目取真俊の「マーの見た空」
Medoruma Shun’s “Mā no mita sora”
[The Sky that Mā Saw]
JAPANESE TEXT:
Medoruma, Shun. “Mā no mita sora” [The Sky that Mā saw]. Heiwa dōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite. Tokyo: Kageshōbō, 2003. 165–232.
Click here to get Japanese-English flashcards for “Mā no mita sora.” Strongly recommended for anyone who wants to read the story in Japanese.
1. Introduction
“Mā no mita sora” [The Sky that Mā Saw] was first published in two installments in Kikan Okinawa in September and December 1985. The story was republished in October 2003 in Heiwa dōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite, a short story collection including “Gyogunki,” “Hina,” and the title story. “Mā no mita sora” tells the story of Masashi, a university student, who tries to find out about his childhood friend, Mā, whose tragic death has been forgotten. The story’s main themes are Okinawan prejudices and the repression of unpleasant memories. The story is based on Medoruma’s experience of discrimination toward the Taiwanese. In Okinawa: kusa no koe, ne no ishi, Medoruma explains he heard about Taiwanese women when he was an elementary school student (181-3).
2. Character List
Masashi マサシ
Masashi is a university student who is also the protagonist and the narrator. He is about twenty years old. He lives alone in N City [which refers to Naha City], but his hometown is northern Okinawa. Masashi remembers Mā after talking to his mother on the phone and decides to return to the village. When they were young, he and Mā used to fish and hang out with other children. Masashi used to date a girl referred to as M.
M (a young woman only referred to by this initial)
M is Masashi’s female friend, who now lives in Tokyo. She comes to northern Okinawa for the Coming-of-Age Ceremony. She used to date Masashi and is the only one of Masashi’s friends who remembers Mā, probably because she was raped by him when she was in the fourth grade.
Mā マー
A half-Taiwanese and half-Okinawan boy forgotten by most of the villagers. He and Masashi used to hang out when they were young. Mā was older than Masashi but was bullied by some boys because he was deformed. He raped M when she was in the fourth grade and was probably killed by the villagers, including M’s father, in retaliation. Mā was good at swimming, spearfishing, and training bulls.
Masashi’s mother まさしの母
The protagonist’s mother, who wants him to participate in his Coming-of-Age ceremony. She tells Masashi that M will return to the village, but she does not know that he and M used to have a romantic relationship.
Gima ギマ
Masashi’s childhood friend who used to hang out with Mā and Masashi but who does not remember Mā.
Jin, Yoshi, Iju ジン、ヨシ、イジュ
Boys who bullied Mā when they were children. They were junior high school students and older than Masashi when Masashi was in the fifth grade. Jin was the leader who forced Mā to ejaculate in front of the others.
Mā’s grandmother マーの祖母
Even though she is dead, Masashi sees a vision of Mā’s grandmother in Mā’s house. She talks about the secrets of Mā’ s birth in the Okinawan dialect.
3. Plot Summary
Sections 1-4 (165-76)
Masashi is riding on the bus on the way to his hometown. Looking out the window at the ocean, he recalls his grandfather’s stories about the spirits of the dead hovering over the ocean. Two weeks ago, his mother called to encourage him to return home for his Coming-of-Age Ceremony. After hanging up, he mysteriously heard someone say “Mā,” which prompted him to go home.
Masashi arrives at the village and recalls one summer afternoon when he was in the fifth grade: He and a group of friends were playing at the river. After looking at a tilapia fish that Mā had speared with a harpoon, the group forced Mā to masturbate and ejaculate in front of them.
Sections 5-9 (176 - 98)
When Masashi gets home, he talks with his mother and discovers that Gima invited him to a Coming-of-Age party. Masashi sits next to M at the party and recalls his relationship with her in junior high school. He also recalls that they went to a cave in high school, where they spent a few hours together and had sex. Later, he heard the strange sound of a goat and saw three men killing the goat with a hatchet.
At the party, Masashi asks Gima and the others about Mā, but none of them remember him. Masashi leaves with M and recalls playing with glass beads at Mā’s house. Mā had a light blue bead that everyone wanted. One day, Gima took Mā’s glass bead, and Masashi put it into the knot of a silk tree in Mā’s yard. Mā and the others tried to pull the bead out but couldn’t. When Masashi tried to cut the bead out with a knife, Mā got angry and attacked him.
