Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa

by Steve Rabson (Editor), Michael Molasky (Editor), Tatsuhiro Ôshiro

Southern Exposure is the first anthology of Okinawan literature to appear in English translation. It includes a wide range of fiction as well as a sampling of poetry from the 1920s to the present day.

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Short Stories, Fiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2000

About the author

Steve Rabson is an American Japanologist, historian, translator, academic, and professor emeritus of East Asian Studies at Brown University. Rabson's research has focused on modern Japanese literature, especially works depicting war, its aftermath, and the experiences of women and minorities. He is regarded as an expert on Okinawa, subject of several of his books, and has spoken of wartime rape there to the New York Times. He is also a Japan Focus associate. As a U.S. Army draftee he was stationed in Okinawa in 1967-68.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every little-known literature is at the mercy of its anthologists. The Ryukyu Islands, of which Okinawa is the most famous, have their own languages and culture, despite being part of Japan. The islands' history has been a constant effort to maintain identity in the face of much larger and more powerful cultures: Japan, Korea, China and, of course, latterly the United States. The pressure of those larger cultures dominates this selection, less so in the few poems that open the anthology. A few pre-war stories show Okinawans living in Japan and trying to pass as Japanese. In perhaps the most heart-rending story in a book full of them, a family tries to wait out the American invasion in the cave that serves as their ancestral tomb. In another, a huge tumor erupts in a soldier with unbearable survivor's guilt about the men he had to leave behind. Men go to Japan and leave the local women prey to American soldiers and unscrupulous businessmen. In one, the sophisticate involved with a married Japanese man takes her vengeance out on another separated from her American husband. The last story almost moves out of the specter of the war and post-war periods, as a family caught between the traditional--lacking a male heir, a family "adopts" a husband for whom neither the wife nor the father-in-law have any sympathy--and the modern. Even in that story, the familial dysfunction is fueled not just by the woman's office job but by the healthy rent paid by the U.S. military.

[Ocean G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book was much like my visit to the Okinawa history museum. I spent the first part being mad at Japan for colonizing the island, and the next few parts mad the US, for pillaging the island. All in all, however, the stories were great (there was one I couldn't get through, but that was probably just me).

The stories also make me want to visit Okinawa again. I feel like I will get a lot more out of it having read this, and knowing what Awamori is.

The last story was probably my favorite, but I also liked "Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan woman", "Mr. Saito of Heaven Building", "The Silver Motorcycle", and "Love letter from LA" (although that last one was a bit odd).



Once again, since goodreads doesn't provide enough space for personal notes, I am writing down short summaries of each story for my personal notes here below. So once again, read on at your peril since there are MAJOR SPOILERS!!

