目取真俊の「水滴」
Medoruma Shun’s “Suiteki” [Droplets]
JAPANESE TEXT:
Medoruma, Shun. “Suiteki” [Droplets]. Suiteki. Tokyo: Bungeishunjū, 1997. 7–50.
ENGLISH TEXT:
Medoruma, Shun. “Suiteki” [Droplets]. Trans. Michael Molasky. Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa. Eds. Michael Molasky and Stever Rabson. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 200. 255–85.
Click here to get Japanese-English flashcards for “Suiteki.” Strongly recommended for anyone who wants to read the story in Japanese.
1. Introduction
“Suiteki” was first published in the April issue of Bungakukai in 1997. The story won the Kyushu Arts Festival Literary Awards and the Akutagawa Prize. The story was republished by Bungei shunjū on September 30, 1997, in Suiteki, along with “Fūon” and “Okinawan bukku rebyū.” “Suiteki” tells the story of an old man named Tokushō, who loses consciousness as water drips from his leg, which has mysteriously swelled to the size of a large gourd. At night, soldiers who died in the war come out of the wall and line up to drink the water dripping from Tokushō’s leg. As they do so, Tokushō must face the guilt of what he did to the soldiers, especially his friend Ishimine, whom he abandoned during the war. As this summary suggests, the story’s central theme is how stories about the Battle of Okinawa get passed down to future generations and about people who suffer from guilt and regret after the war. The work has elements of magic realism, such as Tokushō’s leg swelling up like a gourd, people growing hair after drinking the magical water, and soldiers coming out of and disappearing into the wall. “Suiteki” has been translated into English, Korean, and Arabic.
2. Character List
Tokushō 徳正
Tokushō is the protagonist of the story. He is Ushi’s husband and is about seventy years old. Although he is unconscious for most of the story, readers learn about his thoughts and feelings. He is lazy and likes singing, drinking, and gambling. During the Battle of Okinawa, which took place when Tokushō was in his late teens, he was a member of the Tekketsu Kinnōtai Student Corps. For Okinawan Memorial Day each year, schools often invite him to speak to students about his experiences.
Ushi ウシ
Ushi is Tokushō’s wife and about two years older than him. She works hard and complains to Tokushō because he is lazy. However, Ushi relies on him. She is a caring and strong-minded woman.
Seiyū 清裕
Seiyū is Tokushō’s unmarried cousin of about the same age. He steals the water dripping from Tokushō’s leg in order to make money selling it. Seiyū used to work on the Japanese mainland but now works as a day laborer in Naha City.
Soldiers 兵隊
At night, Japanese and Okinawan soldiers who died during the Battle of Okinawa come out of the wall and appear before Tokushō. During the war, many of the soldiers wanted water, so they come to Tokushō to drink the water dripping from his foot. Most of them are seriously injured and deformed.
Ishimine 石嶺
Ishimine was in the Tekketsu Kinnōtai Student Corps with Tokushō during the war. They were friends from the same hometown. Ishimine died during the war after Tokushō abandoned him.
Setsu Miyagi 宮城セツ
Setsu Miyagi was a member of the Himeyuri Student Nursing Corps from the village same as Tokushō and Ishiminne. She died during the mass suicide in Mabuni.
Ōshiro 大城
Ōshiro is a doctor in the village. He’s in his mid-thirties and does not understand the causes of Tokushō’s illness.
3. Plot Summary
Section 1 (7-12)
In the middle of June, Tokushō’s foot swells up like a winter melon. Although he cannot open his eyes, speak, or move, he is fully conscious. When Ushi tries to wake him up, she notices his leg and pulls it, which causes water to start dripping from his toe. Ushi calls a doctor called Ōshiro to examine Tokushō, but the doctor is puzzled and suggests taking him to the university hospital. Suspicious of doctors, Ushi decides to keep her husband at home.