Sections 10-12 (199 -211)
Masashi and M sit at a bullfighting arena surrounded by trees and caves. Masashi continues to think about Mā. After their fight over the glass bead, Mā became estranged from the other boys. One day, Masashi saw Mā working with bulls at the bullfighting arena. Mā told him that he would participate in the bullfighting competition and that he could see his mother in the sky reflected on the water’s surface inside the hole of the silk tree.
M tells Masashi that Mā raped her when she was in the fourth grade. Masashi recalls that his father and other men disappeared in the evening and that Mā was never seen again. The next day, instead of going to the ceremony, Masashi goes to Mā’s house, where Mā’s grandmother tells Masashi the secret of Mā’s birth. She also says that Mā is at the hospital with liver disease.
Sections 13-15 (212 -32)
Masashi returns home and finds out from his mother that Mā’s house is empty and that the grandmother died several years ago. Masashi apologizes for not going to the ceremony and leaves. He sees M waiting at the bus stop, and they decide to go to the bullfighting arena. After they arrive, they also visit the place where M was raped and Mā’s grave. M shows him Mā’s glass bead and tells him that Mā disappeared from the village after she told her parents. She places the glass bead on Mā’s grave, and Masashi has a vision of Mā riding a bull, looking up at the sky in the rain, and then screaming and ejaculating. Masashi now knows that Mā was caught and killed by the villagers.
Masashi and M go to Mā’s house, and Masashi notices that the atmosphere has changed. He hears someone call Mā and sees a woman sitting under the silk tree. He tries to get closer to her, but she disappears. He touches the tree, calls out to Mā, looks up at the sky, and screams with rage.
Commentary:
As the story progresses, Masashi—and readers—learn more and more about Mā’s tragedy. The story is interesting because the horrible incident of M’s rape and Mā’s murder have been forgotten and are only gradually remembered. Much of the story is told through flashbacks of Masashi’s childhood. The central conflict in the story is whether Masashi will make sense of his feelings and lost memories concerning Mā. Masashi believes Mā was a friend, but he can’t remember what happened to him. In addition, Masashi can’t understand why everyone has forgotten Mā. Gradually, Masashi understands that Mā was both an assaulter and a victim. By going to places connected to his memories of Mā, Masashi eventually realizes that Mā was killed. Ironically, Masashi never goes to his Coming-of-Age ceremony, as if to suggest that Masashi does not want to become an adult. Through the vision of Mā’s grandmother, readers learn that Mā is a deformed child bullied due to discrimination toward Taiwanese people.
4. Setting
The story mainly takes place in a village in northern Okinawa. Medoruma does not mention the village’s name, but it is probably Nakijin Village, Medoruma’s hometown. In the Afterword of Heiwa dōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite, Medoruma mentions that he wrote four stories about the village and the tilapia fish in the river (233-4). The Oi River in Nakijin has many tilapia fish.
The story takes place in the 1960s and 1970s. In the story, Medoruma mentions that Mā’s mother was a Taiwanese factory worker forced to return to Taiwan. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Okinawa had many Taiwanese female workers.
Based on the time and place of the story, it seems to be based on Medoruma’s childhood experience. As a child, Medoruma sometimes witnessed discrimination toward Taiwanese people in his village. In his work, Medoruma points out that although Okinawan people have been discriminated against by Japanese and Americans, they have also discriminated against others.
5. Point of View
“Mā no mita sora” is narrated entirely from Masashi’s point of view. Through flashbacks, readers share Masashi’s memories and feelings. Early in the story, Masashi cannot remember Mā but gradually remembers what happened. From Masashi’s point of view, Mā is described as deformed and highly sexual, which seems to reflect discriminatory views toward the Taiwanese. Comparisons between Mā and animals (for example, tilapia, the bulls, and a goat) make his dehumanization even more apparent.
Readers should recognize that Masashi shares these prejudices and that he is an unreliable narrator. The scene when Masashi talks with Mā’s grandmother is Masashi’s delusion, so readers need to interpret the scene in terms of Masashi’s feelings of guilt or pressure from the community. Memories of the revenge murder of Mā have been suppressed, and even Masashi does not at first understand what happened to Mā. Significantly, the story never gives Mā’s perspective.
