Toumaiahkah is an Okinawan version of Romeo and Juliet created by actor Ganeko Yaei in 1911.
The Romeo of this story, Tarukani from Akajima (阿喜島), falls in love with Umichiru. Sprung, he writes poetry for Umichiru, but she burns them… Doesn’t Umichiru sound like a heartbreaker? What we don’t know is that she kept the portion of the letter because she secretly desires Tarukami (turns out she is a tsundere instead). Eventually, love grows between the two, and they become bonded by a special relationship.
Worried about his son getting carried away because of Umichiru, Tarukami’s father sends him on an errand for 3 months in Iheyamura. We may think 3 months isn’t such a long time, but for Umichiru, it felt like eternity. Unable to bare the pain of being apart from Tarukami, Umichiru falls ill and dies. Returning home, Tarukami finds out about Umichiru’s death, and he also dies from loneliness in front of her gravestone.
Here are pictures from the March 4th, 2007 performance at the Okinawa Prefecture Heritage Theatre: http://www.okinawa-sibai.org/menu/kyodo/sibai/tomaiareker1.html