"For 260 years, the Ryukyu Kingdom endured dual subjugation to China and Japan."

- James Rhys Edwards, 2015

HISTORY

Kumi odori originated in 1719 during the investiture ceremony of the Ryukyuan king, Sho Kei, by a courtier named Tamagusuku Chokun.  The purpose behind kumi odori were to provide entertainment for Chinese officials visiting for the purpose of confirming succession of Okinawan kings.  Okinawa had recognized the suzerainty of China as a trade partner, and these confirmations of succession were deemed the beginning of a tribute system which dated back to 1372 (although it would be another 200 years almost before kumi odori was born).  However, as the envoys arrived in early Spring, the winds were blowing toward Okinawa and it would be another 6 months until the winds changed direction again back toward China, leaving the envoys with the Ryukyuan court; as such, it became necessary to provide entertainment that would not only flatter the Chinese, but balance the precarious relationship Okinawa also shared with Japan, another vital trading partner. 

                Tamagusuku Chokun accomplished this by developing the first kumi odori plays with cultural traits of China and Japan incorporated into them.  From the Chinese came the influences of Confucius values, the primary religion in China which serves as the philosophical background of kumi odori.  Confucianism, which deals with this life and not the afterlife, sustains that moderation is key in all activities carried out by humans.  The Japanese influence in kumi odori comes from the Japanese art nō, as traits such as movement, staging, and storylines were featured prominently in Chokun’s earliest work; most specifically with the influence of the Japanese legend Dojoji.  One of the most popular and oldest plays written by Chokun is the Shushin Kani’iri which tells the story of a woman so passionately in love that she transforms into a demon, a story line also present in Dojoji.  While actors in nō wear masks to hide their faces, kumi odori actors rarely do so, however, the neutrality of their expressions can be seen as a mask of their own.  The blending of Chinese and Japanese aspects into kumi odori was necessary to ensure the longevity of the relationship between the three countries and Okinawa; Chinese officials were pleased for the entertainment which reflected their Confucius values, and the Japanese enjoyed the cultural influence of nō, which was a sign of their recognized superiority over Okinawans.   


(Gallery 2: images 11-14)

identity politics in kumi odori: Mekarushi

"Kumi odori...demonstrates Okinawans' long struggle to carve out an identity that is distinctive within the context of constant efforts from neighbors and outside forces to subjugate Okinawans, marginalize them, and define them as the other."

- Ruth Forsythe, 2017

MEKARUSHI

 

Kumi odori has been rooted in identity politics from the day of its inception.  To demonstrate this, the play Mekarushi (1719) provides an example of Okinawan identity politics at its earliest.  Okinawa has long maintained a subordinate relationship with its neighbors China and Japan through its strategic location as a trade partner in the Pacific.  As an island culture that sustained contact with many other Eastern Cultures, Okinawa naturally took on elements from other cultures and modified them to fit their own traditions.  However, when outside cultures have been forced upon them or appropriated Okinawan culture, it creates complications for the Okinawan sense of identity.

 

 

Mekarushi tells the story of a farmer who discovered a beautiful maiden bathing in a river beside a pine tree.  Wondering if she comes from heaven, he hides her clothes (which includes a flying robe necessary for her to return to her world) and convinces her to marry him by essentially holding her garments hostage as she begs for the return of the robe.  Over time, they have two children, a son and a daughter, whom the maiden overhears one day discussing her flying robe that they have discovered.  Although she loves her children, the maiden recovers her robe and leaves them for her heavenly home.  Mekarushi is forced to eventually tell his children their mother was an angel who decided to return to heaven.  This incident is reported to the Shuri king who offers to foster the children at his castle, much to the delight of Mekarushi, who contributes his good fortune to his wife, the “beautiful maiden who came down from heaven,” from which everything originated from (Forsythe 2017:328).

 

  

(Image 15)

 

 

How does this relate to identity politics for Okinawans?  Originally, Tamagusuku Chokun based Mekarushi on the Japanese nō drama of Hagoromo, both of which tell the story of an angel who visited earth using a special gown that enabled her travel.  However, the nō focuses on Buddhist values of celestial life and the noble virtue of beings like angels, and selfish earthly desires of mortals.  In this version the fisherman (instead of a farmer) is shamed into giving the angel back her robe so she may return home right away.  This theme would have been relatable to Japanese cultural values at the time, but what Chokun did was recreate this tale in a way that gives value to Ryukyuan cultural heritage.  The characters in Chokun’s version are focused on the human experience and struggles of living in this world.  There is also the theme of filial love and pity as the Mother expresses through the dialogue just how heartbroken she is to leave her children to her surprise, and the extreme efforts her children put into trying to find her to the point of exhaustion.  Through this, Mekarushi expresses the Confucian values within the parent-child relationship (paying homage to China), while being based on an already established Japanese drama (paying homage to Japan), and at the same time working in the political situations of the 18th century.

 

 

Tamagusuku was a member of the Ryukyuan court when he began writing kumi odori, and as such, he used it to express the value and legitimacy of the court when he wrote Mekarushi.  For example, the farmer willingly and more importantly, gratefully, sends his children into the household of the Shuri king.  There is no argument or lamenting, he is merely ecstatic and thankful for the opportunity.  In this, he is a loyal subject who recognizes the social hierarchy with his place at the bottom, and the aristocratic court, above him, helping him by taking his children from him which should be seen as a favor normally unworthy of one of his social stature; it gives a benevolent appearance to the Ryukyuan court.  

 

 

(Image 16) 

 


At the heart of this specific kumi odori is the blending of identity politics from three nations: Chinese Confucianism, Japanese nō, and Okinawan social hierarchy.  Chokun had to create a work which would not only exemplify Okinawan values at the time, but flatter and appease their stronger and more powerful trading partners.  What it demonstrates is that even though kumi odori were written by Okinawans, in Okinawa, with Okinawan culture and identity in mind, it was still heavily saturated with influence from foreign affairs; a condition which continues today due to the heavy presence of U.S. troops now bringing Western values to the island culture.  As evidence by the common practice of Anti-U.S. protests conducted in regularity on Okinawa, perhaps the importance of kumi odori and its singularly Okinawan identity, helps to soften the feeling of "deterritorialization"; as some may feel a western culture (which is vastly different than their own), is being forced upon them through the foreign presence (Gross 2008:221).                                                                       (Image 17)