Discussion
On March 25, 2025, the 292nd Japan Specialist Invitation Seminar was held in a hybrid format. With around 10 participants both on-site and online, Associate Professor SAKASAI Akito of the University of Tokyo gave a presentation titled “Breaking Away from the Label of "Resistance Poet": 1950s National Literature Discourse and Yamanokuchi Baku” (「抵抗詩人」の軛から抜け出して―1950年代の国民文学論と山之口貘―).
The lecture began with an introduction to Okinawan-born poet Yamanokuchi Baku (山之口貘, 1903–1963) and his poem “Self-Introduction” (自己紹介). Through an exploration of his works and his relationship with fellow poet Kaneko Mitsuharu (金子光晴), the presenter explained the background behind Yamanokuchi’s long-standing reputation as a “resistance poet.” He pointed out that this image of “resistance” was shaped within the postwar discourse, and raised the issue that such frameworks tend to overlook the colonial responsibilities of imperial Japan.
Focusing on one of Yamanokuchi’s major works, “Okinawa, Where Are You Headed?” (沖縄よどこへ行く), the presener linked the work to the concepts of “resistance poetry” and “national literature” that were actively debated in the Japanese literary world in the early 1950s. He analyzed the way Yamanokuchi engages with Okinawan and Ryukyuan history in the poem, suggesting that his act of embracing Okinawan/Ryukyuan identity and expressing it through poetry written in the Japanese language was, in effect, a form of resistance against Japanese imperialism—a postcolonial act of resistance.
Following the presentation, a Q&A session with the audience took place. Questions and further discussion covered topics such as: the significance of Yamanokuchi’s use of the term Yamato-guchi for Japanese and Oranda-guchi for English in “Okinawa, Where Are You Headed?”; changing definitions and perceptions of “national literature” over time; Yamanokuchi’s identity as an "Okinawan living in Japan"; background or reason for the absence of “America” in his work; and shifts in his views on Korea before and after the war.
