Gender Stratification in Okinawan Theatre with a Focus on Ikuko Uema’s Specific Identity
(Draft) Shoko Yonaha
Abstract
Ikuko Uema (1906-1990) was not a well-known Juri (geisha/geigi/mistress) but a distinguished Ryukyu dancer. It meant that she represented the female performer’s identity even though women’s performances had been underestimated in the male oriented Okinawan performing history and in modern society. Male dominated performing entertainment had been the common cultural sphere in Okinawa since the 17th century when Satsuma invaded thekingdom ofRyukyu. It was the norm that only men could perform on stage in thekingdom ofRyukyu and the same norm lasted until the end of WWII.
In the history of the Ryukyu kingdom and modern Okinawa after it was annexed by Japan, female performers’ figures were covered or hidden in the pleasure quarters in Nahasince 1672; however, their performance of songs and dances had been pursued for the 273 years of this period. Nonetheless, it was also true that ceremonial/ritual dances like Ushide-ku[1] were solely performed by women in each village or community.
Through Ikuko Uema’s active role as a Ryukyu dancer and performer, I’d like to shed light on women actors’ faces in modernOkinawaperforming arts history.
How women acted under the norm, and what women had to deal with in the male dominated society will illustrate Ikuko’s extraordinary gifts as a performer. She became the first leader of a female theatre troupe Otohime in 1949.
Introduction
This paper attempts to describe the specific identity of Ikuko Uema who is represented as a significant dancer in the modern era of Okinawa. The modern period in Okinawa is defined as from 1879, whenJapanannexed thekingdomofRyukyu, to 1945, the end of WWII. These 66 years were also the time when they were to have been assimilated as Japanese. At that time, male oriented performance was the norm inOkinawa.
Before getting into the details of what Ikuko achieved throughout her life, it has to be emphasized that Ikuko was a famous courtesan who was sold to the pleasure quarter of Tsuji when she was 8. Her double identity of being both courtesan and Ryukyu dance professional is indispensable. Naturally this fact is related to the male oriented Ryukyu/Okinawan performing arts since the 17th century when thekingdom ofRyukyu was invaded by Satsuma in 1609 and exploited until the fall of the kingdom.
While Ryukyu court dances and performances were presented by men, all female dances and songs were limited to the ceremonial/ritual events in each village or community, and in addition, Juri started to entertain many Yukatchu （Samurai） class men in the kingdom and important guests from outside such as those envoys from China and the supervising samurai officials (Zaiban) who were sent from the Satsuma clan (the present Kagoshima prefecture) since 1672.
In this paper, as the pleasure quarter was officially opened in 1672, its history and tradition, and Juri (courtesans, mistresses, and prostitutes who acted the central role there), and their dances and music are to be discussed. How Ikuko succeeded and represented those traditions in the period of modernization/assimilation toJapan in Okinawa can’t be overlooked; in other words, the dual aspects of Ryukyu/Okinawan tradition and performing arts are also represented in Ikuko Uema.
