.
Aka
Aka is a fighting cock and valued by Takashi because receiving him means that his father now considers him to be a man. For this reason, Aka is strongly connected to Takashi’s sense of being a man. When Satohara tells Takashi that he wants to buy Aka, the act is a challenge to Takashi’s masculinity, and thus he refuses to sell Aka. Clearly, Takashi is aware of the threat, for he remembers that Satohara stole some bonsai from Yoshiaki a year ago. Takashi thinks that he won’t be like his father by giving up and letting Satohara do as he wants (138). However, Takashi loses Aka when Satohara steals him. Takashi tries to get Aka back, but eventually gives up—just like his father. Takashi thinks, “My father and I are just like a defeated fighting cock with its head hanging” (141). After this, Takashi is no longer interested in cock fight. In other words, Aka symbolizes Takashi’s journey into manhood, and Aka’s loss symbolizes Takashi’s failure to exert his masculinity.
Satohara’s German shepherd
Satohara has a German shepherd at his house, and the dog obeys his commands. In Japan, German shepherds are usually used by the police. In this story, Satohara has influence over the police and controls the gambling arenas. His German shepherd, then, symbolizes his use of threats and his ability to control the police.
The fallen camellia flower
In the middle of the story, Aka picks up a fallen camellia flower. In general, people cut the camellia flowers before they fall down on the ground because they make people imagine death. Thus, the scene foreshadows a death or a tragic event. According to the Ryūkyū Shinpō, a few months before the Koza Riot, an old woman was run over and killed by a drunken American soldier in Itoman city.
The fire
In the climax of the story, Takashi sets fire to Satohara’s house using a bottle filled with gasoline. Takashi lost Aka to Satohara, so he sets fire to Satohara’s house to get revenge. The fire clearly symbolizes Takashi’s anger. Of course, that anger is clearly connected to Aka, and fire is red like Aka. Significantly, Takashi feels that both the fire and Aka are beautiful. Thus, although Takashi loses Aka, Satohara loses his house to Takashi. The scene is similar to the Koza Riot, which occurred in the winter of 1970. Not surprisingly, Takashi sets fire to Satohara’s house in the winter, the same season. The Koza Riot was a spontaneous outburst of Okinawan anger—just like Takashi’s act of arson.
6. Historical and Cultural Background
Cockfighting in Okinawa
As its title suggests, “Tāchī” is a story about cockfighting. Medoruma uses cockfighting to discuss the themes of masculinity and violence, but readers should also be aware of the history of cockfighting in Okinawa. According to the Shūkan taimusu jūtaku shinbun, Okinawans have enjoyed watching cock fighting and using it for fortune-telling for over three hundred years. Cockfighting in Okinawa has some unique rules, has the largest fighting cocks, and only uses birds that are native to Okinawa. The use of sharpened spurs on the birds is something that usually was not done in Okinawa. This was more typical of how cockfighting has been done in the Philippines or the United States.
Organized Crime in Okinawa
In the story, a gangster named Satohara steals bonsai and Aka. According to Wikipedia, the first gangsters appeared in Okinawa just after the war. From the 1950s, various groups struggled for control up until Okinawa’s reversion to Japan. In the1970s, the groups united into one organization because a big gangster organization came to Okinawa from mainland Japan. As a result, rivalry decreased.
The Koza Riot
The final scene of “Tāchī” undoubtedly reminds Okinawans of the Koza Riot, which took place in 1970. Medoruma’s story does not mention the riot specifically, but the description of Takashi’s arson is suggestive of the Koza Riot.
According to Wikipedia, Okinawans suffered discrimination under US occupation. For example, some stores and restaurants refused them. In addition, when US soldiers caused trouble, Okinawan victims often did not receive any compensation because the culprits could just return home. During the Vietnam War, incidents with US soldiers doubled, causing even more resentment. On September 18, 1970, a drunken US soldier ran over and killed a woman in Itoman City. However, the culprit was found not guilty and released.
The resentment from that incident and others led to the explosion of anger that is now called the Koza Riot. On December 20, 1970, at about midnight, a US soldier caused a traffic accident in Koza City (current day Okinawa City). The military police ignored the victim and tried to stop the car that hit the victim; however, some Okinawans nearby blocked them. The MPs fired a warning shot, but this was counterproductive and triggered a riot. Some people set fire to military police’s cars. The number of people increased through the night and continued until early the next morning.
7. Criticism
Shinjō, Ikuo. Okinawa bungaku toiu kuwadate. Tokyo: Impact publisher, 2003. 160-3.
