In the novel, the characters that most frequently use Okinawan language (Northern Okinawan) are those who lived in the village for a long time, most notably Seiji, Fumi, and Kayō. Seiji, a young fisherman who had to drop out of school at a young age, speaks only the Okinawan language. I’m sure English readers can see the irony in the fact that although Seiji passionately fights to defend Japan and his village, he cannot speak standard Japanese. Fumi and Kayō, on the other hand, are proficient in standard Japanese, though they often use the local language when they’re with other villagers.
Medoruma writes for both a Japanese and Okinawan audience, so in order to convey the use of Okinawan language, he adds a gloss to the right of the Japanese text, which allows readers to “hear” the local language—even if they don’t understand it. On top of this, the Japanese is usually given an Okinawan feel, which also conveys that the character is not using standard Japanese. In most chapters, such glosses appear only sporadically, and are relatively easy to ignore, but in the two Seiji chapters the pages are crowded with double lines of text, making the use of Okinawan language extremely conspicuous. The political implication of this should be obvious: Medoruma’s use of Okinawan language directly challenges Japanese readers to recognize and accept linguistic and cultural differences.
It’s impossible to fully recreate the complexity of Medoruma’s use of local language in English, so I ask readers to simply keep the issue in mind, especially for the characters I mentioned above. In my translation, I tried to capture the feel of the local language in idiomatic English, while providing hints that a character is using Okinawan language. The best approximation for an American audience might have been to translate the Okinawan language into Hawaiian, since Okinawa and Hawaii share many similarities: both were formerly kingdoms, both were territories before being annexed, both went through periods of assimilation, both have US military bases, and significantly, both have indigenous languages that are endangered. Such an approach, however, would have been impractical. To begin with, the introduction of Hawaiian would be inconsistent with the rest of the text and would distract readers from the situation in Okinawa. Furthermore, crowding the text with a gloss of a language that most English readers wouldn’t understand would be unwieldy and confusing. Still, the comparison should give American readers some sense of the radical nature of Medoruma’s use of local language.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to acknowledge the assistance I received in producing this translation. To begin with, I’d like to thank those who guided me in my reading of the original Japanese text, especially Professor Ariko Kurosawa, who let me attend her graduate school classes at Okinawa International University. I’d also like to express my thanks to her students, who generously shared their notes and research. Next, I’d like to thank those who provided advice on the early drafts of my translation, most especially Jonathan Rankine and the anonymous reviewer for University of Hawaii Press. Okinawa International University provided me financial support so that I could spend a year at the University of Vermont doing research and revising my manuscript. During that time, I received invaluable support and encouragement from Professor Kyle Ikeda and the students in his classes. Professor Ikeda has been generous with sharing his insights into Medoruma’s work, has provided invaluable feedback on my translations, and has always encouraged me in my research on Okinawan literature. I deeply appreciate his assistance. My translation would never have been published, however, without Stone Bridge Press. I’d like to express my appreciation to head editor Peter Goodman and others at Stone Bridge for their hard work in making this valuable novel available in English. Most of all, I’d like to thank my wife, Yoko, for all of her love, encouragement, and assistance. Her firsthand knowledge of Okinawan culture, history, and language was quite helpful, and without her encouragement, this translation would never have been completed.
Takuma Sminkey
Okinawa, May 2017
IN THE WOODS OF MEMORY
CHARACTER MAP
JAPAN AND OKINAWA
FUMI [1945]
—The Americans are coming! Hisako called out in alarm.
Fumi was searching for shellfish on the seabed and could feel the waves swirling between her legs. She raised her head and looked where Hisako was pointing. At the recently constructed port on the opposite shore, a dozen American soldiers were working. Perhaps because their jobs were done, several had tossed off their clothes and were diving into the ocean. One soldier was already swimming toward Fumi and her friends. He had a considerable lead by the time the other three stopped shouting and started diving in after him.
It was only about two hundred meters from the opposite side, and since the small northern island running parallel to the main Okinawan island formed a narrow passageway, the sea was peaceful. Local fishermen called the inner passage “the bosom,” and whenever typhoons threatened, they fled here from the high seas for safe haven. During spring tides, the current was dangerous, but at other times, even children could swim to the other side.
Along with Hisako and Fumi, three other girls were searching for
