Performing Okinawan

PERFORMING OKINAWAN: BRIDGING CULTURES THROUGH MUSIC IN A DIASPORIC SETTING A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ASIAN STUDIES MAY 2014 By Lynette K. Teruya Thesis Committee: Christine R. Yano, Chairperson Gay M. Satsuma Joyce N. Chinen Keywords: Okinawans in Hawai‘i, diasporic studies, identity, music, performance © Copyright 2014 by Lynette K. Teruya All Rights Reserved i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Okage sama de, ukaji deebiru, it is thanks to you… It has taken many long years to reach this point of completion. I could not have done this project alone and my heart is filled with much gratitude as I acknowledge those who have helped me through this process. I would like to thank my thesis committee -- Drs. Christine Yano, Gay Satsuma, and Joyce Chinen -- for their time, patience, support and encouragement to help me through this project. Finishing this thesis while holding down my full-time job was a major challenge for me and I sincerely appreciate their understanding and flexibility. My thesis chair, Dr. Yano, spent numerous hours reviewing my drafts and often gave me helpful feedback to effectively do my revisions. I would also like to thank my sensei, Katsumi Shinsato, his family, and fellow members of the Shinsato Shosei Kai; without their cooperation and support, this particular thesis could not have been done. I would also like to thank Mr. Ronald Miyashiro, who produces the Hawaii Okinawa Today videos, for generously providing me with a copy of the Hawaii United Okinawa Association’s Legacy Award segment on Katsumi Shinsato; it was a valuable resource for my thesis. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who have always been my pillars of support as they encouraged me through all of my endeavors. I would especially like to thank my family, for their love and for always believing in me. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. ii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................1 Theoretical Framework Identity Identities in Hawai‘i Culture Diaspora Performance Historical Background of Okinawans in Hawai‘i History of Okinawan music in Hawai‘i Methodology Significance of This Work Organization CHAPTER 2. A LIFE HISTORY – KIBEI NISEI SANSHIN GRAND MASTER KATSUMI SHINSATO ......................29 In Okinawa Return to Hawai‘i Sanshin nu Michi 三線ぬ道 (The Path of the Sanshin) = The Life of Katsumi Shinsato Establishment of the Shinsato Shosei Kai CHAPTER 3. LESSONS IN BEING “OKINAWAN” .................................................44 Physical space and arrangement Classes Payment / Tuition The Instruments and the First Lesson Music Books Learning Culture iii CHAPTER 4. PERFORMANCE AS AGENCIES OF SYMBOLIC CULTURAL SUSTENANCE AND IDENTITY EXPLORATION IN AN OKINAWAN ETHNIC COMMUNITY .................................................................................................................59 Defining Performance The Importance of Performance Recitals Shinnenkai 新年会 (New Year’s Party) Dress Program Food CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................78 APPENDIX: TRANSCRIPT OF LEGACY AWARD BANQUET SEGMENT FOR KATSUMI SHINSATO ...................................................................................................91 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................96 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Genealogical Chart of Uta-sanshin in Hawai‘i by Takenobu Higa ............22 Figure 2. Nomura-ryū Kunkunshi ...................................................................................57 Figure 3. Kunkunshi with Lyrics Transcribed in Rōmaji ............................................58 Figure 4. Recital Booklets ...............................................................................................72 Figure 5. Shinsato Shosei Kai Formal Dress 2011 Shinnenkai Group Photo ............74 Figure 6. Shinsato Shosei Kai Aloha Uniform at 2009 HUOA Okinawan Festival ...75 Figure 7. Katsumi Shinsato and Grandchildren at 2007 Legacy Award Banquet ....95 v CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Okinawan music and dance have become part of Hawai‘i’s multicultural soundscape that continues to evolve. Through performing arts, Okinawans in Hawai‘i have created a vibrant ethnic community that is a unique piece in the multicultural patchwork known as “local” that is Hawai‘i’s society. Okinawan music, particularly as a transnational product, is a vessel into which fluid, intangible, and transforming elements of Okinawan culture can be infused. It flows through a diasporic community, as