Welcome to World Literature Ms. Rhodehouse Rm. 111

Okazu By: Kathrine K. Yasunari 7/2/95 for Hawaii Writer’s Project My mother said, “A wife must be like Gohan…cooked rice.” You don’t notice it, But you really miss it When it’s not there. So I tried to be like Gohan. A wife I thought He would always Want and need. I woke up early. I tidied the house everyday. I prepared the meals. I cleaned up after supper. I shopped frugally. I dusted. I vacuumed. I washed his underwear. I hung his pants. I ironed his shirts. I gave him a son. I went to work for a second income. I gave him the daughter he always wanted. I never refused him in bed. After nearly two decades of trying to be Perfect gohan, He didn’t want me or need me. He wanted okazu.

gohan Gohan is basic white rice eaten with every meal. Regardless of whether you are eating potatoes or any other starch, most Hawaiians (Asians and Pacific Islanders) will eat a scoop of plain rice with their meal.

Okazu Okazu in Japanese is basically a side dish. In Hawaii, most people know Okazu as any tasty side dish that goes WITH the rice. It is what makes it taste yummy. (Incidentally, in Hawaiian, the word “ono” means tasty or yummy!)

Extended Metaphor How tasty is white rice alone? The wife is compared to basic, stable, reliable, and plain qualities of rice. While the wife is necessary and provides life, she is the juxtaposition for her husband’s desire for more excitement. The poem seems to both praise her for her steadiness, while blaming her for the inability to create desire.