Brief biography of the witness

Okinawan theater actor. Before the war in Okinawa, she made her first stage appearance at the Shinraku-za in Naha. After the war, she gained experience in various theater troupes and was active at the forefront as an actor, attracting many audiences. She performed and taught with her younger colleagues to pass on the charm of Okinawan theater. She has received many awards, including the Okinawa Prefecture Person of Cultural Merit awards and the Okinawa Performing Arts Federation Merit Award.

Wartime Okinawan Theater and War Experiences

Hello everyone, I'm Takako Senaha. I am an old woman, born on January 16, 1933 and I am now 90 years old. I was born in Kumoji before the war, and my siblings were three boys. I was the only girl. My mother raised us alone.

The State of Okinawan Theatre during the War

When I was a child and went to the Taisho Theater for Shinraku-za rehearsal, the war had just begun, and only the older actors (over 60 years old) were left, because all the young people were at war. The remaining people could not be very dynamic when performing the play, so I was chosen as a child actor because it was a war story. It was a song about encouraging the soldiers, and telling them to do their best, since it was a war story. I only remember one verse: ♪The time has come for the decisive battle of the Greater East Asia War ♪ Oh, it's the decisive battle, the decisive battle. We sang in red costumes and bloomers. I don't remember everything about it. But I started playing the lead role. Then the soldiers had no place to sleep, so they had to sleep in a playhouse. So, when the soldiers came in, the play could no longer be performed. Then we decided to go visit the military. We memorized Nantakibushi and practiced it in the afternoon. The October 10 Air Raid happened when we were going to visit.

Experienced the October 10 Air Raid and Escaped to the North

After that, we had a difficult time with the war and all the houses were burnt and destroyed in the air raid. I was unable to stay in Tomari. I moved from Kumoji to Tomari, where I was attacked in the October 10 Air Raid, and then fled to Ginowan. Even though I moved to Ginowan, I was unable to go to school. Eventually, Ginowan became the site of a fierce battle and the Japanese army told me to go to Nakijin. I left Ginowan at 8am and walked all the way until 8pm.Maybe it was at Kin elementary school, the military gave me one rice ball and one pickled radish and I continued on my way. This is how I survived the war. Speaking of hardships during the war, when I was in the mountains, I picked all kinds of grass, including seaweed-like plants, and I even ate mice and frogs. I ate anything I could eat. When burning a fire, people were told not to let out smoke, so if someone else noticed the smoke, bullets would come flying at them. Rotting wood produced no smoke when burned, so we used it to cook rice. Mothers were wise and carried rice in their pockets. When I met Japanese Military soldiers in the mountains, I brought some rice that I had in my socks and asked them to cook it. Even if there was water in the mountains, it could not be stored. My brothers made bundles up trees in the mountains so that water could collect there like water from a tap. That's how I cooked rice. When the soldiers saw this, they said, “That's a good idea. Please make some for us, too.” So we cooked for the soldiers as well. After that, the sound of naval gunfire became more intense, and Okinawa was surrounded by pitch blackness.US military warships were coming, so we couldn't move. The US military was distributing leaflets urging people to surrender: “Come down the mountain even if you're a soldier!” “Come down the mountain quickly. “Otherwise, you'll be killed by naval gunfire.” People who believed that, including us, came down from the mountain. Those who didn't believe it remained on the mountain. When I came down the mountain, we were captured by US soldiers .We were placed in various houses in Nakijin, but we could no longer stay there. The camp where many men were imprisoned was the Haneji compound. My older brothers were at Haneji compound, so we also moved to Gabusoka near Haneji. From there, I went to visit my brothers in the compound. My mother went the mountain to support an aunt because her child died there. While walking back at night, my mother was shot in the leg by a US soldier who mistook her for a Japanese soldier. So she was hospitalized and didn't come back for a while. It was just me and my brother and we were put in an orphanage. The meals were just porridge and one pickled plum, and I was so hungry. When I was in Nakijin, I received canned food and other food from the US military, so it wasn't too bad. There were still some leftovers, but I thought we were in big trouble. My brothers would get candy and food thrown to us from the GMC (US Army trucks) by soldiers finishing their military work and we lived off of it.

