Preserving Our Declining History: The Ryukyuan Woman

Savannah Drew

English 145

13 May 2018

Throughout history it is common that some events be forgotten. The chapters of events in a civilization can be faded and forgotten. Some sections of history may be painful and cause a feeling of shame, and so the civilization will try to sugar coat the events of the past. Some volumes of history have been burned, or omitted to save face of rulers and administrations. The pride of nations is more important at times than historical accuracy. We see this washing of history when we look at the island nation of Okinawa. Now considered a prefecture of Japan, after its capture in the seventeenth century, the people of Okinawa have been brutalized and discriminated against for most of their modern history with Japan. The story by Kushi Fusako titled Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman (Norton 400-408) offers a slight insight into the world that the natives of the island faced in a world where they were not seen as a part of the whole. This story should be seen as a polite reflection of the history of the time that it was set in, as she is culturally aware and the stories whispered from generation to generation of oppressed people were finally voiced in her telling.

Firstly, it is important to understand the language of the text and the language of today. Fusako uses the term “Ryukyuan” in her writing. This is due to the Ryukyuan Dynasty in place before the Japanese took over "Until 1600, Okinawa had been an independent kingdom with a vassal relationship to the Chinese court. There followed a period of dual loyalties, as the kingdom came under partial domination of Japan." (Norton 400). The word Ryukyuan and Okinawan, can be used interchangeably in the context of Fusako's writing. As the island of the inhabitant Ryukyuan people is the island of Okinawa. After the dynasty ended and the fall of the prospering nation, the people’s title changed. Today the people do not call themselves Ryukyuan specifically. However with the newer and more progressive generation the term is being reclaimed proudly as a part of their heritage. Furthermore, it is important to understand that some sections of Ryukyuan culture are practiced around specific areas of the island. Much like how a meal can be popular in one town but not in another. The same is also true for Okinawa. Before the Japanese takeover in 1609, the different regions traditions were respected by all the inhabitants on the island (Tofugu).

The Ryukyuan nation and people were taken over by Japan in 1609. However, they were mostly left alone and independent for more than a century before the true hostilities occured. The friendly use of their naval ports by the Japanese and the mostly unimposed way of life for the Okinawans came to a crashing halt in 1879. Up to that point the disruption of their cultural practice had been minimal and even protected. According to the Minority Rights Organization website,

“Leaving the Ryūkyū kingdom as a quasi-independent entity for hundreds of years permitted trade to occur between China and Japan when such trade was ‘officially’ prohibited by the Japanese shogunate. It also had the effect of maintaining Ryūkyūan culture, language and political institutions for much of this period, during which there were restrictions forbidding Ryūkyūans from adopting Japanese names, clothes or customs.”.

We can see that the people of this small island nation where left to practice their culture under Japanese rule for decades. This lead to an enormous culture shock when the Japanese government decided that they needed to finally, and quickly, integrate the people of Okinawa "We always seem to be at the tail end of history, dragged along roads already ruined by others" (Norton 402). The dialect and language they used was outlawed and those who spoke their home language were harshly punished. Even children were punished if they used their home language within earshot of anyone “Students in schools were shamed for speaking Ryūkyūan in class by having to wear what was called a ‘dialect tag’ around their necks.”, which were heavy and made of planks of wood (Minority). These harsh practices began in 1910 and carried on well into Work War Two. These infringements on the cultural freedom of the natives created resentments that have rippled throughout the generations. These resentments and the lack of coverage on the injustices done was one of the motivations for Kushi Fusako. She was born in 1903 when all of these restrictions began to take effect (Norton 400). She would have been a student when the shaming of her language and culture was acceptable. Fusako’s bravery in publishing her story speaks volumes of her character. As she did not shame the Japanese, but rather, illustrated the differentiation of values between them.

Now that there is established context for you, the reader, we can begin to look at the themes of Fusako’s tale. She draws attention to the way that the Ryukyuan people of Okinawa were discriminated against and forced into hiding if they wished to succeed in the Japanese world. The art of hand tattooing was taboo in the eyes of the conquering Japanese and are still seen as generally unacceptable today. In the Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman, the woman narrator or “Niece” as I will call her, talks with a friend who is from her hometown. They keep their heritage secret and confide only in each other. Her friend says that she would like to bring her mother to the mainland to work for her. But the issue was her mother’s hand tattoos. The author explains “ Tattoos have caused suffering in almost every Ryukyuan family. Even if a woman can save enough money to send several sons to higher school, she is destined to be left behind in her hometown until she dies, thanks to those tattoos on the back of her hands.” (Norton 402). These physical indicators of status and pride for the woman’s culture became a prison sentence. They would not be welcome workers in Japanese institutions and cities. The physical difference in their skin color and features marked them as foreign, but their tattoo’s marked them as other. The simple and clear implication of social segregation and discrimination from the standpoint of a native who is suffering from this systemic racism indirectly, in what is more or less enemy territory is eye opening. The lack of freedom for cultural expression is heartbreaking and not spoken about openly. History in the area tries to explain that the fading commonality of hand tattoos in the Ryukyuan culture is based solely on the practice falling out of fashion, when this was not the case at all as we know from the way language was treated .

Kushi Fusako was a beautiful writer. And in true Okinawan fashion, used elements of nature to portray her cultures silent emotion. She used the sunshine, but not always in such a way that showed happiness as one would think, “… A loneliness that echoes in our hearts like the sound of the sunshine. “ (Norton 402). This is a sign of guilt, that she can prosper away from her culture and her heritage alone. That the sun would shine on all of their faces, enemies and friends alike, yet still they are all alone. She writes, “ The last fading rays of sunset that hovered over the layers of buildings seem to reflect the gloom in my heart. “ (Norton 403). The gloom stemming from an inability to be honest with herself, and with those around her. Since she was a Ryukyuan woman in a land of Japanese, she had to fit in and pretend to be one of them. She had to speak how they did, dress how they dressed, and never let on that she was Ryukyuan. As anyone can imagine, imposing this expectation on anyone would lead to depression and a feeling of total isolation. It is critical that this work be preserved and seen as historic due to the honest human portrayal of emotional repercussions that come from forced submergence of cultural identity.

The historical context behind Kushi Fusako’s work is important. And the work she provided offered a more human side to the black and white history that can often fall flat for readers. This new emotional and historically accurate portrayal of life for a Ryukyuan woman offers a side to history that is not often seen. Even though this tale is considered fiction, the author lived and worked in an era of discrimination that is clearly depicted in the work. This work should be preserved to serve as an example to future generations. It is critical to understand where a society has been in order to avoid painful repeats of past mistakes. Segregation and lack of respect for differing cultures and values should never be aloud to be repeated. And without works such as this, there is a greater risk of the past repeating.