Section 2 (12-4)
From the next day, Ōshiro frequently examines Tokushō but cannot find a cure. He asks a friend at the university hospital to examine the water dripping from the leg, but nothing is discovered. Ōshiro again suggests taking Tokushō to the university hospital, but Ushi again refuses.
Section 3 (14-8)
After waking up because his right toe feels itchy, Tokushō notices five soldiers lined up before his foot. In turn, they bow and then drink the water dripping from this toe. After drinking, each soldier disappears into the right wall, and another soldier appears from the left wall. This continues throughout the night.
Section 4 (18-9)
Ushi tries various treatments suggested by old villagers: an infusion of earthworms and herbs, the meat of a sea turtle, and bloodletting. None of these methods, however, has any effect, so Ushi is disappointed.
Section 5 (19-21)
When the soldiers appear, Tokushō can move his eyes and neck. After three days, Ishimine appears before him. Tokushō remembers being with Ishimine when he was seriously wounded during the Battle of Okinawa.
Section 6 (21-8)
Seiyū visits Tokushō, but Ushi does not welcome him. By chance, Seiyū notices that plants splashed with the water from Tokushō’s foot are now growing thick. Then, he offers to look after Tokushō and help with housework for room and board. While Ushi is working in the field, Seiyū wakes up from his nap, splashes water from the bucket on his head, and notices that his hair has started growing. Realizing that the water has mysterious magical powers, Seiyū decides to try to make money by selling it.
Section 7 (28-33)
Tokushō thinks about the elementary school students who visit him. Before Okinawan Memorial Day each year, he speaks to students about his war experiences. Ushi tells him to stop because he hasn’t been honest, but Tokushō enjoys the adulation and the money, so he cannot. Just then, a soldier appears and stares at Tokushō, who recalls having failed to bring water to the soldier at the field hospital during the war.
Section 8 (33-5)
Seiyū succeeds in making money by selling the magical water. By drinking the water, bald people can grow their hair, people with wrinkled faces become beautiful, and older men can get erections.
Section 9 (35-44)
One night, about two weeks after his leg swelled up, Tokushō ends up alone with Ishimine. He recalls their final night together: taking the water that Setsu Miyagi gave to the injured Ishimine, leaving Ishimine to die alone, running away to Mabuni, hearing that Setsu died during the mass suicide in Mabuni, and lying to Ishimine’s mother. As Ishimine drinks the water, Tokushō pleads for forgiveness, and Ishimine expresses his thanks and disappears into the wall.
Section 10 (44-8)
Seiyū is surprised to discover that Ushi is crying and Tokushō has woken up. She is grateful to Seiyū for his help and gives him money. Now that the water has stopped dripping from Tokushō’s leg, Seiyū tries to run away with his money to a hotel in Naha. His taxi, however, is surrounded by a mob of people who bought his magical water. They are angry and violent because their hair has fallen out and their faces are wrinkled again.
Section 11 (48-50)
Ten days pass after Tokushō has woken up, and the soldiers have stopped appearing. Tokushō had considered telling Ushi about Ishimine and the soldiers, and his betrayal of his comrades during the war, but he is anxious to forget Ishimine, so he keeps everything secret. After a short period of not drinking and trying to be a good husband, he returns to his old destructive ways.
Commentary
The plot is exciting because readers gradually learn about Tokushō’s experience during the Battle of Okinawa and about his confrontation with the ghosts of the past. Tokushō’s internal conflict is that he suffers from guilt over what he did to other soldiers, including Ishimine, during the war. Tokushō also feels guilty about not telling Ishimine’s mother the truth about her son’s death. In the story’s climax, Tokushō remembers his final night with Ishimine and begs his friend for forgiveness, and Ishimine thanks him and disappears. Forced to confront Ishimine and the other soldiers, Tokushō tries to change but soon goes back to drinking again. As the flashbacks increase, readers can gradually understand Tokushō’s relationship with Ishimine.
