UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Between Two Worlds: A Social History of Okinawan Musical Drama Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5tb5t54b Author Edwards, James Rhys Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Between Two Worlds: A Social History of Okinawan Musical Drama A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by James Rhys Edwards 2014 © Copyright by James Rhys Edwards 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Between Two Worlds: A Social History of Okinawan Musical Drama by James Rhys Edwards Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Roger Savage, Chair In 1879, Japan annexed the Ryūkyū Islands, dissolving the nominally independent Ryūkyū Kingdom and establishing Okinawa Prefecture. This inaugurated Imperial Japan’s expansion beyond the historical naichi or “inner lands.” It also set in motion a structural transformation of Okinawan society, marked by the end of tribute trade with China, the abolition of a centuries-old status system, and the gradual modernization of the economy. This process was painful, pitting the interests of the traditional Okinawan elite against those of Japanese administrators, with Okinawan peasants and laborers caught in the middle. The epicenter of this process was the prefectural capital of Naha – and for many Okinawans, particularly working class women, the soul of Naha was its commercial theater. This dissertation approaches prewar Okinawan commercial theater both as an institution and as a space of experience and expression. Its main focus is vernacular musical drama or kageki, which was created by classical performing artists disenfranchised by the dissolution of ii the court. Musical dramas such as A Peony of the Deep Mountains (Okuyama no botan) and Iejima Romance (Iejima Handō-gwa) draw selectively on both courtly and popular traditions, fusing the poetic sophistication of kumiodori dance-drama with the mass appeal of folk song and dance. After introducing early modern courtly and popular performing arts, I trace the emergence of commercial theater as an effect of contradictory social forces set in motion by annexation. Cross-reading actors’ memoirs and newspaper reviews with writings by period scholars such as Okinawan cultural historian Iha Fuyū and Japanese critical theorist Tosaka Jun, I situate commercial performance in its socioeconomic and ideological context. I then turn from a social scientific to a hermeneutic mode of critique, offering close readings of four influential musical dramas. Unlike coeval Okinawan elite literature, these dramas do not explicitly challenge the dominant order. I will argue, however, that by representing low-status female protagonists as self-willed and morally competent agents, they invite working class female spectators to reimagine the horizons of their social experience. iii The dissertation of James Rhys Edwards is approved. Helen Rees Carol Sorgenfrei Timothy Taylor Roger Savage, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv For my mother and father v Table of Contents Acknowledgment ix Vita x Introduction 1 The political ontology of art and aesthetic experience 5 Performance and the politics of recognition 9 Dissertation structure and chapter summaries 26 Chapter 1: History, historiography, and theory Okinawa and the historiography of development in Japan 35 The emergence of “the Okinawan” in prewar discourse 41 Postwar reconstructions of Okinawan identity 50 Method I: The normative Japanese research model 56 Method II: The normative Western research model 60 Theory I: Aesthetic conciliation and sociologistic positivism 65 Theory II: From sociologism to critical hermeneutics 74 Chapter 2. Performing arts in the Ryūkyū Kingdom The origin and political trajectory of the Ryūkyū Kingdom 90 Social structure in the Ryūkyū Kingdom 94 Popular performing arts in early modern Ryūkyū 97 Ryūkyūan cultural policy and the birth of kumiodori 104 Courtly performing arts as Confucian political practice 110 vi Dialectics of obligation and desire in kumiodori 114 Aesthetics, ideology, and the early modern Ryūkyūan state 128 Chapter 3. Annexation and the emergence of commercial performing arts Nineteenth century crisis and decline 137 Hanauri no en (The Fate of the Flower-seller) 143 Abolishing a kingdom and establishing a prefecture 144 Social mobility and the commodification of artistic competence 149 From narrative dance to comic musical drama 158 The genesis of tragic musical drama: Uyanmā (The Kept Woman) 164 Dynamics of representation during the Preservation of Old Customs period 173 Chapter 4. The Meiji theater as a space of social practice Uneven development and the “agrarian problem” 179 Commercial theater as a social and economic