6. Symbolism and Imagery
Tilapia
Tilapia are an invasive species of fish in Okinawa. They have done well in Okinawa because they are omnivorous, strong, and fertile. The tilapia symbolizes Mā, the highly-sexed outsider. When Masashi and Mā were playing at the river, Jin stepped on the tilapia that Mā caught. Liquid is forced from the tilapia, just as Mā is forced to ejaculate in front of the others (172-5). Medoruma depicts Mā as a healthy boy who has just become conscious of sex. However, the boys abuse him like an animal.
Fighting Bulls
Fighting bulls often appear in the story. Medoruma expresses how Okinawan people treated Mā by comparing Mā and the fighting bull. Mā was bullied by some boys, and Okinawan people looked down on him. In other words, he was treated like an animal. The scene in which M was raped by Mā (204-5), and the last scene in which Mā ejaculates (225) show that Mā had abnormal sexual proclivities. The comparisons to fighting bulls emphasize Mā’s sexual aspect.
Mā’s Name
In Chinese, Mā has several meanings: One of them is mother. In the scene in which Masashi goes to Mā’s house and meets Mā’s grandmother (208-11), it turns out that Mā’s mother was a Taiwanese who returned to Taiwan and that Mā’s father was an Okinawan fisherman who died at sea. This suggests that Mā suffered from a lack of motherly love, which is evident in the scene in which Mā tells Masashi about seeing his mother’s reflection in the silk tree (203). In addition, the discrimination toward Taiwanese people causes Mā’s tragedy. Therefore, Mā’s mother is strongly involved.
7. Historical Background
Taiwanese in Okinawa
Japan colonized both Okinawa and Taiwan, and there have been many exchanges between the two regions. In “Shokuminchi Taiwan ni okeru Okinawakeiimin no esunisitī,” Matsuda Hiroko explains that Japan governed Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. Many Okinawans were sent as workers to the mainland in Japan and other Asian countries, especially Taiwan and the Philippines. In 1915, the population of Okinawan people in Taiwan was only 1,594, but by 1940, the population of Okinawans had increased nine times. After the way, many Japanese people in Taiwan were deported back to Japan. Japanese people born and raised in Taiwan during the colonial period were called wansei.
According to Wu Li-Chun, after the war, investments in Okinawa increased with the hope that Okinawa would revert to Japan. As a result, the pineapple and sugar cane industries started expanding in the 1960s and early 1970s, and many Taiwanese people were hired as seasonal workers. From 1968 to 1970, over one thousand Taiwanese came to Okinawa every year to work in the sugar cane industry. Women outnumbered men because the Chinese government retained men to prepare for a contingency. Wages were low but higher than those for working in Taiwan. Some of the workers were treated poorly. For example, some workers were not paid for all their hours, and others lived in difficult situations because of language trouble. Some Okinawans believed that Taiwanese workers were stealing their jobs, leading to more discrimination toward Taiwanese people. In 1972, due to the normalization of diplomatic ties between Japan and China and the reversion of Okinawa to Japan, the flow of workers from Taiwan stopped.
8. Cultural Background
Coming-of-Age Ceremony
In Japan, people legally become adults at the age of twenty. People over twenty are allowed to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and sign contracts without getting parental consent. The Coming-of-Age ceremony is a rite of passage that aims to make new adults aware of their responsibilities. Women usually wear traditional kimonos with furisode for the ceremony, and men commonly wear hakama or suits. Depending on the municipality, the ceremony is often held at a local junior high school or a civic hall for the entire city. The representative for speeches is usually the student council president or the top student.
9. Medoruma’s Comments about Taiwan
Medoruma, Shun. “Taiwan e no tabi.” Okinawa: kusa no koe, ne no koe. Seorishobō, 2001. 181-3. Print.