In this essay, Shinjō Ikuo argues that people’s hidden emotions, such as greed and violence, are important themes. “Tāchī” reminds readers of other works of Okinawan literature, such as Ōshiro Tatsuhiro’s Koi wo uru ie and Matayoshi Eiki’s “Kānibaru tōgyūtaikai.” Cockfighting and bullfighting are similar, and Okinawan writers often use them to discuss violence, opposition to the US, or and organized crime. Shinjō points out that animal’s fighting allows readers to imagine violence, and that they allow the authors to explore people’s hidden emotions of greed and destruction.
Focusing on “Tāchī,” Shinjō points out that Takashi makes a deep relationship with Aka. Medoruma’s descriptions of Aka’s looks and actions help readers to understand Takashi’s thinking and attitudes. Yoshiaki entrusts Takashi with taking care of the fighting cock, and this act urges Takashi’s growth.
Shinjō argues that since Aka is used for cockfighting, Takashi is drawn into the world of organized crime. In other words, Takashi becomes part of a secret society controlled by violence and coercion. When Takashi loses Aka to Satohara, his father cannot do anything. This causes Takashi to have a skewed view of his father and to be ashamed of his own blood. Because the story is written from Takashi’s point of view, readers can see how Takashi’s mind changes for the worse. In the climax, Takashi sets fire to Satohara’s house to get revenge against Satohara. The tragedy is that Takashi has enthusiastically entered the world of violence.
8. Themes
The Effects of Violence
Clearly, the main theme of “Tāchī” is that violence affects people negatively. Fighting cocks are just following their instinct, but people set up the situations for them to fight. Takashi takes care of a fighting cock because his father entrusts one to him. This draws Takashi into the world of gambling and cockfighting, which are controlled by Satohara. Yoshiaki brings Aka to the gambling arena, so he is the one that causes Takashi to find out about Satohara—and to become a part of that world of violence.
In the story, Medoruma implies that there are two kinds of violence: direct and indirect. Medoruma’s descriptions of cockfighting show direct violence. When Takashi comes back from school, Yoshiaki and his friends watch a cock fight. Medoruma vividly describes the violence of Aka’s fight: “Aka shook his opponent’s head, tries to poke out the opponent’s eyes, dragged his opponent down, and then started kicking him. The attacked bird dropped his head, staggered forward a couple of steps, and then tumbled over with its wing open. When the bird jerked up its head, Aka sprung up again and started kicking it again” (130). This description vividly conveys the violence of cockfighting. In another scene, when Takashi returns from Satohara’s house, his father begins hitting him with a hose. Yoshiaki does this because he is afraid of Satohara and wants his son to stay away. But as a result, Takashi begins to despise his father, and their relationship is ruined. This shows that violence often leads to more violence, and that violence can ruin family relationships.
Medoruma also describes indirect violence, such as threats and coercion. A year ago, Satohara stole bonsai from Yoshiaki. At that time, Yoshiaki was not able to do anything out of fear. But when Satohara takes Aka away from Takashi, Takashi is determined to fight back—unlike his father. However, Takashi allows himself to be intimidated: “Satohara looked up at Takashi. Turning aside in spite of himself, he realized that he was just like his father” (140). Even though Satohara does not use violence directly, Takashi feels afraid of Satohara. This shows that indirect violence can be just as destructive as indirect violence.
At the end of the story, Takashi sets fire to Satohara’s house to get revenge. The scene is similar to the Koza Riot, in which Okinawans rioted in a spontaneous outburst of anger. This was the first time that Okinawans responded with violence, but the event can hardly be considered a constructive action. Similarly, Takashi’s outburst is unlikely to lead to a positive result. Most likely, he will be arrested or punished. Takashi will also become the target of Satohara’s gang. Medoruma’s story, then, shows that violence of turns back on itself, regardless of whether the violence is direct or indirect.
Masculine Identity
Another important theme of the story is masculine identity. In general, boys develop a sense of being men from their fathers, friends, and teachers. Without a sense of male identity, boys cannot think of themselves as men, and their lives become meaningless. In the story, Takashi develops a sense of masculine identity from his father. He feels that taking care of Aka is a manly thing to do because he has admired his father taking care of the fighting cocks, too. Yoshiaki gives Takashi a fighting cock—which gives Takashi a chance to prove himself as a man. As he starts to take care of Aka, he begins to identify with him. In fact, he feels as if Aka’s success is a test of his own manhood: “When Aka stood in front of the mirror for the first time, Takashi felt as if he were being tested” (127). This shows that Takashi wants his father to see him as a man.
