Comedy 3 Acts - New York 1953
Wise and wily Sakini is interpreter to Col Purdy of the US Army of Occupation in Okinawa after World War Two. Purdy sends the goofily good-natured Capt. Fisby of the Psychological Warfare Unit off to Tobiki village to indoctrinate the natives with democracy, to build a schoolhouse and organise various committees, and along goes Sakini to interpret. Okinawa is an island in the China Seas between Japan and Taiwan and over the centuries has been constantly invaded; thus, the locals are experts at handling meddlesome foreigners. With the help of luscious geisha Lotus Blossom, they soon get Fishy to 'go native', build a lovely teahouse, and start producing the local brandy on a big scale. When Purdy's suspicions are aroused he sends along Capt. McLean, but he too is ensnared, finding Tobiki ideal for his chemical-free crop experiments.
Eventually Purdy himself arrives and orders everything destroyed - but then hears that Tobiki has been heralded in Washington as a supreme example of American get-up-and-go. Luckily the natives did not destroy the brandy stills and teahouse screens - they only hid them, and the play ends with Purdy musing on the wonders of the Orient, and Sakini - who acts as a chorus throughout - repeating his philosophy.