Review: Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa

Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa by Steve Rabson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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. 

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