Post-war reconstruction and theater troupe

Revival of Performing Arts and Formation of Theater Troupe

Afterwards, we were divided into camps in Naha, Kinwan, and Ishikawa. We went to Kinwan camp and the rest went to Ishikawa. Professor Kouyu Shimabukuro came to Ishikawa. While we were in Kinwan, Professor Kouyu launched the postwar Actors Association. I still have my association membership card from that time. Matsu, Take, and Ume Theater companies were formed, and I joined the Matsu Theater Company. There was Mr. Gensei Oyadomari who taught me when I was little. Mr. Gensei called out to me and said, “I'm glad that you're alive.” Just when I thought I could finally study, I was taken to a play. The Matsu Theater Company was launched at Gushikawa above Kinwan. I joined the Matsu Theater Company and did curtain-raising work and small dance performances. At that time, those older than me were performing “Okuyama Peony”. There were performances on a remote island happening right then, so I joined a crowd of them, and toured all of Kumejima, Iejima and Iheya. Ever since I was a child, I was used to living away from my parents. At that time, there was no money at all. Adults received 1 sho (10 cups) of rice and children received 5 cups of rice as remuneration.

Tried All Kinds of Plays as a Young Actor

The older girls knew the story of Okuyama Peony. Everyone was scared and no one wanted to play the big role. I didn’t know the story. I just raised my hand because someone dared to ask if anyone remembered songs. Then everyone discussed whether they should let me do it, and Mr. Seigi Higa said that I could do it because I was a tomboy. I had a bobbed hair, so I wore a wig. I also made my waist and chest like an adult woman. And when we learned the scene with the pole swords in the daytime and performed it at night, it became very popular. After that, I played a variety of roles, including the role of a Juri (red-light district woman.)I became popular by playing roles such as a drunkard. Eventually, my teacher, Seigi Tamagusuku, who was at Ume Theater Company told me, “You are my student, so please come to my company,” so I moved to Ume Theater Company. There was Mr. Eitaro Henzan and Mr. Inkichi Iraha who were amazing older actors. When I was 16, I played the role of Sanraguwa of Momoui Anguwa with Mr. Eitaro Henzan. There was the Nangetsu Dance Company. Mr. Eitaro Henzan went to visit a unit of American soldiers to entertain them with a theater troupe and tried to attract many customers by performing music, singing, and dancing. His wife was from the circus. To perform various songs and dances from Shina no Yoru, I was also taught how to walk. I was thinking why do I need to walk like this to perform, but I had to do it because my teacher taught me .At that time, I was 15 or 16 years old and I was a member of the track and field team and volleyball. So I really liked sports. But I had to bend my body back and stretch my legs. I was in the lead role, so I co-starred with Mr. Henzan’s wife and after that I started working more and more. Around that time, Mr. Seigi Tamagusuku decided to devote himself to Ryukyuan dance, and before quitting the Nangetsu Dance Theater Company, he launched Tokiwa-za. Before that, the teachers had the idea of merging the various theater companies at the Naha Theater to create a large play. There were some great teachers. Mr. Kouyu Shimabukuro, Mr. Yukou Majikina, Mr. Seigi Tamagusuku, Mr. Nouzou Miyagi, and Mr. Ryosho Taira. Those famous actors became top members and began to take turns in performing plays to attract customers. However, the senior actors took all the money and the junior actors got no money, so all the young actors quit. At that time, I learned Hayakuduchi. Mr. Masao Hachiki and Shinsaburo Une were young actors. They encouraged me to learn it, so I started to learn.