*** Seriously, Spoilers Below ******

Officer Ukuma: A man from a poor Okinawa village becomes a police officer, so the entire village is proud. But he becomes more and more critical of them, so he's shunned. His coworkers look down on him, so he befriends a prostitute. He finally makes his first arrest, but it's the prostitute's brother.
Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan woman: The uncle of the narrator moved to mainland Japan, and didn't tell anyone he was from Okinawa. He goes back to Okinawa to visit, but decides to leave again after seeing how destitute it is.
Mr. Saito of Heaven Building: The narrator works for Mr. Saito, a Korean who doesn't tell anyone he is Korean. He seems to trust the narrator. His wife shows up looking for him. Mr. Saito makes the narrator promise he'll stop being a poet. Mr. Saito's wife finds out about his mistress. But the people in the office haven't "found out" about his nationality.
Dark Flowers: An okinawan girl is "dating" an African american soldier called Joe. She needs money for her family, but can't get anymore from him. She asks a friend for a loan, and goes to visit her family. Then leaves in the night.
Turtleback Tombs: Takes place during the war. American warships show up at shore, so the family hides in their ancestral tombs. The grandfather and his daughter's boyfriend go out to get sweet potatoes. The grandfather gets struck by mortar and dies. The bf is on his way to notify the relatives in their family tombs, but sees the army approaching the ancestral tomb he came from.
Bones: A company is clearing way for a new luxury hotel. Turns out the property has a mass grave underneath, so they start clearing out the bones. An old woman tells them her father planted the tree to mark the spot.
The Silver Motorcycle: The narrator discusses his aunt, who married an American called Harry. He retired in Okinawa and became a drunk and died. She kept obsessing over whether it would rain. In the meantime the narrator would cut her grass for money so he could buy a silver motorcycle. One night it rains and the aunt starts hugging him and saying some other man's name. When he gets the motorcycle she asks to use it, and races into a wall.
Love Letter from L.A.: The narrator, who is having an affair with her married boss (his wife is on the Japanese mainland), runs into a middle school friend while on a date. This middle school friend is married to an American, who sent her back to Okinawa from LA because she couldn't communicate and went crazy. She can't manage to learn english, so she asks her friend (the narrator) to write a letter to her husband to make sure he didn't drop her. He writes back to say he still cares for her, but was in the hospital. The narrator, however, says the letter states he wants a divorce. Not sure why. Possibly because she's frustrated that her lover went back to mainland Japan and wasn't serious about her.
Love Suicide at Kamaara: By weird coincidence, the author's name (Yoshida Sueko) is the name of the lover and middle school friend from the previous story. A 58 year old prostitute is living with a 19 year old guy who deserted the military. She is afraid he will leave. That night he says he will turn himself in the next day. She lights a cigarette, and it seems like she committed suicide (lit the lighter with a pillow over her head?).
Will O' the Wisp: I wasn't able to finish this. A woman tells her policeman lover she will keep the child she is pregnant with, even though he is married with other kids. So he drowns her. So her ghost and the ghost of her son attract someone else to drown in the water.
Droplets: An old man wakes up and his leg is swollen immensely, and he cannot move at all. Droplets (of puss?) start coming out of a cut in his toe. During the night he sees visions of past soldiers who come to drink from the water coming from his toe. In the meantime his cousin comes over to help, but realizes the water makes hair regrow and cures impotence. He starts selling it for a profit. Turns out the old man left a fellow soldier behind to save himself, and was racked with guilt. He sees this soldier drink his 'toe water', then smile. The next morning he's cured. But everyone who bought the cousin's water now has lost their hair and looks very old. So they beat him up. Next morning the old man sees a huge melon gourd in his garden with some hair on it and a beautiful flower.
Fortunes by the Sea: Probably my favorite story. A man marries into a woman's family on an island off the north shore. He has issues with his life like this, with his wife and her father. One night while fishing he runs into 2 sisters who own a bar on the mainland. So he decides to steal a goat, go over to the mainland, and use it as payment for some drinks (and have his fortune told?). He stays away for 2 days until his father in law finds him and is proud that he was man enough to do that. He takes him back.

[Chelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This eclectic collection was a fantastic read: The variety and wide time-span kept me engaged, and the stories themselves were a mix of dark and dreamy historical fiction. Read "Droplets" and "Turtleback Tombs" if nothing else!

[ElKazovskyfan23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far I have read, listed chronologically by the date of their publication; ‘Officer Ukuma’ by Ikemiyagi Sekihō, 1922 (a personal favorite); ‘The Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman’ and the subsequent defense written of it by Kushi Fusako, 1932; ‘A Conversation’ by Yamanokuchi Baku, 1935; ‘Mr. Saito of Heaven Building’ by Yamanokuchi Baku, 1938; ‘Reminisces of my Youth’ by Yamanokuchi Baku, 1963; ‘Bones’ by Shima Tsuyoshi, 1973; and ‘Will O’ the Wisp’ by Yamanoha Nobuko, 1985. I’m very grateful to the authors, the translators, and to my professor for introducing me to this body of work.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to really give a collection of short stories a solid review but in general this was great. Okinawa has the unfortunate luck of being in between several empires throughout its history. Colonized, recolonized, Okinawans are technically Japanese unless you ask a Japanese person. It all comes through in several of these stories.

The plight of women in a nation without no fault divorce really comes through as well. Everyone is trapped in some sort of relationship, even the men seem to chafe under it.

[Josh Maher]

Good Ryukyuan stories from Okinawa.

[Momi]

Excerpt: "Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman" by Kushi Fusako, read for October 2024 Ryukyu Reads discussion

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okinawan society is very complex and its literature reflects that. Other than the shared theme of Okinawa, the works spanned genre and style. Someday I'd like to try reading some of them in Japanese.

[Bernadette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many wartime and after the war types stories from Okinawa of late, but I was reminded of the power of literature after reading this collection. Each story was well-crafted and amazing.