Reading Okinawa

JAPANESE TEXT:

Matayoshi, Eiki. “Ginnemu yashiki [Ginnemu Mansion].” Ginnemu yashiki. Tokyo: Shūeisha, 1981. 140-212.

Click here to get Japanese-English flashcards for “Ginnemu Yashiki.” Strongly recommended for anyone who wants to read the story in Japanese.

1. Introduction

“Ginnemu yashiki” was first published in Subaru in December 1980, and was republished in Ginnemu yashiki, along with “Jōji ga shasatsu shita inoshishi” [The Wild Boar that George Gunned Down] and “Mado ni kuroi mushi ga” [Black Bug on the Window]. “Ginnemu yashiki” won the fourth Subaru Literature Prize in 1980.


2. Character List

Miyagi Tomio 宮城　富夫

Miyagi Tomio, the main narrator and protagonist of the story, is thirty-five or six years old. He refers to himself us “watashi” (a neutral first-person pronoun) for the entire story. Readers only learn his name in the final section of the story. Tommie is married and has an only son, but his son was killed in the war. As a result, he is separated from his wife, Tsuru, who lives with another man. Tomio, lives with a younger woman named Haruko. During the war, Tomio saved the Korean.

Takamine Yūkichi 高嶺　勇吉

Takamine Yūkichi is a short, muscular young man who holds a rank in karate. He makes a living by collecting scrap iron. He seems very bitter, especially towards the Korean and Asato.

Asato 安里

Asato is a sixty-five-year-old man, who lost a leg in the war. He is frequently drunk and extremely unpleasant. He lives with his grandchild, whom he has forced into prostitution.

Yoshikō ヨシコー

Yoshikō is Asato’s mentally retarded grandchild, who lives with him. Asato has forced her to work as a prostitute.

Haruko 春子

Haruko is about twenty years old and lives with Tomio. She works in a bar and supports Tomio. She lost her family in the war.

A unnamed Korean 朝鮮人

The Korean is about thirty years old and lives alone in a large house. His house is surrounded by many ginnemu trees. He works on the US military base as an engineer. He killed his girlfriend by mistake. In the end, he kills himself and leaves his money and house to Tomio.

Kō Shārin 江小莉

Kō Shārin is the Korean’s former girlfriend, who was taken away to work as a comfort woman. After the war, she became a prostitute, but the Korean freed her at great expense. They lived together for a short time, but when she ran away from him, he got angry and killed her.

Tsuru ツル

Tomio’s wife, Tsuru, is forty-three or four years old and lost her only son during the war. She is estranged from her husband and lives with another man. She also lost her family during the war.

Nisei 二世

The Nisei (which means “second generation Japanese-American”）works as an interpreter on an American military base.

Captain Chandler チャンドラーキャプテン（大尉）

He meets Tomio after the Korean committed suicide. He asks Tomio a few questions, and then leaves.


3. Plot

Section 1 (141-7)

Tomio, Yūkichi, and Asato are heading down a hill covered with ginnemu trees. Tomio has heard that the Americans scattered ginnemu seeds from their planes to cover up the fields destroyed by the bombing. The trees would also become a good windbreak. The three men are heading to a Korean’s house in order to claim compensation. Yūkichi says he saw the Korean rape Yoshikō, who is a prostitute and Asato’s grandchild. The Korean works as an engineer on a US military base, so the men believe he has a lot of money. When they reach the Korean’s house, Tomio asks about the rape. The Korean only nods slightly and offers to give them fifteen thousand B yen, but he tells them that he does not have the money now, so they should come back next Sunday.

Section 2 (147-56)

Tomio, Yūkichi and Asato are drinking at a bar. Asato gets drunk and falls on the floor. Tomio thinks about Tsuru, who was complaining at his house two weeks ago. Tomio thinks that if Tsuru hadn’t come to his house, he wouldn’t have participated in this plan to harass the Korean for money. That day, Tsuru got drunk liquor and cried out. Tomio saw her get drunk for the first time. She was talking about their son, Haruko, and herself. Tomio still cares about her, so he gives her one hundred yen every month. But Tsuru does not say anything. That Sunday, Yūkichi and Asato come to Tomio’s house, and they talk about Yoshiko. Yūkichi says he wants to marry Yoshiko, but Asato does not permit it, so Yūkichi says he will buy her freedom with the money that he gets from the Korean.