The rise and transition of Okinawan theater

The Number of Theater Troupes Increased the Era of Competition

From around that time, theater companies were formed so that everyone could separate and compete. Shin-Okinawa-za, formed by Mr. Shosei Uema and others, was one such group. At that time, my future husband (Kouei Matsumora) was also at Tokiwa-za. Mr.Tamagusuku was also there, so I followed him to Tokiwa-za. Due to certain circumstances, Tokiwa-za disbanded and separated. After that, as many as 30 theater companies were formed in various regions, and each competed with their plays. Each theater company competed with plays even though they had no money. There were various plays, including The Sewing Machine Ghost and other ghost plays. At that time, Mr. Morinobu Awa and others were in charge of the ghost plays. This was said to be extremely profitable, so it became a ghost play competition. It was like a battle, and there were about 30 theater companies that competed in an acting competition hosted by the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper company. After that, each theater company worked hard and competed against other theater companies. Back then, a big theater company had 10 actors. Usually there were at most, seven people. Even though it was a theater company, it was a small theater company. So for the acting, we had to take on multiple roles by ourselves. Playing the role of a man or an old woman, or changing the lead role and performing Chanbara (sword-fighting).I think I learned a lot from playing multiple roles. While doing that all the time we created the theater company Mitsuwa-za and we did everything. Then black and white televisions gradually appeared, and the Okiei Main Building (Okiei Theater) had also started. As a result, theater companies disbanded and theater companies all over the place disappeared.

Makeup for Plays

At that time, when it came to makeup, people used zinc oxide. I remember that Dr. Chihara said that white powder would be fine, and there was zinc powder (a skin medicine), so I got it from the doctor. I applied it as skin powder to my face. But I didn't have the tools to draw on my eyebrows, so I used a used match to draw on my eyebrows. Then I learned new methods. I took soot from a cooking pot and mixed it with a little bit of pork fat, and it turned into eyebrow ink. But when I cried, my face turned black. I don't know who thought of this method. As for lipstick, we got lipstick from a person who was a housekeeper in an American family and from someone who became a wife of an American, so we all used it. For blusher, when you scrape a broken red tile with a stone, it turns into powder. I used to use this powder to blush my cheeks. Around the time of the war, all we needed was white makeup, something for the eyebrows, and lipstick.

Large-Scale Theatrical Performance at the Okiei Main Building

When I entered the Okiei play at the Okiei main building, Mrs. Ryuko Kawaji came from Takarazuka. And Mr. Haruo Misumi was looking for someone to play the role of mother of Tumaiaka and said he would give acting guidance. There were about five candidates for this role, including Kame Itokazu, and the wife of Mr. Gensei Oyadomari. I was the youngest among them, having just turned 29 or 30.I was chosen because I could act as a young mother. I thought this was my chance and I took on the role. From around that time, actors in Okinawa were able to receive money through a salary system. Until that time, the plays only had about five scenes. The play at Okiei Main Building had 24 scenes and there were curtain scene changes. I thought that the Okinawan play turned out to be like a movie. Before joining the theater company of Okiei Main Building, I appeared on Radio Okinawa's local drama. That was once a week, and when I was having trouble with such a low income, Okiei approached me. Unlike previous plays, there were theatrical blackouts and there were 24 scenes. It was difficult to remember this, and the script was so thick. I had one week to memorize the script. At that time, we were on vacation while Mr. Shinjo and his colleagues were making the stage equipment, so we had to memorize the script during that week. While I was rinsed rice at home, I sang songs. My children sometimes asked me, “Mom, what are you doing?” Even though I sang at home passionately, I couldn’t remember it. I did this over and over. Tumaiaka was a great success during its one-month long run, but when color television began broadcasting, the number of customers at Okiei Main Building suddenly decreased. The president of Okiei got angry and refused to let them film the play for TV, saying, “We don't have customers because of TV. We'll never let you film it for TV.” When everyone said that it would be better to film it to keep it as a record, the president understood, and filmed it, which resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of customers .The president said “I will never allow it to be filmed,” so there was no TV recording at all. When I went shopping at the market, the people at the shops said, “The play was good.” After all, in a play, the actors and the audience must become one. Until after the war, the Naha Theater had a show called “Playing in March”. I was told that if I didn't perform at the Naha Theater in March, I wouldn't make any money. The reason was that fans wrote their names on pieces of cloth and gifts. They threw them onto the stage instead of flowers (as congratulatory gifts).The stage was so full of things that I couldn't even perform. That kind of thing no longer exists at Okiei. My most memorable moment at Okiei was playing a ghost. The most memorable one was Madanbashi. For the play, they put tons and tons of real water on the stage and let the real water flow, so it looked like the village houses were collapsing. It was like a movie! I was impressed and thought wow, a play like this can be performed in a theater in Okinawa. I was able to stand on a splendid stage like the Hinoki Butai on the mainland. That made me happy. President Shikichi Miyagi said to me: “People say to me that the name Shikichi Miyagi will be remembered.” “But I say it's not me, the name of Takako will be remembered.” So he encouraged me to do my best. The one with the largest audience was Madanbashi, but I have fond memories of Okuyama no Botan. I performed in it when I was 15, but at the time I only just sang the songs, and it was only after I gave birth to my child that I felt the pain of leaving them, and understood the feelings of a parent. I realized that this was what real plays were about. It became a long-running performance, and during that time, which was about 40 days, the performances were packed to capacity. For me, the more acted, the more I benefited. No matter which role it is, I've never said no. In the performance of ghost stories, they said the stage would be flooded with water and ghosts would appear. So there were leading actors such as Saeko Iraha and Michiko Kaneshiro, but I said that if there's no one else, I would do it because I am living and I wouldn't let the ghost get the better of me. So I did all the ghosts of Oshima imajoguwa, Oshima kantsumi, Sakadachi Yurei, Jikkanji-no-nanatsuhaka, and Shichinanda-no-inenbi. When I was walking down the street, everyone in town told me that “You're always going to play ghosts, so you should call yourself Ghost Takako.” They laughed and asked me what the next performance would be. It was fun to have chats like this with the audience.

