An Okinawan odyssey

News events echo themes of a new play about the U.S. presence

Los Angeles » When Jon Hiroshi Shirota read a news report about the alleged rape of a 14-year-old Okinawan girl by a U.S. Marine, he had an eerie sensation, as if life were imitating art. "I wondered if someone in the military had read my play," Shirota mused.

The report was filed last Monday; Shirota's "Voices from Okinawa" premiered two days later at the East West Players theater in Los Angeles, with a story that encompasses the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl by an American soldier.

"Voices" grew out of a grant from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and National Endowment for the Arts, which allowed the Maui-born Shirota to visit Okinawa in 2005 to study immigration to Hawaii.

At the time, a professor of American literature was using Shirota's 1985 novel, "Lucky Come Hawaii," in his university class and asked Shirota to guest-lecture. "I'd speak to the class in English; the students would respond in English to me while among themselves speak in Japanese," Shirota said. "I realized there was a story here; a play, if you will. I decided to ask questions of the students, and the play evolved out of this."

In "Voices," the lead character is an American who goes to Okinawa, land of his ancestors, to study for his doctorate and to teach English. Among his students is a girl, Namiye, who reveals details of her rape that are strangely similar to the recent incident in Okinawa. Like her real-life counterpart, Namiye says she was assaulted by a soldier who offered her a ride.

The issue is not a new one. In 1995, the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan by soldiers triggered massive protests.

"Voices" also presents the issue of land ownership on an island occupied by 40,000 U.S. troops, which has invited comparisons to the current situation in Iraq.

"The play's strongest theme resonates with our presence in Iraq and many places around the world where maybe we've outworn our welcome," said Amy Hill, who has a scene-stealing role as a 96-year-old student.

Actor George Takei, best known as Lt. Sulu of the "Star Trek" series, attended the opening-night performance and noted that the American presence has dominated Okinawa for 60 years. "This kind of American -- let's use that word -- imperialism, that's what it really is. There was a time when the sun never set on the British Empire. Well, it's now becoming like that with the U.S. And you know what happened to the British Empire. We're seeing that pattern, that handwriting on the wall for American civilization. ... This play suggests all of that and as well as a heartbreaking, touching and human story."

Shirota, 80, is descended from the Chinese who settled in Okinawa in 1392. His parents emigrated to Hawaii, settling on Maui. Shirota left home in 1946 to serve with the U.S. forces occupying Japan. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife of 15 years, Barbara, who was interned during WWII.

"Voices" is Shirota's fifth play for East West Players.

Also attending the premiere was Okinawan-born actress Tamlyn Tomita, who co-starred with Dennis Quaid in 1990's "Come See the Paradise," about the wartime internment of Japanese Americans. She is currently starring in Jessica Alba's horror movie "The Eye."

"Being of Okinawan descent, meaning not quite 100 percent Japanese, a subject touched in this play, is something that we don't understand a whole lot," Tomita said.

"Realizing and appreciating my heritage and culture, knowing that it's separate from being Japanese and also separate from being American, can be confusing but is also much celebrated in my family."

"Voices From Okinawa" plays through March 9 in Los Angeles. Call (213) 625-7000 or e-mail info@eastwestplayers.org.