In this essay, first printed in the Ryūkyū Shimpō, a local Okinawan newspaper, Medoruma discusses his experience with Taiwan. In “Gyogunki,” he wrote about the Taiwanese seasonal workers in Okinawa. Before the reversion of Okinawa to Japan, he called Taiwanese women Taiwan inagu, which means “Taiwanese woman” but has a condescending and negative nuance. After growing up, Medoruma realized that Okinawan people were not only victims but also aggressors. As a high school teacher, he was shocked to hear high school students refer to Filipino pinā, even though they didn’t know this was discriminatory. Both examples suggest that Okinawan people have sometimes felt superior to other Asian people, even though they tend to have an inferiority complex about Western countries or white people. The discrimination toward Asian countries during Japan’s colonial rule has continued. According to Medoruma, the negative impact of colonialism, Japanese invasions, and discrimination has continued.
10. Criticism
Yamahara, Kimiaki. “Medoruma Shun no Taiwan hyōshō: ‘Gyogunki’ ‘Mā no mita sora’ wo megutte.” Ronkyū Nihon Bungaku. Kyoto: Ritsumeikan Daigaku Nihon Bungakukai, 2011. No.95. 65–80. Print.
According to Yamahara Kimiaki, Medoruma tried to express Okinawan people’s aspects of being assailants in “Mā no mita sora” and “Gyogunki.” These stories suggest that Okinawans quickly change from victims to assailants, depending on the circumstances. In “Mā no mita sora,” Medoruma hints at this latent violence through descriptions of violence against animals. For example, in the scene in which Jin steps on the tilapia Mā caught (172) and where a goat is killed by some men (186), Medoruma emphasizes the victims’ feelings. In Okinawan literature, members of the US military and Japanese soldiers are often depicted as assailants. However, Medoruma tends to focus on the lesser-known fact that Okinawans have often discriminated against others.
Yamahara also points out that Mā’s distorted body image reflects his past suffering at the hands of the Okinawan people. Mā, who is related to racism and gender discrimination, is described as a rapist who has a miserable body. While Mā’s rape of M is undoubtedly wrong, Medoruma challenges readers to question what caused Mā to act this way. Indeed, Medoruma opposes colonization, war, and other acts of violence that make rape possible. However, he also wants readers to reflect on invisible violence that makes people and Okinawan society even worse.
11. Themes
Okinawan Prejudices
“Mā no mita sora” sheds light on Okinawan discrimination toward the Taiwanese. Okinawan people were victims of the Battle of Okinawa and were often discriminated against by Americans and Japanese after the war. However, Medoruma’s story focuses on the Okinawan people’s role as aggressors. Even though Mā allegedly committed rape, he was also a victim of discrimination against the Taiwanese and was lynched by the villagers.
First, the story is narrated from Masashi’s point of view and never makes clear how Mā felt when he was bullied. In other words, readers are not encouraged to empathize with the victim of discrimination. However, careful readers will notice that Mā was bullied for being different. This is made clear in the scene in which Mā is forced to masturbate in front of the others and in which Masashi puts Mā’s glass bead in the knot of a silk tree. Similarly, readers will notice that villagers looked down on Mā except when he was riding a fighting bull (201).
Second, Mā is described as a deformed child with a manly body and strong sexual desire. Medoruma compares Mā to a fighting bull and a tilapia, both known for having strong sex drives. Although Mā may have raped M, the story suggests that he was not violent toward her and that his involvement with her may have been encouraged. Although M tells Masashi that Mā raped her, readers are not given any other evidence to support her claim. Regardless of what happened, Mā is violently lynched and murdered by the villagers without even receiving a trial. In addition, he does not have a funeral and the memory of his murder is repressed.
Ironically, the story takes place in the 1960s and 1970s when many Taiwanese female workers were in Okinawa. Surely, some of these women were raped, too. Through this story, Medoruma shows readers that Okinawans have also been the aggressors. Villagers mistreat Mā and mock him because he is half Taiwanese. For this reason, Mā does not have the opportunity to explain the alleged rape.
The Repression of Unpleasant Memories
“Mā no mita sora” shows how an entire village can suppress the memories of something horrible the community has done. Mā existed in Masashi and M’s memories, but everyone else insists they can’t remember him. However, readers eventually learn that the village has reasons for keeping Mā’s death a secret. In the last scene, in which Mā is screaming and ejaculating (226), readers finally learn that the villagers probably killed Mā, and that’s why they erased Mā from their memories and thus the village’s history.