institution 186 The expansion of the repertory and formation of genres 194 The birth of long-form tragic musical drama: Tumari Akā (Akā of Tomari) 204 Theater as an institution, a commodity, and an art 212 Chapter 5. Commercial performance as an object of discourse and policy Indigenous capitalism and the formation of class consciousness 225 The consolidation of taste categories 229 Popular custom as a threat and a promise 234 Moral panic and state intervention 241 From repression to reform 247 vii Reformism and the contradictions of Okinawan modernity 258 Chapter 6. The politics of recognition in Taishō period musical drama Developing dependency and crisis 268 Tragic historical consciousness and the premonition of violence 272 Crushed by history: Okuyama no botan (A Peony of the Deep Mountains) 275 Premonitions of doing violence: Iejima Handō-gwa (Iejima Romance) 286 Conclusion: Toward a phenomenology of the capable woman 294 Appendix I: Maps I. (1). The Ryūkyū Islands in an East Asian context 314 I. (2). Okinawa Island 315 I. (3). The Naha/Shuri area 316 I. (4). Iejima and its surroundings 317 Appendix II: Musical materials II. (1). Okinawan notation: “Hama-chidori bushi” 318 II. (2). Western notation: “Hama-chidori bushi” 320 Appendix III: Temizu no en (The Bond of Water in Hands) 322 Appendix IV: Uyanmā (The Kept Woman) 336 Appendix V: Tumari Akā (Akā of Tomari) 341 Appendix VI: Okuyama no botan (A Peony of the Deep Mountains) 355 Appendix VII: Iejima Handō-gwa (Iejima Romance) 372 Endnotes 389 Works cited 413 viii Acknowledgments I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Roger Savage, and to the members of my committee: Helen Rees, Carol Sorgenfrei, and Timothy Taylor. Their advice and critique have enriched this project tremendously. I would also like to thank Professor Herman Ooms for critiquing my drafts and sitting on my defense committee, and Professors Mitchell Morris, Susan McClary, and William Marotti for contributing immeasurably to my development as a scholar while at UCLA. Equally important has been the tireless support I have received over the years from the Department of Ethnomusicology faculty and staff, in particular Chi Li, Sandra McKerroll, Donna Armstrong, and Kathleen Hood. The faculty and staff at the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, the International Institute, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies have also provided me with invaluable support. In Japan, my sincerest thanks go out to Higa Yasuharu, Higa Kazue, Karimata Keiichi, Suzuki Kōta, the faculty and staff of the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, the National Theatre Okinawa, Shinjō Eitoku, Steven Chodoriwsky, and my dear friend and mentor Nakazato Masao. I would also like to thank Joko Bibit Santoso and Komunitas Tanggul Budaya of Surakarta. To my family, friends, and colleagues – especially Emi Foulk and Paul Chaikin – thank you for seeing me through this curious journey. Finally, I would like to pay special regards to my advisors at Grinnell College, Johanna Meehan and Roger Vetter, and to the late John Mohan. This dissertation would not have been possible without generous assistance from the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, the UCLA Asia Institute, the UCLA International Institute, the UCLA Graduate Division, the Department of Music at Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, and the Herb Alpert School of Music. ix Vita 2003 Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy Grinnell College Grinnell, IA. 2008 Master of Arts, Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA. 2008–2009 Foreign Language and Area Studies Grant UCLA Asia Institute Sasakawa Fellowship Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies 2009 Certificate, Advanced Japanese Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies Yokohama, Japan. 2010 Martin Hatch Award Society for Asian Music 2010–2011 Fulbright-Hays Group Project Grant Consortium for the Teaching of Indonesian Lemelson Fellowship on Indonesia UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies 2011 Certificate, Advanced Indonesian Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga, Indonesia. 2011–2012 Aratani Field Experience Fellowship Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies 2012 Notehelfer Prize UCLA Asia Institute 2012–2014 Aratani Research Grant Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies x Publications 2013 “Impossible Properties: Language and Legitimacy in Ong Keng Sen and Kishida Rio’s Lear.” International Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 10(2): 13-34. 2012 “Theory ‘Between Inside and Outside’: A Response to Zachary Wallmark’s ‘Sacred Abjection in Zen Shakuhachi.’” Ethnomusicology Review