Section 3 (157-64)

Tomio is at home with Haruko. He thinks about the war and Tsuru, and then leaves to get a haircut. First, he goes to Asato’s house and sees Yoshikō. Tomio and Asato drink liquor and talk about the Korean. Asato says the Korean has a grudge against him because one of his friends stabbed another Korean with a harpoon.

Section 4 (164-72)

The three men go to the Korean’s house to get the money. Yūkichi and Asato quarrel about Yoshikō. At the Korean’s house, they get the money from him. When they are leaving, the Korean asks Tomio to come back next Sunday by himself. The three men divide the money equally.

Section 5 (172-78)

Tomio wonders about the Korean. Asato used the money to eat at restaurants and to buy expensive clothes. Yūkichi starts living with a young woman from Naha. On Sunday, Tomio bikes to the Korean’s house.

Section 6 (179-86)

The narration switches to the Korean, who tells his story in first person: Many years ago, he had a girlfriend named Shārin. He loved her, and they promised to get married. But one day, he was drafted, and she was taken away to Okinawa as a comfort woman. After the war, he worked at the military base and looked for her. About three months ago, he found her working as a prostitute. He managed to pay for her freedom. For a short time, he lived with her, but when she ran away from him, he killed her by mistake. He buries the body in his yard. Of course, he feels guilty about what happened. In addition, he says that when he was attacked by a Japanese soldier during the war, it was Tomio who saved him.

Section 7 (187-90)

Tomio cannot understand why the Korean tells him this story. He thinks about his wife Tsuru, but they are separated because of their only son, who was killed in the war when he was six years old. Tomio and Tsuru were shocked and spiritless. She paced up and down like a sleepwalker. He left her with his parents, and he lived with a young woman named Haruko. She was a woman with no one to depend on, but she works at a bar and supports him. After that, Tsuru recovered, but he continued to live with Haruko.

Section 8 (190-98)

Tomio goes to Tsuru’s house, and they talk about their son, Haruko, and about the man who is living with Tsuru. She cannot forgive Haruko, but she has a man, so she does not take Tomio back. He feels he has deserted her, so Yūkichi does not give her the money (190-8).

Section 9 (198-212)

Tomio is woken up when an American soldier and a nisei interpreter visit his house. The nisei says that the Korean killed himself and wrote a will. (This is also when readers learn the narrator’s name.) According to the will, the Korean wants to leave all his money and his house to Tomio. Tomio and the nisei go to the Korean’s house. The nisei tells Tomio that Asato and Yūkichi found the body, but that they were acting suspiciously. Tomio suspects that they were trying to get more money from the Korean, but he doesn’t share his suspicions with the nisei. Tomio and the nisei arrive at the Korean’s house, and Tomio talks to Captain Chandler. The nisei tells Tomio that he can have the money, but that he should consult with him. Tomio thinks about how to use the money. In the end, Yūkichi says to Tomio that the Korean did not actually rape Yoshikō; he only hugged her. Actually, Yūkichi was the one who raped her. In conclusion, Yūkichi says to Tomio that he really likes Yoshikō.


4. Setting

The setting of the story is Urasoe, in the southern part of the Okinawa mainland. During the war, Okinawans, Koreans, and Taiwanese were forced by the Japanese to build an airfield in Yomitan. Tomio mentions that eight years have passed since the end of the war, so the story takes place in 1953. During the war, Koreans and Okinawans were in a low position in society, and both groups were forced to work for the Japanese. After the war, some Koreans—especially those that were on good terms with the Americans—were in a higher position than many Okinawans. In the story, the Okinawan characters are always trying to find ways to make money, but the Korean, who works as an engineer, has a financially secure position. This helps to explain why Tomio, Yūkichi and Asato feel so much resentment towards him.


5. Point of View

The story is narrated by Miyagi Tomio, who refers to himself as “watashi” (the general Japanese word for “I” that can be used by men or women). Readers only learn the narrator’s name late in the story when the Nisei comes to his house. Most of the story is narrated by Tomio; however, in the middle of the story, the narration switches to the unnamed Korean who tells his story to Tomio. The story is not put in quotations, however; instead, the narration just changes to the Korean.

When reading the story for the first time, readers will perhaps assume that Tomio is reliable and telling the truth. Gradually, however, they will realize that his point of view is distorted, as he has both racist and sexist views. For example, he mentions that he saved the Korean during the war, but readers later discover that he did so only to prevent a decline in the workforce. More shockingly, after Tomio hears the Korean’s moving tale, he responds with disinterest and scorn. In other words, Tomio’s prejudice against Koreans becomes more and more obvious as the story progresses. Asato and Yūkichi have similar attitudes. The fact that the Korean is never referred to by name is another hint that suggests he is not seen as an individual.

