Fusako Kushi (久志 芙沙子, Kushi Fusako, 1903–1986) was a female writer from Okinawa. Her most notable work is Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman (Horobiyuku ryukyu-onna no shuki, 滅びゆく琉球女の手記), which was received with hostility and outrage.

Fusako Kushi
Native name
久志芙沙子
Born久志芙ツル
1903
Shuri, Okinawa
Died1986
OccupationWriter
Notable worksMemoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman (滅びゆく琉球女の手記)

Biography

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Kushi Fusako was born in Shuri, Okinawa in 1903. She graduated from an all-girls high school in Okinawa and worked as an elementary school teacher before moving to Tokyo to pursue a career in writing at the age of 27.[1]

Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman

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In 1932, Kushi submitted Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman to Fujin Kōron, a women's magazine, which incorporated themes of social discrimination and loss of her home and culture experienced due to her identity as Ryukyuan.

Criticism

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The Okinawa Prefecture Student Association in Tokyo condemned Kushi's work severely, accusing her of portraying Okinawan people in the same class as the Ainu people and the Korean people.[1] Although Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman was initially planned to be published as a serial novel, the backlash prevented the publication of the rest of her Memoir series.[1]

The "Defense"

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In the following month's issue of the Fujin Koron, Kushi published a rebuttal work titled "In the Defense of Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman," which challenged critics' internalized prejudice concerning gender and ethnicity.

Kushi wrote,

"Their outraged claims that what I wrote “demeans” and “discriminates against” Okinawans reveals, paradoxically, their own racial prejudice toward Ainu and Koreans. I don’t care whether Okinawans are identified with Ainu or with “pure Japanese” because I firmly believe that, despite superficial differences resulting from environmental conditions, we are all Asians and equal as human beings. It was in this sense that I used the word “people,” and certainly not to insult the Okinawan people of whom I myself am one."[2]

After the publication of the "Defense," Kushi retired from writing and never wrote again.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Arashiro, Toshiaki. Kyōyō kōza Ryūkyū Okinawa shi. Okinawa Rekishi Kyōiku Kenkyūkai (Shohan ed.). Okinawa-ken Itoman-shi. p. 270. ISBN 4905412293. OCLC 933418092.
  2. ^ Southern exposure : modern Japanese literature from Okinawa. Molasky, Michael S., 1956-, Rabson, Steve, 1943-. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawai'i Press. 2000. pp. 81–82. ISBN 0824823001. OCLC 50490528.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)