Evolutions of "Paradise": Japanese Tourist Discourse about Hawai'i

Abstract

in the summer of 1963, the popular Japanese actor Yuzo Kayama starred in a film called Hawai no Waka Daisho (translated as A Young Guy in Hawaii by the distributor).1 The film is set in Hawai'i, a paradise-like vacation land that many Japanese long to visit. 2 Waka Daisho [Young Guy], a handsome college student played by Kayama, visits Hawai'i on behalf of a wealthy Japanese businessman whose spoiled son has turned into a "beachboy" in Hawaii.3 Waka Daisho manages to find the son, but he also accidentally meets an acquaintance, Sumiko, a beautiful young woman sent by a Japanese cosmetic company to help establish a branch in Honolulu.The two become close friends, and in one scene, they stroll on the beach together, Waka Daisho sings with an 'ukulele, and the sun sets beautifully in the Pacific Ocean.The film, the first of the extremely popular "Waka Daisho" film series to be shot abroad, portrayed many of the iconic images of Hawai'i for the Japanese audience.In the narrative and filmic construction, Hawai'i serves as the setting where beautiful women await the young, clean-cut hero who accomplishes his mission of finding a "lost" son, refines his skill as a sailor, and, through integrity and honesty, is united with the heroine.The popular icons of Hawai'i-clear sky, blue ocean, yachts, surfing, palm trees, lei, 'ukulele, hula, and Hawaiian

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