First, the story tells what happened to Mā through Masashi and M’s distorted memories. There are many flashbacks. Mā was treated poorly by the villagers, including Masashi, but readers are only given the distorted view of Masashi’s perspective. Masashi claims that Mā was a friend, but the fact that he discriminated against Mā, too, is played down.
Second, villagers hide unpleasant facts concerning Mā. In the scene in which Masashi visits Mā’s house, even though Mā’s grandmother saw when Mā was caught at the bullfighting arena by the villagers, she tells Masashi that Mā is at the hospital with liver disease (210). In addition, Masashi’s mother acts surprised when Masashi says Mā’s mother was Taiwanese (214). These scenes make clear that discussing the truth of how Mā was killed out of revenge is taboo for the villagers. The implication is that their children will never learn anything about Mā, and the shameful incident will be erased from the village’s history.
Third, M may have been a victim, but she also plays a role in exacting revenge. After Mā raped her, she told her parents, who convinced other villagers to kill Mā. Of course, readers can never know what happened between M and Mā, but if M hadn’t told anyone, Mā would not have been killed. What he did may have been wrong, but the violent reaction of M’s parents and villagers was even worse.
12. Discussion Questions
1. What is the purpose of Masashi’s grandfather’s story about spirits? How does this relate to the rest of the story?
2. Why do the main characters have M in their names? What does this suggest about their relationships?
3. How did Mā feel when he was forced to ejaculate in front of the others? How does this influence his sexual development?
4. Why does Masashi have a vision of Mā’s grandmother at Mā’s house? How can you explain Masashi’s experience?
5. What is the meaning of Mā’s glass bead? How does M end up having it?
6. What happened between M and Mā? Did Mā really rape her? If so, why? If not, why is he accused of rape?
7. What is the meaning of the winged ants?
8. How does Masashi view Mā? In what ways does his view of Mā change?
9. Who is the woman that Masashi sees in the last scene?
10. What does the story teach us about how a community’s violent past can be deleted from its history? What kinds of stories tend to be forgotten?
13. Works Cited
Matsuda, Hiroko. “Shokuminchi Taiwan ni okeru Okinawakeiimin no esunisitī.” Hakusanjinruigaku. Tokyo: Hakusan Review of Anthropology, 2011. No.14. 7–30. Print.
Medoruma, Shun. Afterword. Heiwa dōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite. Tokyo: Kageshōbō, 2003. 233-5.
---. “Mabuigumi” [Spirit Stuffing]. Mabuigumi. Tokyo: Asahibunko, 1999. 7–45.
---. “Mā no mita sora” [The Sky that Mā saw]. Heiwa dōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite. Tokyo: Kageshōbō, 2003. 165–232.
---. Me no oku no mori [In the Woods of Memory]. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2009.
---. “Taiwan eno tabi.” Okinawa: kusa no koe, ne no koe. Seorishobō, 2001. 181–3. Print
---. Okinawa: kusa no koe, ne no koe. Tokyo: Seorishobō, 2001.
Sakumoto, Kana. “Medoruma Shun ‘Gyogunki ron’: Taiwanjin jokō o meguru seiji, Keizai, yokubō.” Tokyo: Hosei University Institute for Okinawa Studies, 2015. Print.
---. “Medoruma Shun ‘Gyogunki’ ni okeru kaheiteki sonzai.” Okinawa: Studies of Society and Culture in Ryukyu and Asia, 2014. Print.
Wikipedia Contributors. “Medoruma Shun.” Wikipedia, Wikipedia, 26 Mar. 2020. Web. 26 Mar. 2020.
---. “Wansei.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 25 Oct. 2020. Web. 28 Oct. 2020.
Wu, Li-Chun. “Sengo Okinawa ni okeru Taiwanjin rōdōsha.” Okinawa: The International Institute for Immigration Studies, University of the Ryukyus, 2011. Print.
Yamahara, Kimiaki. “Medoruma Shun no Taiwan hyōshō: ‘Gyogunki’ ‘Mā no mita sora’ o megutte.” Ronkyū nihon bungaku. Kyoto: Ritsumeikan Daigaku Nihon Bungakukai, 2011. No.95. 65–80. Print.
Original Report by Karen Yamazato. Edited and revised by Kasumi Sminkey.