Stereotype Darstellungen okinawanischer Figuren in Nakae Yūjis Film Nabī no koi

Abstract

The following article discusses the film Nabī no koi (Nabbie’s Love, 1999) by Japanese director Nakae Yūji. The movie was released at the beginning of the so called ‘Okinawa boom’ in Japan in the 1990s and contributed significantly to promoting Okinawa as an idyllic paradise to people from the Japanese main islands. Since Nakae intended to depict everyday life of the Okinawan people, this article explores what images of Okinawa are actually (re)created within the film and how these can be read in the context of the tense political and cultural relationship between Okinawa and Japan. By analysing the main and secondary characters, it will be determined whether Nabī no koi breaks down or reproduces the dichotomy of a progressive Japan and a regressive Okinawa and how the aspect of gender is used to enforce that very dichotomy. Based on this analysis it will be shown whether Nabī no koi depicts Okinawa as part of the Japanese main islands or not.