4. Setting
Although never explicitly stated in the story, the story probably takes place in a village near Naha City. The main hint is that Seiyū goes by taxi to a hotel in Naha. The flashbacks to the Battle of Okinawa also occur in the south: Tokushō abandons Ishimine in a field hospital in Shimajiri and is eventually taken prisoner in Mabuni, the southernmost part of Okinawa.
The story occurs around 1995 because it mentions that Tokushō has tried not to remember soldiers and Ishimine for over fifty years. The main events in the story are from the middle of June to the beginning of July, but the narration alternates between the present and flashbacks to the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
The setting is significant because the story deals with memories and trauma from the Battle of Okinawa. Mabuni in Itoman City is where many Himeyuri Student Nursing Corps nurses died in a mass suicide. It is also where Mitsuru Ushijima, the head of Japanese forces, committed suicide, ending the Battle of Okinawa. The day of that suicide, June 23, became Okinawan Memorial Day. Significantly, “Suiteki” takes place in southern Okinawa in the middle of June.
5. Point of View
The story is narrated in third person, and the narration is limited to three main characters’ thoughts, so readers do not learn about what other characters, such as the soldiers, Ishimine, and Setsu Miyagi, are thinking and feeling. The point of view shifts between Ushi, Tokushō, and Seiyū. The narration for Ushi and Seiyū usually focuses on the present, but Tokushō focuses on both the present and the past. For the story’s first half, the point of view alternates between Tokushō and Ushi, and for the second half, Seiyū’s point of view is added. Mainly, the narration stays close to one character in each section, but sections 1 and 9 are divided into parts with Tokushō’s and Ushi’s points of view, and section 6 shifts twice between Ushi’s and Seiyū’s points of view.
The sections narrated from Tokushō’s point of view have flashbacks to the Battle of Okinawa and after the war, so his point of view is essential. Students should doubt Tokushō’s accounts of his war experiences; however, the appearance of the soldiers and Ishimine seems to reflect Tokushō’s guilty conscience, so the flashbacks are closer to the truth than the dishonest accounts Tokushō gives in his talks. If the story were told from only Ushi’s and Seiyū’s points of view, readers would never know the truth about what Tokushō did during the Battle of Okinawa. On the other hand, if the story included Ishimine’s perspective, readers would better understand Tokushō’s betrayal.
6. Symbolism and Imagery
The Dripping Water
Descriptions of the water dripping from Tokushō’s toe appear in many scenes. The water represents the Tokushō’s repressed memories concerning the Battle of Okinawa. Gradually, the memories drip back into his consciousness as the soldiers drink the water. Tokushō feels pain when he recalls drinking the water Setsu gave for Ishimine (40) and feels a tingling sensation—like a sense of guilt—when the soldiers drink the water from his toe (14, 21, 32). The water from Tokushō’s foot is directly connected to Tokushō’s memories of water during the Battle of Okinawa.
Interestingly, the water grows hair on bald people and makes wrinkled faces beautiful. This change suggests that the memories have recuperative powers and bring life to others. However, when Tokushō wakes up and represses his memories, those recuperative powers are lost, and people become bald or wrinkled again (33, 47). During the war, trenches were made in limestone, and when it rained, rainwater mixed with the lime and soaked into Tokushō’s and Ishimine’s bodies. According to Kōda Kunihiro, this description means the water from Tokushō’s toe has the same composition as the water during the war.
The Wax Gourd
Tokushō’s right foot is compared to a wax gourd several times in the story (7-8, 11, 13, 43). In Okinawa, there were rumors that wax gourds and pumpkins grew big shortly after the war by absorbing nourishment from people killed. Similarly, Tokushō has profited from the dead through his dishonest stories. From the beginning of the story, the wax gourd is described as Tokushō’s right foot, but at the end of the story, after Tokushō’s right foot becomes normal again, he finds a wax gourd in the backyard: “A big wax gourd too large for Tokushō to hold was lying on the ground” (49). The gourd’s large size suggests that Tokushō’s problem was too big for him to solve.
