Reading Okinawa

JAPANESE TEXT:

Sakiyama, Tami. “Mienai machi kara Shōnkanē ga” [When the Wind Blows Cold]. Subaru. May. 2007: 140-51.

Sakiyama, Tami. Kuja genshikō. Fukuoka: Hanashoin Press, 2017. 27-52.


1. Introduction

Beginning in 2006, Sakiyama began writing a series of seven short stories set in a town in Okinawa. The town is called “Kuja” (which refers to Koza, currently Okinawa City), so the stories are sometimes referred to collectively as the “Kuja stories.” From shortly after the war, Koza has been a town where US servicemen come for entertainment. Consequently, the place has led to contact between various races and Okinawans. In Sakiyama’s depiction, the town attracts many dropouts from society. In the Kuja stories, Sakiyama sometimes called the town “Machi” instead of “Kuja.” The word “Kuja” appears in the first short story, “Kotōmu duchuimuni,” and the seventh story, “Kuja kisōkyoku hensō.” In the other five stories, the town is simply called “Machi” and the word “Kuja” never appears. The first and seventh stories also have the same protagonist.

Most of the Kuja stories are written from a female point of view. Sakiyama attempts to describe the voices of women living in the entertainment district of Kuja. After the war, many women working here worked as prostitutes or in the entertainment industry. For many women, the place was a world of despair and pain. Kuja can also be seen as being representative of all of Okinawa’s lost and forgotten victims.

In the Kuja stories, Sakiyama uses language that seems to bubble up from the depths of pain and despair. In other words, people who are not usually allowed to speak are given a voice. For example, hostesses, prostitutes, and even the dead tell their stories. Since these people often speak in a language that is difficult to understand, readers might be tempted to ignore what they have to say. However, readers are challenged to listen to and empathize with those lost voices.

About Shonkanē

Shonkanē is the name of the bar where Uchi, Anta, and Mama worked. The name comes from a song from Yonaguni Island, where Mama grew up. The song has a mournful melody. In “Mienai machi kara Shonkanē ga,” Uchi explains that Mama got married when she was eighteen and had four children, but that she ran away from Yonaguni because of the judgement of a yuta, who suggested divorce. No doubt, Mama named her bar Shonkanē because she misses her husband, four children, and her hometown. In other words, the bar’s name reveals Mama’s deep grief.

You can hear the song here:

Yonaguni Shonkanē


2. Character List

Uchi ウチ (“Uchi” is a Japanese pronoun that means “I,” sometimes used by women.)

An unmarried Okinawan woman, who is isn’t pretty or particularly friendly. She ran away from home when she was young, and was helped by Mama. Thus, Uchi doesn’t have a home and works at the bar called Shonkanē, which is located in the “machi” (or town) with Mama. After that, her only family was Mama and the other hostesses. Uchi never leaves the town because she promised to take care of the bar with Mama. At the end of the story, readers discover that Uchi died many years ago, when she was 48 years old.

Mama ママ (In Japanese, “Mama” is used to refer to a woman who runs a bar or restaurant.)

A beautiful Okinawan woman from Yonaguni Island who works at a bar called Shonkanē. When she was eighteen, she got married and became the member of a powerful family. She had four children and was happy, but she was forced to leave Yonaguni Island because a yuta (an Okinawan priestess) said that she was a trouble maker. She left her four children behind and moved to the town. She loves the other women who work at the bar Shonkanē. According to Uchi, Mama especially loved Anta.

Anta あんた (In Japanese, “Anta” is usually used to refer to a husband or close friend.)

Anta is a former hostess, who got married and moved to mainland Japan, which Uchi calls “Yamato.” Anta left Okinawa in 1972, many years after the end of the war. Before leaving, she worked at Shonkanē” with Mama and Uchi. According to Uchi, Mama loved Anta the most because she was good with customers—even though she was not so pretty. Her charm was that she always captured the customer’s heart. In Tokyo, Anta was abused by her husband. This led to her committing suicide by jumping from cliff. She was reported as missing, but readers learn that she actually killed herself. Now dead, she goes back to Machi because she has to take care of Mama.

Anta’s husband あんたのだんな

A man from Yamato (the word Okinawans often use to refer to mainland Japan) who married Anta. He doesn’t actually appear in the story, but Uchi talks about him. At first, Uchi thought he was kind, but she later discovers that he was often violent toward Anta. His violence and abuse causes Anta to kill herself.

Fumikō フミコー姉さん

An Okinawan woman who worked at Shonkanē with Mama, Uchi, and Anta. She loved Jim and was sad when Jim went to Vietnam. She often mailed letters to Jim, but she never received any in return. Luckily, Mama introduced her to a man with children, and she got married. Later, she managed love hotel in the Naminoue section of Naha, Okinawa, starting in 1978. Mama and Uchi never contacted her after she left.