In the story, the Okinawan men get angry about the Korean’s alleged rape of Yoshiko. Assuming that there was a rape, the real victim, of course, is Yoshiko. However, the men see themselves as the victims and feel justified in extorting money from the Korean. Readers should notice that Yūkichi is not only unreliable but also motivated by greed. For example, he wants to buy Yoshiko, and even Tomio feels he cannot trust him. For these reasons, readers should not be too surprised when they discover that Yūkichi is the real culprit.



6. Themes

Prejudice against the Koreans

One theme of the story is discrimination against Koreans. In the story, Tomio assumes that the Korean raped the Okinawan woman based solely on Yūkichi’s accusation. For example, Tomio thinks that the Korean’s talk is unimportant, and he was dissatisfied that the Koreans work only as long as he does. Asato bluntly states that Koreans are not human beings. During the war, the Japanese forced Koreans to work and subjected them to cruel treatment.

Comfort Women, Prostitution, and Rape

Chinese and Malayan girls forcibly taken to work as “comfort women” (from Wikipedia site)

In the story, the Korean’s girlfriend was a comfort woman. The comfort women were forced by the Japanese army to work performing sexual service to Japanese soldiers. The story reveals the cruelty of that system.

Another theme of the story is rape. In the story, there are several rapes: The Korean allegedly rapes an Okinawan woman, during the war; Shārin was raped by Japanese, Americans, and Okinawans; and Yūkichi rapes Yoshiko, who is a prostitute. Asato forced her to work as a prostitute, but after the war, they were needy, so that may have been unavoidable. Shockingly, the men often seem less concerned with the woman’s suffering than with how the rape impacts on them.

Related to the sexual themes is the theme of shame. Tomio talks about Okinawan people’s shame, which he sees as stemming from the treatment of the women. He negotiates with the Korean resident to get a lot of money, but he knows that what he’s doing is shameful. He feels the same way towards Asato and Yūkichi. The shame also seems to be related to the social ranking of different races: Americans are ranked first; Koreans, second; and Okinawans, third. Within this lowest rank, Okinawan men have a higher status than Okinawan women.

Mistreatment of Women

In the story, women are treated cruelly by the men. The Korean allegedly rapes Yoshiko, so Tomio, Yūkichi and Asato go to his house to coerce money from him. But the real victim is Yoshiko—not them. They seem to think of Okinawan women as their own possession. When Asato hears that the Korean raped Yoshiko, he acts as if his pride has been wounded, but does not seem at all concerned about Yoshiko. Yūkichi’s attitude towards Yoshiko is also bizarre. He claims to love her, but clearly he only wants to possess her. He is openly annoyed that Americans and Japanese can have sex with her, but he cannot. At the end of the story, Yūkichi tries to rationalize raping Yoshiko, but clearly he has a disturbed view of love.

Similarly, the Korean claims to love Shārin, but when she refused to remain with him, he killed her. He cannot possess the woman he desires, so he gets angry. During the war, men often needed to protect the women from harm, so perhaps it was natural for them to see women as possessions. Regardless, their willingness to harm the women they claim to love shows their obvious hypocrisy.

Significantly, the women in the story do not speak, so readers are limited to the skewed perspectives of the men.


7. Criticism

According to Okamoto Keitoku, Matayoshi Eiki says that ginnemu trees are useless firewood or building materials or food of a domestic animal or a windbreak. But ginnemu tree’s life force is strong and ginnemu trees can take root somewhere. Immediately after the war, the Americans planted ginnemu trees to camouflage the destruction of Okinawa. But the psychological damage of the war cannot be camouflaged (73-4).

According to Shinjō Ikuo, the women in the story represent the comfort women. Shārī was raped and killed and her voice was silenced. Similar, comfort women were raped and silenced by Japanese soldiers (147).

A relation of Okinawan men and Korean men is women’s possession and exchange, killing and annulment. The women never speak in the story. The women’s voice was embezzled by the men (162).

Tomio, Yūkichi and Asato do not get angry that Yoshiko who is Okinawan woman was raped by the Korean. They are insisting Okinawan women’s ownership to a race and a family for the Korean’s controlling power which he can rape Okinawan women. Yoshiko is Yūkichi’s possession on Okinawan woman to him. And Asato insists that Yoshiko is his possession on family. They think they are Okinawans and Okinawan women’s owner (164).


