Shindo Jujo’s Island of Treasures: A Rebel Myth for Okinawa

Conference: The Asian Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS2022)
Title: Shindo Jujo’s Island of Treasures: A Rebel Myth for Okinawa
Stream: Japanese Studies
Presentation Type: Virtual Presentation
Authors:
Stephen Filler, Oakland University, United States

Abstract:

In his novel Island of Treasures (Takarajima) (2017), Shindo Junjo creates a mythical world of youthful Robin-Hood heroes, the "senka agya" who raided American military bases for food and supplies, resisting both the United States occupying forces and the hegemony of the Japanese mainland authorities who collaborated with them. The non-Okinawan Shindo makes extensive use of Okinawan dialect and other literary devices to recreate this world, while structuring it as a mystery revolving around finding a missing person. Shindo's construction of Okinawa as a contested space enables him to draw on themes used by previous writers while grappling with present-day concerns about Japanese and Okinawan identity.

Virtual Presentation

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