Jim ジム

A black US Marine. He is a regular customer at Shonkanē. He was always very kind and gave the hostesses presents on their birthdays. However, he became violent when his fellow servicemen were bullying him. He loved Fumikō but was separated from her when he had to go to Vietnam. Since he never answers Fumikō’s letters, it seems likely that he died in combat.

Sacchan サッチャン

A woman from Okinawa who worked at Shonkanē with Mama, Uchi, Anta and Fumikō. Since Sacchan is a minor, she shouldn’t have been working at Shonkanē, but since she has to take care of her young sister and brother, Mama lets her work there. At first, she was always crying, but she gradually got used to the work. She has a strong heart and is lucky to marry an American. Her husband worked as a Marine, but then they moved to New Orleans in the United States. However, Mama and Uchi didn’t know for sure if she was safe and happy.


3. Plot Summary

In the first section (27), Uchi tells Anta to come back home as soon as possible because Mama died last night. She says that Mama wants to see Anta, so she should get a plane ticket and hurry back home. Uchi says she will wait for Anta to return before cremating the body. She says that Mama’s spirit is waiting for Anta, too.

In the second section (27-9), Uchi and Anta meet after thirty three years. Anta left the town shortly after Okinawa reverted to Japan in 1972. Mama and Uchi stay behind because they don’t have a place to go, but Uchi tells Anta not to worry about that.

In the third section (29-32), Uchi tells Anta to come and say her final farewells because Mama loved Anta. She says they aren’t related by blood but are bound by fate. Uchi was jealous of Anta when they worked together because Anta was very good at her job and popular with the customers. Anta was lucky to be able to leave but Uchi is lonely, single, and homeless.

In the fourth section (33-44), Uchi says, “Thanks for coming. I’m glad to finally see you again.” Uchi is extremely pleased to see Anta. Uchi thinks that Anta’s husband is kind to her, but at the end of story, readers can notice that Anta’s husband is cruel and unsupportive. Uchi talks to Anta about Machi in the old days. Uchi invites Anta to come home, where they lived together in the distant past.

In the fifth section (35-8), Uchi talks about the souvenirs that Anta brought from Yamato (the word Okinawans sometimes use to refer to Japan). Uchi is annoyed because she doesn’t think that Mama will be glad to get such presents. Uchi doesn’t like the Yamato style and attitude. She admits, however, that Yamato (Japanese) styles have become popular with young people in Okinawa. Mama was really sad when Anta went to Yamato because Mama didn’t like Yamato people or Americans. Since Mama loved Anta, she was very shocked and disappointed. Uchi notices that Anta has changed as a result of living on mainland Japan. Uchi suspects that Anta has been abused, but she is still really glad to see Anta.

In the sixth section (38-40), Uchi says that Mama has been waiting to see Anta for a long time. Although Mama always talked about Anta, she never contacted her because she assumed that Anta wanted to forget the old days. Uchi is annoyed because she thinks Anta always thinks about the happy days and doesn’t know what is important. Uchi says that arguing is distressing, so they should stop.

In the seventh section (40-3), Uchi shows Anta an old photograph of the women with Mama. The photograph has Mama and Anta in the middle, along with Uchi, Fumikō and Sacchan. It was taken by Jim on Mama’s birthday at a bar called “Ayagu” in the town. The Mama of “Ayagu” was from Miyako Island. Jim, a black US serviceman, is really kind and gentle. In those days, the bars in Okinawa followed the segregation policies of the US, so there were sections of towns that catered to white servicemen and others that catered to blacks. The black section was called “Kuronbō gai” (which means “Negro town). Shortly after that, Jim went to Vietnam, but they did not hear from him for a long time. Fumikō got married to another man, but after she left the bar, they lost contact with her, too.

In the eighth section (43-5), Uchi talks about Sacchan, an underage girl who finds her way to Shonkanē and is taken under Mama’s wing. Now she lives in New Orleans in the United States. However, New Orleans was recently hit by a hurricane , so Uchi is worried whether Sacchan is leading a happy life—or whether she got caught up in the disaster.

In the ninth section (45-8), Uchi tells Anta about Mama’s past. Mama left Yonaguni Island, a remote Okinawan island far to the south. On Yonaguni, Mama got married when she was eighteen years old, and later had four children. She had to abandon her four children and leave Yonaguni Island because a yuta, or priestess, said that she was a curse. Mama was beautiful, so Uchi believes that other people were jealous of her. At the bar, Mama loved the hostesses like daughters, perhaps because she felt guilty about leaving her four children behind. Uchi thinks that Anta looks like one of Mama’s children. Uchi also thinks that Mama and Uchi are similar because they both ran away from home and had no place to go. Uchi and Mama were always fighting, partly because they knew they had nowhere to go.

