قصة الكتاب :
Kōdansha (Kōdansha Bunko), 2010. Vol. I: 521 pp. ¥762. ISBN 978-
4-06-276769-9. Vol. II: 518 pp. ¥762. ISBN 978-4-06-276770-5.
Ōshiro Tatsuhiro
Born in Okinawa Prefecture in 1925. After the war, he held various positions, serving in
the Government of the Ryūkyū Islands and as director of the Okinawa Prefectural Museum,
while continuing to work on his writing. In 1967, with the novella “Kakuteru pātii” [Cocktail
Party], he became the first Okinawan writer to receive the Akutagawa Prize. He has
written many novels, plays, and essays on the history and culture of Okinawa. The 13-
volume Ōshiro Tatsuhiro zenshū [The Collected Works of Ōshiro Tatsuhiro] was published
in 2002.

The Ryūkyū Kingdom (present-day Okinawa Prefecture) was a demilitarized
country formed in the fifteenth century. At the beginning of the seventeenth
century, though, it was conquered by the Shimazu clan, the feudal lords of the
Satsuma Domain (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture). That began a period of
dual subordination for the Ryūkyū Kingdom: it was ruled by the Shimazu clan
while being a vassal to the Ming and Qing courts in China. After the Meiji Restoration
in 1868, the international situation in East Asia changed dramatically,
and the earlier international order collapsed. First, the Meiji government abolished
the Ryūkyū Kingdom, establishing the Ryūkyū Domain in its place, and soon
carried out a punitive expedition to Taiwan. Before long, the authorities in Ryūkyū,
who had pinned their hopes on escaping Satsuma rule, found themselves facing
a harsh reality.
This novel is based on the historical fact of the Japanese annexation of the
Ryūkyū Kingdom. Interweaving fact and fiction, it recreates the scene from early
modern history known as the “Ryūkyū Disposition.” With an ingenious structure
and a powerful literary style, it depicts the pain of the Ryūkyūans as they were
tossed about by the power struggle between the great powers.
Superior works of art stand the test of time. This novel is truly that kind of
rare masterpiece. Rather than fade over time, it has a power that deepens with age.
Many readers, as they read this novel, will be reminded of the current situation in
Okinawa, which remains adrift in a stormy international situation, and of the
frustration felt by the prefecture’s residents. This work is filled with so many
thoughts that the topic of localities is too small to discuss them all.
Through the expressions of people who lived through this actual moment in
history, this novel vividly depicts what can never be captured by the concept of
“modernity” or the idea of geopolitics: the angry waves of inner turmoil and the
sadness that only the local residents can feel. (CK)