Teaching from a Dance Teacher

My dance teacher told me: There are three ways to teach dancing. When teaching amateurs, when teaching performers, when teaching Juri (a woman of a red-light district).There are three ways to teach dancing, but don't confuse them. A stage performer like you should dance big like this. The dance of a Juri is one that can be danced within a space of approximately 90 cm. And for ordinary people who are amateurs, it should be simple. A stage performer should dance big. I still remember that.

Thoughts on the Okinawa Plays

Uchinaguchi and Okinawa Plays

Chimugukuru (the importance) is included in Okinawa plays. Kumiodori and other works are old works, so they are all Uchinaguchi (Okinawan dialects.)The reason why I use Uchinaguchi is that we have to preserve Okinawan culture. We must make sure Uchinaguchi is preserved in the world. I'm impressed and think it's great that today's young people are trying to preserve Uchinaguchi as Shimakutuba (a local island language).When everyone understands Uchinaguchi, the Okinawa play becomes more interesting. If you don't understand the words, you won't understand the meaning of anything. When watching an Okinawan play, you won't have any fun. Okinawans study Uchinaguchi and spread it around the world, and there are world Uchinaanchu competitions. So it would be great if people could talk about anything using Uchinaguchi. In Brazil, they say Anma to their mother, and Su to their father. That may be where the most Uchinaguchi remains. When I am performing, I see many differences even within Uchinaguchi. I remember Yamahara's words, tone and intonation. There are Yamahara words, Naha words, and Shuri words in the play. When I performed a historical drama at the Shuri Theater, The tone of Shuri words was different and the intonation was completely different. When we performed the historical drama The Surrender of Shuri Castle in Shuri, old women from Shuri came to the dressing room, and told me that my language sounds different and taught me how to pronounce words in the right way. Oroku also has Oroku words. Itoman has Itoman words. By watching Okinawan plays, you can learn various regional languages (Shimakutoba).

A Scene from Okinawa Revue

A Scene from Okinawa Revue of “Iejima Handuguwa”

Boatman: Are you Handuguwa? 

Handuguwa: What should I do? I won't die.

Boatman: What happened to you? You left home saying you would meet him and talk about your past feelings? Did you meet the man? What did you say?

Handuguwa: I thought I would be able to meet him and talk about our love, but to my chagrin, everything he said to me, including our relationship and our love, has fallen apart. I don't think what he said before is true. He was just a temporary place to lay my head for the loneliness of a short trip.　From now on, there will be no more ties or affection. Give up and forget because there is no love anymore.　He said that he didn't care what happens to me, and ran away, abandoning me.

From her experience as an actor

Life as a Stage Actor

People can do anything if they have the will to do it. If people on stage are timid, they can't do anything. So in order to act on stage, you have to be serious and keep trying. You can't act if you're scared. This is one of the things I'm trying to get across. It's not acceptable to say that you can't do what others can do. You should try and see what happens. I'm not afraid of anything, and I'll say “yes” to anything. If someone else is looking for a replacement due to losing her voice, I’ll say, “Yes, I'll take the role.”