However, Yoshiaki fails to live up to Takashi’s ideal of manhood. For example, when Yoshiaki’s bonsai were stolen, he does not fight Satohara to recover them because he is afraid. Takashi scorns his father for his lack of courage, which is why he decides to protect Aka from Satohara—to prove his own manhood. However, Takashi fails, which causes him to feel like a defeated cock. This shows that Takashi admits that he is no more manly than his father. As a young man who sees masculinity in terms of strength, Takashi does not recognize that expresses his masculity in other ways: by protecting his family and working hard at his job.
At the end of the story, Takashi sets fire to Satohara’s house to get the revenge, by destroying the symbols of his masculine identity: both the fighting cock and the bonsai. Although Takashi fails to take back Aka. he succeeds in destroying what he and his father lost.
Okinawa’s Reversion to Japan
Another important theme in Medoruma’s works is Okinawa’s reversion to Japan and how that change influenced Okinawan society. “Tāchī” shows how reversion had an impact on organized crime in Okinawa. The narrator explains that Satohara was powerful because gangsters united after Okinawa reverted to Japan: “After Okinawa reverted to Japan, three gangster organizations united because a stronger gangster organization came from Japan. Before reversion, Satohara was a leader of gangsters in the north who controlled bars in front of the gates to U.S. military bases. When a new gangster organization was formed, there were rumors that Satohara retired. But nobody believed that. After reversion, he made his influence felt as a broker and manager of slot machines. Furthermore, he controlled bullfighting and cockfighting in the north” (134). In this way, Medoruma shows that the chain of violence continued even after Okinawa reverted to Japan.
9. Discussion Questions
1. Why does Medoruma use third person point of view to tell the story? And why does he limit the point of view to Takashi, a young boy?
2. How would the story change if told from Yoshiaki’s or Satohara’s point of view?
3. What role does Takashi’s sister play in the story?
4. Why is the story set in the northern part of Okinawa?
5. What does Takashi want his father to do? How does he view his father?
6. Why does Takashi set fire to Satohara’s house? What is his motive for doing that?
7. What would you do if you were Takashi? And why?
8. What does Medoruma imply about the Koza Riot?
9. What do you think will happen to Takashi after the story ends?
10. Works Cited
Medoruma, Shun. Fūon [The Crying Wind]. Tokyo: Little More, 2004.
---. “Heiwa dōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite” [Walking in the town called Heiwa Street]. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2003.
---. Me no oku no mori [In the Woods of Memory]. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2009.
---. Niji no tori [Rainbow Bird]. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2006.
---. Okinawa “sengo” zero nen [Zero Year After the Battle of Okinawa]. Tokyo: NHK Publishing, 2005.
---. “Tāchī” [Fighting Cock]. Mabuigumi [Soul-Stuffing]. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1999. 123-147.
Nishitani, Yoshihide. Ed. Isao Nakazato and Osamu Nakanishi. “Okinawa Bōryoku Ron [About Violence in Okinawa]”. Tokyo: Miraisha, 2008.
Shinjō, Ikuo. Okinawa bungaku to iu kuwadate. Tokyo: Impact publisher, 2003. 160-3.
Suzuki, Tomoyuki. Me no oku ni tsukitaterareta kotoba no mori – Medoruma shun no bungaku to Okinawasen no kioku. Tokyo: Akirabunsha, 2013. 48-52.
Takada, Masaru. “Kodomo no kuni shīku nikki.” Shūkan taimusu jūtaku shinbun: 7 Dec. 2012, 6.
Tamiya. “Koza sōdō no hanashi.” Ameba. 18 January. 2011. 26 November. 2014
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Wikipedia Editors. “Wikipedia: Cockfight.” Wikipedia. 19 November. 2014. 26 November. 2014 <http://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/>. Search: Cockfight.
Wikipedia Editors. “Wikipedia: Koza Riot.” Wikipedia. 31 August. 2014. 26 November. 2014 . Search: Koza Riot.
Wikipedia Editors. “Wikipedia: Medoruma Shun.” Wikipedia. 31 August. 2014. 26 November. 2014 <http://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/>. Search: Medoruma Shun.
Wikipedia Editors. “Wikipedia: 沖縄県の暴力団.” Wikipedia. 31 August. 2014. 26 November. 2014 . Search: 沖縄県の暴力団.
Original report written by Taisuke Tokuhiga. Edited and revised by Kasumi Sminkey.