In the tenth section (48-51), Uchi takes Anta into her room and talks about herself. There aren’t any changes from the old days. The room has all of Uchi’s memory, so the place represents Uchi’s life. Uchi says that Anta can understand when she looks at her room because it is dark, narrow, and messy. Uchi has never gone outside the town. Uchi notices Anta’s moles and asks, “Why didn’t you run away from your husband?” Anta didn’t escape because they had two children and because she can’t leave her children behind like Mama. Uchi states that there isn’t a woman who hasn’t had her life destroyed by a man. Anta seems poor and pathetic.

In the eleventh section (51-2), Uchi says that she knows all about Anta. Anta was reported as missing because she jumped off a cliff on mainland Japan. Readers also discover that Uchi was already dead. Uchi regrets that she died before Mama. Uchi promised to stay with Mama until the end. The ghosts start preparing to say goodbye to Mama.


4. Point of View

The protagonist is also the narrator, so the story is told entirely from Uchi’s point view. The whole story is Uchi’s monologue addressed to Anta. The scenes change back and forth between the past and the present. Uchi says she is glad to see Anta again and talks with her about the past, focusing on the time when Uchi, Anta, and Mama worked together at Shonkanē. At the very end of the story, readers notice that Uchi was already dead, so readers might wonder how to interpret the source of this voice. In addition, the entire story is Uchi’s one-sided monologue, so readers can only guess how Anta and other characters actually feel towards Uchi.


5. Imagery

Mienai machi (the invisible town)

The words “Mienai machi” are in the title and refer to the town where Uchi, Anta and Mama lived. The town is said to be invisible because it no longer exists, and the story’s characters are already dead. In other words, the story describes the lives of dead women who have been lost to history.

The town in the story is clearly the Koza section of Okinawa, Japan. Koza prospered during the period after the war, especially from 1950 to 1972. The area had many hostess clubs for US soldiers, so many women who worked in such clubs lived here. These women who worked in the entertainment industry have been forgotten, and their lives are rarely described in history books.

Ghost Imagery

The story has many hints that the characters are ghosts. At the end of the story, readers discover that Uchi and Anta are already dead. However, there hints about this in the story. For example, early in the story, Uchi asks Anta why she is standing at the entrance like a ghost. Of course, this is literally true, as Anta is in fact a ghost. Later in the story, Anta’s walking sound (“surū-surū”) is described in a way that might describe a ghost. From such descriptions, readers might begin to suspect that Uchi and Anta are already dead.


6. Setting

The story takes place in 2005 or 2006 because in the second section, Uchi says that she last saw Anta thirty-three years ago, a month and a half after Okinawa reverted to Japan. Since Okinawa’s reversion took place in 1972, we can add thirty-three to that year to determine that Uchi is speaking in 2005 or so. However, Uchi mostly talks about the distant past, especially the time before reversion. At that time, the US was engaged in the Vietnam War, and hostess bars in Okinawan were often mobbed with rowdy US servicemen.

The story is set in a town called “Machi,” which simply means “town.” From descriptions, however, the town is clearly Koza (current day Okinawa), the same town that is the setting for Sakiyama’s other Kuja rensaku stories. Okinawa is located in the central area of Okinawa’s main island. Although the name of the city was changed, many people still call it “Koza.” With a population of 130, 000, Okinawa is the prefecture’s second largest city, after Naha, the capital. Okinawa is famous for eisā (traditional Okinawan dance with drumming) and each year, the city holds the All Island Eisā Festival. Okinawa is also famous for its music festivals and many clubs with live music.

One of the most significant influences on Okinawa has been Kadena Air Base, the largest US military base in the prefecture. The base is surrounded by pubs and bars that cater to US soldiers. During the Vietnam War, the entertainment was especially lively, with soldiers who were anxious to forget the terrors of the war. Prostitution was also rampant in the area. In “Mienai machi,” Shonkanē serves only black US soldiers, so the customers often suffered discrimination.


7. Writing Style

Tami Sakiyama’s writing style is extremely complex. To begin with, she uses kanji, katakana, and hiragana in unsual ways. For example, the word hikōki (airplane), which is usually written in kanji, is written in katakana, which seems to suggest that airplanes are foreign to Uchi. By writing the word in katakana, Sakiyama suggests that airplanes are part of a foreign world that makes Uchi feel uncomfortable. In addition, Sakiyama’s gradual elimination of furigana forces readers to remember various Okinawan words. In the story, many Okinawan language words appear. Typically, the first appearance of an Okinawan word is as furigana next to kanji. In the next appearance, however, the Okinawan word appears in the main text only in katakana. Readers who ignored—or failed to remember—the word’s first appearance as furigana will have to go back to discover the meaning. For example, the Okinawan word “inagu” first appears as furigana next to the kanji for “woman,” but in its second appearance “inagu” is written only in katakana without the kanji. In this way, Tami Sakiyama makes it difficult for readers to ignore the Okinawan language.