Comparisons to Animals
Throughout the story, people are often compared to animals. For example, sick and wounded soldiers are compared to black shellfish and amphibians that have lost their legs, and the movement of troops is compared to the movement of a snake (39-40). When Seiyū drinks the water from Tokushō’s leg and rubs it on his skin, we are told that it feels like insects creeping on the skin (27). Similarly, Tokushō’s swollen big toe is compared to the head of a habu, or pit viper (7, 13). By comparing people to animals, Medoruma shows how war dehumanizes people and reduces them to lowly animals. Most comparisons are to shellfish, amphibians, snakes, and other unpleasant creatures.
7. Use of Okinawan Language
“Suiteki” uses standard Japanese or Okinawan language, depending on the scene. Elderly characters, such as Tokushō, Ushi, and Seiyū, usually speak the Okinawan language, but younger characters, including Ōshiro and the elementary school students, speak standard Japanese. Elderly characters, however, sometimes use Japanese, especially when speaking with younger people. For example, Tokushō lies about his war experiences in standard Japanese before students (29), and Seiyū answers in polite Japanese when people protest about the water losing its effects (47). In both cases, standard Japanese is used to distort the truth.
In the flashback scenes, Tokushō and Setsu know they are expected to speak Japanese (32, 38-9). They know that Japanese soldiers view Okinawans who speak the Okinawan language as spies, so using the local language is risky. On the other hand, Tokushō uses Okinawan language when drinking the water that Setsu gave to Ishimine and also when he apologizes to Ishimine for abandoning him (40). Later in the story, Tokushō pleads for forgiveness using the Okinawan language (43). As these examples show, the Okinawan language usually indicates sincerity and honesty, while the Japanese language reflects an attempt to hide or suppress emotion.
8. Cultural Background
Speeches about War Experiences
In Okinawa, older people who experienced the Battle of Okinawa often speak about their war experiences at elementary and junior high schools. These talks usually occur around Irei no Hi (Okinawan Memorial Day) and aim to prevent war memories from fading. Such stories usually focus on the Tekketsu Kinnōtai Student Corps, the Himeyuri Student Nursing Corps, group suicides, evacuations of school children, family and friends who died, and the difficulty of hiding or escaping without food and drink. Through these talks, students can learn and think about the tragedy of war and the importance of peace. As “Suiteki” suggests, however, people tend to present themselves as victims of the war and rarely talk about inhuman or unpleasant things that they may have done.
Highly recommended: You can watch various testimonies about war experiences (with English captioning) by clicking here. The videos are on the website of the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum.
9. Criticism
Bouterey, Susan. “Dainishō: Suitekiron” [Chapter 2: Droplets Theory]. Medoruma Shun no
sekai. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2011. 35–75. Print.
In this chapter, Susan Bouterey discusses how “Suiteki” brings up the Battle of Okinawa and contemporary issues related to the war (35). Bouterey suggests that the relationship between Tokushō and Ishimine represents the power relationship between Japan and Okinawa. Members of the Tekketsu Kinnōtai Student Corps were considered heroes who risked their lives in a war for the country, so Ishimine, who died during the war, is also considered a hero. Ishimine insults Tokushō, who did not become a hero, and Tokushō is angry at Ishimine. In this way, the story is critical of the idea of dying for one’s country. In one scene, Ishimine sucks Tokushō’s toe, and Tokushō ejaculates. Although Tokushō knows he has been insulted, he also feels sexual pleasure. Bouterey also mentions that the story criticizes Okinawa for taking a reactive stance toward Japan (55-8).
Tomoda, Yoshiyuki. “Medoruma Shun Suiteki ni okeru jikan kioku karada.” Shinshū
University Journal of Education Research and Practice 2017. 68-55. Print.
In this academic paper, Tomoda Yoshiyuki discusses the relationship between water and time in the story. At first, the water from Tokushō’s toe keeps dripping regularly every second like a clock, but later, the water decreases temporarily or increases rapidly, and the intervals of dripping become irregular. Similarly, the flow of time in the present also seems to change, so when Ushi sprinkles the plants with water, they grow rapidly, and when Seiyū sells the water to people, they become younger, which is to say, they go back in time.