8. Symbolism

Ginnemu (White leadtree)

A ginnemu tree in Okinawa

The most obvious symbol in the story is the ginnemu tree. The word “ginnemu” is in the title, and descriptions of the tree appear many times. In a note at the beginning of the story, Matayoshi explains that ginnemu seeds were planted by the American forces in Okinawa “to camouflage the destruction” of the war (140). In the story, ginnemu trees also seem to represent the dead or the spirits of the dead because they were scattered throughout Okinawa and continue to make their presence known.

The ginnemu trees seem to represent the life force of the Okinawans because Okinawans who survived the war and ginnemu trees were living for all they’ve worth. After the war, Okinawans were needy. They made a living by collecting scrap iron. After the war, ginnemu seeds were planted by the American forces in Okinawa to camouflage the destruction, so ginnemu trees were living all they’ve worth too. So, Okinawans and ginnemu trees were living together since the war ended.

Everybody is calling a house in which the Korean lives a haunted house, and there are some rumors in the house. The one rumor is that there is a ghost in the house. Another rumor is that two Japanese soldiers were buried under the floor. The Korean buried Shārin’s dead body in a garden of the house. The house was covered with ginnemu trees. So, ginnemu trees seem to represent a dead body.

In the story, descriptions of ginnemu trees usually appear along with descriptions of American soldiers, as if to suggest that the influence of the US military has been scattered throughout the island. Of course, US military bases are scattered throughout Okinawa, too, just like the ginnemu trees. In this way, ginnemu trees also seem to represent the bad influences of the US military bases.


9. Use of Okinawan Language

The narrator, who is Tomio, mainly uses Japanese. Other characters also use Japanese, so Okinawan language does not appear in the story very much. However, Asato uses Okinawan language once in a while. For example, when Tomio asks the Korean about the rape in the Korean’s house and the Korean nods slightly, Asato gets angry and speaks Okinawan language (145).When, Tomio, Yūkichi and Asato are drinking in the bar, Asato gets drunk and uses Okinawan language (147). Asato is older than the other characters, so he has more opportunities to use Okinawan languages. Yūkichi uses Okinawan languages once in a while. For example, when Tomio, Yūkichi and Asato were drinking in Tomio’s house, Yūkichi talks to use words of Okinawan languages (150-6). The writer expresses Okinawan languages using katakana with Japanese translations in parentheses.


10. Discussion Questions

(1) What do the ginnemu trees symbolize in the story?

(2) How does Miyagi change in the story?

(3) In what ways is the point of view distorted? How does this shape the reader’s interpretation of the story?

(4) Why doesn’t the Korean resident have a name? Why does it take so long to learn the full names of other characters?

(5) Why don’t Shārin or the other female characters speak in the story? What is the significance of this fact?

(6) How does Tomio react to the Korean’s story? And how does his attitude towards the Korean change?

(7) How is the Korean’s story similar to Yūkichi’s interaction with Yoshikō?

(8) What sorts of bias and discrimination are depicted in the story? What does Matayoshi teach us about these attitudes?

(9) Where in Okinawa does the story take place? Why is (or isn’t) this important?

(10) Discuss the sexist attitudes of the men.


11. Works Cited

Matayoshi, Eiki. “Ginnemu yashiki” [Ginnemu Mansion]. Ginnemu yashiki. Tokyo: Shūheisha, 1981. 140–212.

Okamoto, Keitoku. “Okinawasen no naka no chōsenjin sabetsu [Discrimination against Koreans during the Battle of Okinawa].” Gendai bungaku ni miru Okinawa no jigazō [Okinawa in Contemporary Novels Drama]. Tokyo: Kōbunken, 1996. 71-75

Shinjō, Ikuo. “Matayoshi Eiki Ginnemu yashiki – onnatoiu shigen to otokotachi no sensou.” Tōraisuru Okinawa: Okinawa hyōshō hihanron. Tokyo: Inpakuto shuppankai, 2007. 159-244.

---. “Matayoshi Eiki’s Ginnemu yashiki e.” Tōraisuru Okinawa: Okinawa hyōshō hihanron. Tokyo: Inpakutoshuppankai, 2007. 145-55.


Wikipedia Links

All about Ginnemu trees (Wikipedia)

Information about Korean residents in Japan (Wikipedia)

Information about Comfort women (Wikipedia)


Original report by Kazuna Tōma. Edited and revised by Kasumi Sminkey.