The Pitch

This play is set during the era of oppression against Japanese people after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Set in Niihau Island, Hawai‘i, this play reveals the fear of Japanese citizens after racial inequity takes place upon the Pearl Harbor incident. Policies that impacted and confined Japanese Americans forced them to struggle alone through the systems of racial oppression.

In the West Coast, all Japanese Americans were incarcerated and sent to camps due to Executive Order 9066 in 1942. Since one-third of the population in Hawai‘i was Japanese-American, mass incarceration was not a soluble option; consequently, restrictions were placed against Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i instead (Malloryk). These discriminatory policies created an atmosphere of fear and stigmatized Japanese Americans as untrustworthy people (National Park Service). However, many Japanese Americans in Hawai‘i already saw themselves as Americanized and displayed their patriotism and dedication to the war cause to oppose this stigma (National Park Service). They replaced Japanese signs with English names, destroyed Japanese written material, and discontinued Japanese celebrations (National Park Service).

The Japanese-American experience parallels the racial discrimination against Chinese Americans during the COVID-19 era. Rumors spread about the virus, and a wave of wariness and disgust transpired toward Chinese people. Asian hate crimes rose exponentially during the pandemic, and people called the virus “Kung Flu.” The parallelism between the Pearl Harbor and COVID-19 era explores the racial pressures that define the relationship between America’s oppressed communities and its society.

This play centers around Saki Yu: a Japanese-American young adult who runs her family’s shop—Love Yu—in Hawai‘i. As a youthful 21-year-old woman born locally, she bakes Japanese desserts with her brother, Kosaten Yu, to sell in the store. Food is a universal language, so when Saki bakes, she feels the most love and connection to her Japanese heritage. In the years following the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, everything changes; Saki realizes how racially discriminatory the government acts toward Japanese Americans. Thus, Saki follows the Americanized actions that most Japanese-Americans encouraged in Hawai‘i. She changes the labels of signs to English and stops selling Japanese pastries in her mini-bakery to keep her household safe from threat and disdain. Despite being taught by her parents to respect and love her culture, Saki rejects her Japanese heritage, avoiding Japanese traditions usually celebrated by her family; as Saki neglects her Japanese identity for fear of the government, she feels guilt, hurt, and alienation. This play is about how Saki Yu navigates the systems of oppression the government places on the Japanese community and its impacts on the Japanese American community.

Stage Directions

A small Japanese fish shop, named: Love Yu, run by the family of Saki Yu on Niihau Island, Hawai‘i, in the winter of the year 1942. There are all sorts of fish on display in the store: from buttery, rich salmon to delicate tuna to mild-tasting yellowtail and one of the popular fish to eat in Hawai‘i — ono. Aisles of half-stocked fish — dead, cold, and whole — sit plainly on top of layers of ice, ready to be bought by customers. While the outside of each fish looks the same, only the Japanese and English name tags tell the tale of origin for each fish. Customers flock into the store early in the morning to have their pick of the best fish.

Customers have come in all day, whispering and gossiping about the news, talking about the Japanese internment camps in the West Coast. Saki Yu hears these rumors as she rings up each customer’s total and hands them their Japanese dessert. Near the cash register is a mini-bakery with all sorts of Japanese pastries, sweets, custards, tarts, and breads. These sweet treats are hand-made by Saki Yu and her little brother, Kosaten Yu.

It is late in the evening, and all the customers have left after buying their groceries. Saki Yu turns on the radio and listens, paying rapt attention to any news of incarceration camps, and hears a full report about the Executive Order of 9066 seizing and incarcerating all Japanese-Americans in the West Coast. Saki Yu tiredly mops up the grime and dirt customers have tracked all over the floors throughout the day whilst listening to the radio, furrowing her brows even deeper as the radio host talks more about the distrustfulness of Japanese-Americans like her. Saki groans, frustrated, and shuts off the radio. All she wants to do is take a shower and sleep away all her problems. Yet, the harsh, bright light illuminates the entire store and its newly-mopped white-tiled floors. After closing up the store, Saki Yu hurriedly changes out the fish names’ signs — swapping them for solely English text, to appease the dread in her heart and her biggest fear: getting taken away by the government. Sweat drips down her neck, to her back, as she shakily writes down each of the fishes’ names and their corresponding prices: SALMON, TUNA, YELLOWTAIL, ONO. She has all of the signs memorized. Quickly finishing, Saki caps her black sharpie marker and installs each of the new English signs next to the fish, pacing around nervously as she does so. Rumors were going around that Japanese-Americans in Hawai‘i would also get sent to concentration camps — even whilst taking up one-third of the islands’ population — and she would do anything in her power to protect her family.