10. Themes
War Experiences
In “Suiteki,” Tokushō profits financially and emotionally by discussing his war experiences before students: He receives a stipend for each talk and enjoys applause and adulation. Although such talks have been a way for Okinawan people to pass down memories of the Battle of Okinawa to future generations, “Suiteki” suggests that such accounts have sometimes been dishonest or self-serving.
Readers should notice that Tokushō never tells anyone, even Ushi, about his shame and guilt. By limiting the point of view to Tokushō in the flashbacks, Medoruma lets readers know how those secrets have traumatized him. Tokushō has never spoken about taking away the water Setsu gave to Ishimine, abandoning Ishimine and running away, or lying to Ishimine’s mother about her son’s death (40). Ushi warns him that he will regret profiting from the dead: “You will pay for getting money by telling made-up war experiences” (31). Ushi’s criticism shows that Medoruma is critical of pious war stories and warns us to remember that they only tell a small part of the story. Some survivors do not want to discuss the war, especially when they did something wrong. Tokushō tries to forget about the soldiers and Ishimine, so his speech ends up just being what his listeners expected (29).
Tokushō and Seiyū both consider war experiences as a way to make money. Even though Tokushō tries to stop speaking before students, he can’t stop because he gets an honorarium. Eventually, however, he hides his shame by getting drunk (30). Seiyū also profits from the war: he makes a large amount of money by selling the water from Tokushō’s foot. In the end, though, he gets beaten up by the people whom he cheated (33, 48). In other words, people who try to profit from war end up paying the price. As Susan Bouterey points out, Medoruma uses Seiyū to represent Okinawan people who profit from the war.
Like Tokushō, many survivors of the Battle of Okinawa have memories they cannot tell anyone, and such information will never be passed down to future generations. As a result, stereotypical war experiences that emphasize victimhood become the accepted narrative. Medoruma challenges people to keep such stories in perspective and to remember that stories by survivors of the war are not necessarily true.
The Trauma of the Battle of Okinawa
“Suiteki” teaches us about elderly survivors of the war who have suffered from feelings of guilt and regret, sometimes for decades after the war. Even more than seventy years after the Battle of Okinawa, many survivors still suffer from trauma. They sometimes vividly recall a scene or incident from the war, and that memory causes insomnia or other trauma. In “Suiteki,” Tokushō has lived many years without thinking about the war until suddenly, he begins to feel guilt about what he did to other soldiers, including Ishimine.
Okinawans who experienced the war often regard themselves as victims, but “Suiteki” focuses on the selfish behavior of one young man during the Battle of Okinawa. Tokushō steals and drinks the water that Setsu gave to the injured Ishimine, leaves Ishimine to die alone, and then runs away to Mabuni (40). Tokushō has tried to forget and has never told anyone, but he is forced to remember. When soldiers drink water from Tokushō’s toe, he has to look them in the eye. He fears facing the memory he has covered up for so long, but Ishimine’s appearance forces him to admit what he did. As the story’s ending makes clear, Tokushō will not regain consciousness until he apologizes to Ishimine. Ironically, however, Tokushō’s new resolve to face the truth does not last long, and he soon returns to his irresponsible lifestyle.
11. Discussion Questions
1. Why does Ushi refuse to take Tokushō to the university hospital?
2. Why do the soldiers and Ishimine suddenly start appearing before Tokushō? Why didn’t this happen earlier? Why do they stop appearing?
3. What role does Seiyū play in the story?
4. What does the water from Tokushō’s leg symbolize? Why does the water seem to have magical qualities?
5. Why does Medoruma keep switching the point of view between Tokushō, Ushi, and Seiyū?
6. Why does Tokushō’s right foot swell up even though he doesn’t suffer other symptoms?
7. How does Tokushō feel when he speaks about his war experiences before students? What does Medoruma seem to be suggesting about such talks?
