Takashima Megumi | AKN Project Comedy "Jinruikan" (Part 1)
The AKN Project's staging of Chinen Masami's play "Jinruikan" critically examines Okinawan modern history and the cycle of discrimination.Summary
This article reviews the first part of the AKN Project's staging of the comedy "Jinruikan" (Humanity Hall) by playwright Chinen Masami, performed at the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater. Written about 50 years after Okinawa's reversion to Japan, the play uses the 1903 "Jinruikan Incident"—where Okinawan women were exhibited—as a motif to compress Okinawa's modern history, including forced assimilation and the trauma of war. The production is praised as an attempt to move beyond merely confirming the play's ending, which depicts a loop of discrimination being reproduced, towards exploring possibilities for change. The text highlights the structural similarity between the violent gaze of the "Humanity Hall" exhibition and the act of theatrical observation. The dialogue layers double meanings, often using humor to critique self-pity and internal contradictions within Okinawan identity. The contrast between standard Japanese (Yamato-guchi) and Okinawan-infused Japanese (Uchina-Yamato-guchi) illustrates structures of dominance, though this structure begins to fray when the 'trainer' figure is revealed to share the same accent. The narrative violently twists through time, referencing the Battle of Okinawa and post-war US military rule, showing how characters struggle with imposed identities. The review concludes by noting that the second part will examine how the production attempts to 'reverse' the play's bleak conclusion toward hope, while also addressing limitations in female representation and gender imbalances within the original text.
(Source：artscape)