it flexibly reaches out to all who choose to listen. It evokes emotions or sentiments that are interpreted as feeling connected with Okinawa or things “Okinawan” in some people, despite the fact that they might not even understand the Okinawan language in which the songs are sung. Some describe feeling melancholy when listening to certain songs, while others describe an exuberant feeling of wanting to dance when listening to other songs. Still others say that it brings back fond memories of Jiji or Baban1 (grandparents), memories of the now-departed issei.2 It is a kind of memory device or tool as well as a vehicle through which the younger generations explore their cultural heritage and identities. Thus, music, as a form of expressive culture creates diasporic citizenry of people of Okinawan ancestry in Hawai‘i by infusing sounds, practices, and aesthetics defined as “being Okinawan” (that is, creating a tangible link to Okinawa as homeland) as a means of inventing and circumscribing community. Okinawan music has become a symbolic marker of Okinawan culture and studying uta-sanshin 歌三線3 teaches that it is not only about learning how to play an instrument or sing a song. It is also about learning the meanings, symbolisms, and cultural elements tied to or embedded in the music. In order to create the aforementioned diasporic citizenry, it takes people who have a body of knowledge, skill sets, and experiences to teach especially the younger people. It is through the knowledge, skills, 1 In Hawai‘i, issei grandparents, particularly those from Okinawa, were often called “Jiji [Grandpa]” or “Baban [Grandma].” While these were seen as terms of endearment to many Okinawans in Hawai‘i, today, they are seldomly used for the nisei or sansei grandparents, because these terms connote “old” and conjure up certain images of what a jiji or baban was, how they did certain things (including the way they dressed). 2 Japanese- or Okinawan-Americans distinguish between the different generations with terms like issei, nisei, sansei, yonsei, and gosei, which are the first-, second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation Japanese (or Okinawan)-Americans, respectively. 3 Uta-sanshin is the performing art that involves singing to the accompaniment of the sanshin, an Okinawan musical instrument that is a core instrument in most Okinawan musical performances. Uta- sanshin = song (singing) 歌 + sanshin 三線. 1 and understanding of the importance of creating these connections that these teachers are able to develop in their students a cultural awareness and a sense of a collective identity, a sense of belonging, in the diasporic community. But how was it possible for the “traditional” performing arts of Ryukyu4 to be “re- planted” and “re-generated” in a location thousands of miles away? How is it possible for it to continue to have an influence on the sansei, yonsei, and younger generations many years later, even shaping their thoughts or imaginings on the maintenance of an “Okinawan” identity and whatever that means? In other words: What are the transmission processes by which something labeled “Okinawan identity” develops in a musical diasporic setting of 21st century Hawai‘i, and what follows from these transmission processes? More specifically, how do the particularistic life experiences of one teacher of Okinawan music in Hawai‘i become a generalized reference to an “Okinawan identity”? This project uses a case study approach that focuses on a 91-year-old kibei nisei 帰米二世5 uta-sanshin master, Katsumi Shinsato 新里勝美 (b. 1922 in Waipahu, Hawai‘i), who has taught over a hundred students over the past 38 years. In this study, I explore how the kibei nisei life experiences of Shinsato contribute to his views of Okinawan identity and his musical activities through which he teaches Okinawan culture and values to the younger generations. By studying the uta-sanshin master’s teaching and performances, my aim is to understand: 1) the significant role that people like Shinsato play in guiding the process of creating this diasporic citizenry; and 2) how the practice of uta-sanshin has been an important and useful “tool” of influence through which “Okinawan traditions” and values have been inculcated into the younger generations. Consequently, an ethnic identity is shaped, perpetuated, and reinforced in a multicultural location far from the ancestral homeland. I explore the process by which he infuses Okinawan values into his activities to invigorate the culture in a diasporic community and how this might contribute to the construct of an

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