8. How do Tokushō’s feelings toward the soldiers and Ishimine change during the story?
9. Why does Tokushō wake up when the soldiers stop appearing?
10. What will happen to Tokushō’s behavior after the story ends? What does this suggest about his feeling of remorse?
12. Works Cited
Bouterey, Susan. “Dainishō Suitekiron” [Chapter 2: Droplets Theory]. Medoruma Shun no sekai. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2011. 35–75. Print.
Jahana, Katsuichi. “Dai hyakujūnanakai no Medoruma Shun san ni kiku: Okinawa no
tayōsei jūsōteki ni kaku: tsukurareta imēji o hihan: hondo no usopposa jikaku o.” Okinawa Times 18 Jul 1997. Print.
Kinjō, Tomoaki. “Okinawa meisaku no butai: 29: Medoruma Shun: Mori to mizu o genshi:
Suiteki: sengo sedai ga egaku okinawasen.” Ryukyu shinpō chōkan 1 May 2002. Print.
Kōda, Kunihiro. “Gojūnen no aware to mukiau: Suiteki kyōzaika no kokoromi” [Facing the
“Miserable Fifty-Year Post-War Period”: Medoruma Shun's Suiteki as Teaching Material]. Nihon bungaku Feb. 1999: 35–43. Print.
Kojima, Yōsuke. “Medoruma Shun no sekai Okinawa.” Rev. of Susan Bouterey’s Medoruma
Shun no sekai Okinawa. International Journal of Okinawa Studies, 4 (2): 79–83. 30 Dec 2013. Print.
Medoruma, Shun. “Gyogunki” [Taiwan Woman: Record of a Fish Shoal]. Heiwadōri to
nazukerareta machi o aruite. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2003. 7–31. Print.
---. “Heiwadōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite” [Walking through the town called Heiwa
Street]. Heiwadōri to nazukerareta machi o aruite. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2003. 86–161.
Print.
---. “Mabuigumi” [Spirit Stuffing]. Mabuigumi. Tokyo: Asahibunko, 1995. 7–45. Print.
---. Me no oku no mori [In the Woods of Memory]. Tokyo: Kageshobō, 2009. Print.
---. “Suiteki” [Droplets]. Suiteki. Tokyo: Bungeishunjū, 1997. 7–50. Print.
Nagamoto, Tomohiro. “Daigenshōgen.” Okinawa Times 23 Jun 1998. Print.
Ōhara, Yūji. “Nishatakuitsu no ronri ni kousuru: Medoruma Shun Suiteki ron.”
Gakushūindaigaku kokugokokubungaku kaishi Mar. 2008: 57–69. Print.
Okamoto, Keitoku, Takahashi, Toshio. Okinawabungaku sen nihonbungaku no ejji kara no toi. Tokyo: Benseishuppan, 2003. 382–3. Print.
Onishi, Yasumitsu. “Medoruma Shun Suiteki ron: uchināguchi to yamatoguchi no kyōkai o
matagu.” Kokubungakusei 30 Sep. 2016: 1–12. Print.
“Suiteki to Okinawabungaku (jō): Medoruma Shun shi no Akutagawashō.” Okinawa Times 21 Jul 1997. Print.
Suzuki, Tomoyuki. “Gūwateki akui: Medoruma Shun to Okinawasen no kioku.” [Allegorical
Malevolence: Shun Medoruma and Memory of the Battle of Okinawa]. Shakai shirin Sep. 2001: 1–53. Print.
Tomoda, Yoshiyuki. “Medoruma Shun Suiteki ni okeru jikan kioku karada.” Shinshū
University Journal of Education Research and Practice 2017. 68–75. Print.
Yonamine, Matsuichirō. “Okinawasen kioku tsumugu bungaku Medoruma Shun intabyū
zenpen.” Ryūkyū shinpō chōkan 17 Jun 2013. Print.
Original Report by Yuzuki Tsukayama. Edited and revised by Kasumi Sminkey.