8. Historical Background

US Military Bases in Okinawa

Over 70% of all US military bases in Japan are located in Okinawa. This is partly because of the Japan-US Security Treaty and partly a result of the Pacific War, which ended in 1945. The bases are extremely controversial in Okinawa, with many people opposed. On the other hand, many young people in Okinawa enjoy US-sponsored events and exchanges with Americans living on the bases.

Okinawa’s Reversion to Japan

Okinawa reverted to Japan in 1972, long after the return of Amami Ōshima and the Ogasawara Islands, which had also been under US rule. With reversion, Okinawa switched to using Japanese currency. On July 30, 1978, the prefecture switched to driving on the left side of the road, the same as the rest of Japan. In Okinawa, the day is called “7-3-0” (“nana san maru”) in reference to the date.

Vietnam War

Okinawa has strong connections to the Vietnam War because US soldiers stationed in Okinawa flew directly to Vietnam. Bombers heading to Vietnam often took off from US military bases located in Okinawa. US soldiers returning from Vietnam often took out their frustrations in Okinawan nightclubs and bars. In this story, the bar Shonkanē serves black American soldiers going to the Vietnam. As a result of US racism, hostess clubs in Okinawa had to serve whites and black separately. In Koza, there were black sections that catered to black servicemen. In the seventh section of the story, Uchi tells Anta about Jim, a black US serviceman who often came to bar. After Jim goes to Vietnam, they never hear from him again. Presumably, he dies in combat.


9. Themes

Hostess clubs and the women who worked at them

Uchi and Anta worked at Shonkanē, a hostess bar that catered to black US soldiers after the war. In a pattern that mirrored the segregationist policies of the US at the time, Shonkanē was located in a section of the town that was limited to black soldiers. White solders went to other bars, in another part of town, so that the two groups would remain separated. Not surprisingly, bars that catered to black soldiers were often considered of lower rank than those that catered to white, and the women who worked at the black bars were often discriminated against. “Mienai machi kara Shonkanē ga” sheds much light on the struggles, desires, and hopes of the women who worked in Koza’s entertainment districts, especially during the Vietnam War.

Lost voices from history

Uchi, the narrator and protagonist of “Mienai machi kara Shonkanē ga,” talks to Anta, but she can also be considered a voice speaking on behalf of women who lived and worked in the town as hostesses. Before, during, and after the war, many women were forced to work in the entertainment industry, as “comfort women,” prostitutes, and as hostesses. However, history books rarely discuss the lives of these women, and ordinary people rarely reflect on their suffering. “Mienai machi kara Shonkanē ga” gives voice to the forgotten women who worked in the entertainment industry.


10. Discussion Questions

1. Why did Mama initially move to the town?

2. How would the story change if it told from Anta’s point of view?

3. Why does Uchi say that Mama loved Anta the most?

4. How is Anta’s death described? What is significant about that description?

5. Why does Uchi tell Anta to back home?

6. How did you react (as a reader) when you discovered that everyone in the story was already dead? Do you agree with this ending? If yes, why? If no, why not?

7. How do you interpret the ending of the story?

8. What does Sakiyama’s story teach us about the Vietnam War and the impact of the war on Okinawa?


11. Works Cited

Imafuku, Ryūtarō. “Watashi no kenkyu” [My research]. Tokyo: Iwanami, 2002: 157-80.

Kina, Ikue. “Kokyou no toporojī basho to ibasho no kankyō bungakuron.” Tokyo: Suiseisha, 2011:181-99.

Matsushita, Yūichi. “Okinawa bungaku no shakaigaku: Ōshiro Tatsuhiro to Sakiyama Tami no bungaku teki hedate wo chūshin ni.” 2014:118-200.

Sakiyama, Tami. “Akōkurō gensikō.” Subaru. Sept 2006: 240-52.

---. “Figuru kaze nu hukiba.” Subaru. May 2007: 145-51.

---. “Kotōmu Duchuimuni.” Subaru. Sept 2006:130-44.

---. “Kuja kisoukyoku hensou.” Subaru. May 2008:168-89.

---. “Mapirōma no tsuki ni tatsu kage wa.” Subaru. Nov 2007:197-221.

---. “Mienai machi kara shonkanē ga.” Subaru. May 2006:130-44.

---. “Pingihira saka yakou.” Subaru. May 2007:65-79.


Original Report by Haruna Nagatsuna. Edited and revised by Kasumi Sminkey.