culture, and Nye explores such topics as death, vi-
olence, the planting of a fig tree, peace, and pain.
The poem “Arabic” begins by underlining cross-
cultural understanding of the sufferings of Arabs.
In the end, however, their pain is the threshold
that connects humanity. Simple things also per-
meate Nye’s book. In “Olive Jar,” a simple fruit, the
olive, becomes the focal point of the poet’s depic-
tion of an experience between the speaker and an
Israeli border-crossing guard. The olive branch is
a symbol of peace, and its fruit, by extension, is
used in this poem as a gesture or offering of peace
between the guard and the speaker. The poem also
testifies to the strength of family despite the ten-
sion at the border. The speaker, after being ques-
tioned if there will be communication between
family members, relates how the family will share
stories, food, and laughter.
Nye’s poetry creates no boundaries. Instead,
it seeks to erase those made by various cultures
and to explain how cultures are more similar than
might be expected. Ultimately, the first stanza in
“Jerusalem” makes the author’s position very clear:
“I’m not interested in/ who suffered the most./ I’m
interested in/ getting over it.”
Anne Marie FowlerNishikawa, Lane (1956– )
Born in Wahiawa, Hawaii, third-generation Japa-
nese-American Nishikawa is a well-respected
performance artist and playwright. His most sig-
nificant works include his 1996 play The Gate of
Heaven (cowritten with fellow actor Victor Tal-
madge), and his trilogy of one-man performance
pieces about Asian-American masculinity: Life in
the Fast Lane (1981), I’m on a Mission from Bud-
dha (1990), and Mifune and Me (1999). Nishikawa
grew up in Hawaii, San Diego, and San Francisco.
He attended San Francisco State University, where
he met budding theater director Marc Hayashi.
Beginning in the early 1970s and throughout the
next three decades, Hayashi and Nishikawa would
develop a solid artistic collaboration, with Hayashi
directing Nishikawa in several plays for the Asian
American Theater Company (AATC). The AATC,
founded by playwright FRANK CHIN in 1973, of-
fered Nishikawa many opportunities as an actor
and director. In the early 1980s, when Asian-
American theater began to approach critical mass
led by the work of Chin, PHILIP KAN GOTANDA, and
DAV I D HENRY HWA N G, Nishikawa wrote and acted
in Life in the Fast Lane. In the play, produced by
AATC, Nishikawa critiques stereotypes of Asian
men and examines the struggles of Asian-Ameri-
can actors—two themes that he would return to in
his follow-up performance piece, I’m on a Mission
from Buddha. In both plays, Nishikawa attempts to
recuperate lost chapters of Japanese-American his-
tory, especially vis-à-vis the World War II intern-
ment camps. In 1986 Nishikawa became the artistic
director of AATC, where he mentored a new gener-
ation of Asian-American playwrights that included
JEANNIE BARROGA and Cherylene Lee. In 1996, Ni-
shikawa staged his play The Gate of Heaven at the
Old Globe Theater in San Diego, California. Set in
the aftermath of World War II, the play explores
the historical contributions of Japanese Americans
as members of the 442nd Battalion. Focusing on
two friends, one a heroic soldier of Japanese de-
scent and the other a Dachau Holocaust survivor,
the play examines their attempts to negotiate the
lingering after-effects of the war, including the
post-traumatic stress syndrome suffered by both
soldiers and survivors. As the play moves forward
in time, beginning in 1945 and moving all the way
to the present, Nishikawa questions the cost of
sacrificing cultural identity for the sake of patrio-
tism, demonstrating how soldiers struggled with
prejudice on their return home. Nishikawa acted
in the play, along with Talmadge, with playwright
Hwang serving as dramaturge. In 1994 Nishikawa
wrote and acted in the final piece of his trilogy, Mi-
fune and Me. Inspired by the life of Japanese actor
Toshiro Mifune, the play examines representa-
tions of Asian masculinity in the media, politiciz-
ing the work of such actors as Mifune, Bruce Lee,
and Chow Yun Fat. Aside from his contributions
as a theater artist, Nishikawa has worked in both
studio and independent films. Nishikawa played
a role in such Hollywood films as Wayne Wang’s
Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989), and John Carpenter’s
Village of the Damned (1995). Nishikawa hasNishikawa, Lane 217