Yellow Fever by Ric Shiomi

Written in 1982 and with the book in the setting of 1973 Vancouver, Ric Shiomi’s Yellow Fever is a comedic detective parody that doubles as a political response to anti-Asian racism in post-war Canada. The plot itself follows Sam Shikaze, a nisei (second generation Japanese Canadian) private investigator, as he tries to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of the Cherry Blossom Queen, Lily Kudo. As the performance style indicates: “Although YELLOW FEVER is definitely a parody of the detective genre, it should be played with dramatic realism by the actors/characters in order to get both the greatest comedic impact and the dramatic power underlying the comedy.”

While the play is widely acknowledged for its portrayal of post-internment Japanese Canadian identity, the play’s engagement with Chinese Canadian experiences are less examined, specifically through the character of Nancy Wing. Hence, I attempt to argue that Yellow Fever is as much as a critique of the racialization of Chinese Canadians as it is a satire of broader systemic and institutionalized racism. By combining representation of white nationalist panic, the “model minority” myth, and Asian intercommunal tension, Shiomi’s Yellow Fever is able to construct a layered portrait of the marginalization of Chinese Canadians and cultural ambiguity in Vancouver during the 1970s. 

Chinese-Canadians: Racial Stereotypes and the “Model Minority” Myth

While Shiomi himself is a Japanese Canadian playwright, Yellow Fever explored and deliberately staged the broader condition of Asian Canadian racialization—seen through the play’s portrayal of Chinese Canadian characters. In fact, the title of the play itself “Yellow Fever” is a racial slur with sexualized and medical connotations, revealing the play’s larger theme of how Asian bodies—whether Japanese or Chinese—are being subjected to commodification, and rendered as suspects and contagious under white supremacy. In Act Two, Jameson’s speech: 

“It was bad enough the Japs were allowed to return, but now we're being overrun by these Chinamen. They're takin' our jobs, buying our homes, stealin' the very food from our mouths. Why, we don't even have a Chinaman's chance to survive if we don't raise our hands now to drive them out'. Aye, this country is sick with yellow fever. They are a disease poisoning our bloodstream. And we are the saviours, the white blood cells, the first line of defense and the last hope of civilization. We are the Sons of the Western Guard, and we must drive them out'. Drive them out'.”

Jameson’s speech reveals the broader antagonization of Asian bodies at the time—no matter Japanese or Chinese. Specifically, he notes that the Japanese and Chinese have taken their jobs, homes, and food, framing them as a “yellow fever” that is sickening the country. In contrast to his speech’s antagonization of the Japanese and Chinese as a disease, he frames himself as a “saviour”, “the white blood cells”, the “first line of defense” and the “last hope of civilization”----justifying his advocacy for driving out the Asian bodies as a heroic act. Furthermore, the term “Chinaman’s chance” both weaponizes and dehumanizes the Chinese-Canadian population, invoking historical rhetoric to justify his wish to “drive out” Asian bodies and historical acts like the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act in the US or the Chinese Head Tax in Canada. Although the play does center around a second generation Japanese Canadian protagonist, Sam Shikaze, Chinese-Canadians serve as important and crucial subjects through which racial paranoia and policy are refracted upon. 

Furthermore, Jameson’s speech references racialized stereotypes against Chinese-Canadians as “model minorities”, as he fears the Chinese Canadians of “takin’ our jobs, buying our homes, stealin’ the very food…”. Historically speaking, this fear of immigrants of accepting lower pay and replacing white workers is not merely limited to the Chinese—as seen from multiple waves of nativism throughout Canadian and United States history. However, asian immigrants often face a special stereotype of being the hardworking “model minorities”, like how Chinese-Canadians are often associated with being good at math. Jameson’s statement and fears of an Asian takeover mirrors these historical racial stereotypes and “model minority” myth, many of which are still seen in present day society. 

Another instance of how racial stereotypes play out upon Chinese-Canadians in the play is through Sergeant Mackenzie’s consistent anti-Chinese statements, including: “We all know how the Chinese like to trade in women” and “Yuh better watch yer step Sammy, yer Chinese cousins may be behind this one here”. Sergeant Mackenzie’s comment frame the Chinese identity as filled with criminality, human trafficking, and deceit, mirroring back to historical 19th century Sinophobic propaganda. 

Nancy Wing

In the play, Nancy Wing is a young Chinese-Canadian journalist working for the Vancouver Sun. Nancy Wing’s presence in the play dramatizes the fraught position of Chinese-Canadians in the Canadian racial hierarchy: hyper-visible as “model minorities” yet simultaneously discredited, surveilled, and reduced to mere stereotypes. Nancy’s race becomes a point of both suspicion and dismissal—not only from the white authority characters (like Sergeant Mackenzie or Jameson) but also from Japanese Canadian characters. 