Introduction

SAKI YU, tall, Japanese, with a confident voice and a fast-paced walk, stands in the fish store, her hands working quickly with the fish signs. Her parents are fishermen, and Saki sells their catch at the store while both managing the store and helping customers. Saki has been hearing whispers of shutdowns for Japanese-owned stores and businesses, which would, worryingly, put her family’s shop at risk. Immediately after hearing these rumors, Saki takes down all of the Japanese writing and exchanges them for full-English texts. As Saki’s time and money are limited, her main hobby is baking; baking both fulfills her creative desires and makes money for the family.

Saki designs all sorts of elaborate desserts in her mini-bakery, but her all-time favorite to make is the soft, chewy, tearable milk bread. The Yu family loves eating this warm, comforting bread; in Japan, they called it shokupan, and her parents ate it every morning before work in their home country. Saki learned to make shokupan when she was young, and grew up baking shokupan for the family — to her parents’ contentment. Throughout her life, Saki tries her best to lessen the burden of her family, balancing it with her own struggles as a blossoming young adult.

When the government makes tyrannical rules for Japanese Americans, Saki learns to listen to the whims and wills of society’s expectations — if only to keep her shop and family afloat. She stops making Japanese delicacies — giving up her main connection to Japanese culture — and plays within the rules of the oppressive system to survive the prejudice she faces from the government.

KOSATEN YU, short, Japanese, with a small but eager voice and a bouncing, energetic run. He is Saki Yu’s little brother — 15 years old — and he is angry and irritated with the government and its policies. As he helps his sister run the store, he hears rumors, whispers, and pieces of gossip as people mutter about the government’s policies for Japanese Americans. Kosaten feels fierce about his opinions on the biased and cruel government, and often complains about these racist policies! Kosaten is sick of the stereotypes and judgment he receives from passers-by for being Japanese — he has done nothing wrong — and he hates this treatment. However, Kosaten adores helping his older sister, Saki, and tries to take the burden off her shoulders by helping her bake. He discovers this love through eating the Yu family’s favorite: shokupan, and he currently assists his sister in baking as they laugh and bond over this quintessential Japanese pastry.

Artist’s Statement

In my play, I create an intense mood of fear and unease by utilizing vivid imagery and meaningful character names to tell the story and put readers directly into Saki Yu’s world. The gloomy imagery begins in the stage directions, where I intricately describe the fish shop, Love Yu, and its “Aisles of half-stocked fish — dead, cold, and whole.” This chilling imagery of the shop represents the onslaught of challenges the Yu family will face as the government continues in its injustice of Japanese Americans; the “half-stocked fish” represents a glass half-full, half-empty situation — the optimistic and pessimistic sides of Saki’s life experience — where she gets to pick what perspective to see. Along with this impactful metaphoric imagery, I named Saki’s brother Kosaten, which translates to English as “intersection”; Kosaten’s name represents the oncoming choices that Saki Yu, and her family, have to pick as more repressive rules are forced onto Japanese Americans.

On the other hand, Saki’s name translates to hope; Saki represents the light in her family, carrying their burden on her shoulder as they struggle during this era of Japanese oppression. Saki’s occupation as the shopkeeper paints her as a service-oriented person, reflective of her responsibility to her family. Even her one hobby — baking — produces money for the family; making Japanese desserts is not required of Saki, yet she bakes to feel connected to her heritage and for her family’s comfort and contentment. Saki deals directly with people in the store — isolated from the rest of her family because of her unique role in the store — and thus, she has to adapt herself to the customers she interacts with to make a living. Saki’s decision to “appease the dread in her heart” by switching out the Japanese signs, “shakily” rewriting them as “sweat drips down her neck” demonstrates how oppressed groups will follow society’s expectations because of fear. The distressing diction, in “dread,” “sweat,” and “shakily,” reveals a tone of unease and nervousness that Saki feels as she adapts to a cruel world in which her entire life is dependent on the government’s decisions. The significance of Saki “mop[ping] up the grime and dirt [of] customers” shows how regularly she cleans up after others’ messes, which mirrors her ability and preparedness to deal with the shady injustices that transpire against Japanese Americans.