In Act One, Sam Shikaze mocks Nancy Wing’s ambitions and accuses her of exploitation and enforcing stereotypes: “As for the Wing kid, I'd seen her kind before. Another model minority expecting Powell Street to be a walk in the park, like she was doing us a favour by coming down to the dump.” Sam Shikaze’s critique of Nancy Wing reveals a generational and interethnic tension. Nancy Wing is from Richmond, which is a suburban area outside Vancouver noted historically for being a Chinese-Canadian ethnic enclave and associated with Chinese Canadian migration, and Nancy Wing has no ties to the Powell Street Japanese Canadian community. Therefore, Sam Shikaze views Nancy as an outsider and as someone who is trying to use Japanese Canadian’s suffering as a journalism tool for gaining popularity. However, throughout the play, Nancy’s determination pushes us to challenge Sam’s initial judgment of her. Nancy actively seeks truth, confronts police corruption, and eventually helps to uncover the racist conspiracy behind the kidnapping of Cherry Blossom Queen. 

Another instance in how Nancy faced racialization is when Captain Kadota, a nisei (second generation Japanese Canadian) officer interrogates her by asking “You Chinese?”, to which Nancy replies, “Does that bother you?”, and Kadota answers with “Shut that off, get rid of her, Sam”. This intense dialogue reveals how Chinese-Canadians, like Nancy, are often viewed as intrusive and disposable. Captain Kadota, despite being a racialized Japanese Canadian figure himself, draws a strict boundary between himself and Nancy, placing Nancy in the “others” category—implicitly suggesting that Chinese-Canadian voices, especially female and journalistic ones, have no place in this investigation. 

As seen from Kadota’s commentary, Nancy is not only constantly vulnerable to racial stereotypes, but also gendered stereotypes and discrimination. In fact, Nancy’s gender also plays a huge role in challenging the traditional role of women in noir genres. Rather than being the “typical” female victim, Nancy Wing is presented as an active investigator, often matching or even outmaneuvering Sam in her wit and determination. While her identity as a Chinese-Canadian woman puts her in a vulnerable spot of double-marginization in a white and male-dominated media industry, yet Nancy is presented as active and asserting her own authority throughout the play, challenging such traditional views and roles of women in detective plays. 

Cultural Commodification and Gendered Fetishism

The Cherry Blossom Queen, Lily Kudo, despite missing throughout the play, plays a critical role as symbolizing how Chinese and Japanese femininity is both exalted and erased. Although she was never directly on stage, her image—young, beautiful, and crowned—mirrors the desirable, assimilable face of Asian Canadian womanhood. Her disappearance from a punlic festival which was designed to celebrate “ethnic heritage” reveal the vulnerabilities faced by Chinese and Japanese Canadian women who are often fetishized but also discarded, as implied in the play’s title: “Yellow Fever”. 

As discussed in the previous section, Nancy Wing’s experience of encountering male characters like Sam, Chuck, Kadota, and Mackenzie also show the ways in how Chinese femininity is policed and eroticized: Sam initially rejected Nancy’s presence, Chuck flirts with Nancy, and MacKenzie targets racially charged threats and racial stereotypical comments towards her. Through these interactions, Shiomi not only explores anti-Asian racism but also the gendered dynamics of interracial power. 

Interethnic Tension

Throughout the book, Shiomi does not illustrate a perfect, idealized world with pan-Asian unity. Sam Shikaze initially resists and dismisses Nancy, accusing her of being a typical example of a “model minority”. Captain Kadota tries to expel Nancy entirely from the investigation after knowing she is Chinese. 

However, despite these tensions, Nancy Wing persists and eventually helps to expose the white supremacist plot. Her persistence destabilizes and challenges the previous assumptions of both the white authorities and Japanese Canadian male characters who underestimated her. Nancy’s actions suggest that cross-racial and generational divides are able to be overcomed, but it can only be achieved through confrontation, not sentimentality. 

Conclusion

Although the play’s main protagonist is a Japanese-Canadian, and most of the play explores the legacies of the Japanese Canadian internment experience, Shiomi’s depiction of Chinese-Canadian identity is also strong and powerful. Through characters like Nancy Wing, Shiomi mirrors the Chinese-Canadian experience of being racialized in both white society and interethnic society—they are stereotyped as criminals, idealized as model minorities, surveilled, sexualized, and silenced.