A word you don’t hear much anymore is “shibai.”

In the 1970s, the word was frequently in newspaper headlines, particularly when referring to local politics.

I always thought it meant “lie” or was basically a more polite way of saying B.S., but the word is actually Japanese for a theatrical performance or to act or pretend. I haven’t heard it in years, perhaps because we’ve lost so many in the Nisei generation, or maybe because I’m not having my morning coffee with the right crowd.

Odd, because shibai is such a perfect word for the kind of dramatic performances we are enduring in contemporary politics. While there’s shibai from both sides, the biggest pile of shibai is coming straight from the White House.

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Donald Trump asks so much of his supporters.

It’s not enough for his base to love him. He demands they ignore their own reality in order to believe his outlandish shibai.

This latest one seems to be the biggest test of their fealty so far — pretending that America is more affordable for Americans under his chaotic, nonsensical economic plan.

Itʻs one thing to tell lies about horrendous violence in the streets of some far-off city run by a Democrat and then boost the lie with old or selective video clips on his favorite channels. People will believe all kinds of things they can’t verify for themselves. It’s quite another to demand that his supporters believe that he has brought down the price of groceries when the truth is right before their eyes and hitting them square in the face every day.

Americans can’t ignore the price of hamburger, coffee and cheese. They can’t pretend everything is great when they’re walking out of the grocery store having spent $80 on items that only fill up one bag. Even kids who go to the corner market for a snack after school know that America has not become more affordable in the last 10 months.The cruel curtailment of SNAP benefits for the poor put an even brighter spotlight on inflated food prices.

Here in Hawaiʻi, it seems sometimes that we have become numb to high food prices because just about everything is imported and the stuff that is grown here is largely niche luxury items that are more expensive that the stuff shipped here from elsewhere. Still, the cost of groceries has become noticeably higher than the usual high. The New York Times reported this week that, according to the most recent report by the USDA, a “thrifty” household of four could eat on $999.50 a month in states on the continent, but the cost is nearly 51% higher in Hawaiʻi.

A gallon of milk here can cost over $9. Four sticks of butter can be $7 or more. You can’t get orange juice for less than $5 unless it’s a single-serve size. Remember the Subway $5 footlong? A Subway footlong sandwich at a Hawaiʻi franchise is now around $13. It wasn’t long ago when the idea of a $13 sub sandwich was laughable, like that sandwich better come on a collectable gold plate that you get to keep.

News outlets and social media are full of budget-friendly recipes, many of which do not include meat and resemble things grandma made in the ’70s with ingredients like cabbage leaves, frozen mixed vegetables and macaroni. Depression-era food. Day-before-payday dinners. Stretch-your-food-dollar watery stuff.

It’s hard to imagine people so completely devoted that they’re willing to ignore what their wallet is clearly showing to buy into the myth that everything got better on “Day One” or after the tariff terror of “Liberation Day,” just like their idol promised.

Trump not only promised and didn’t deliver; he is insisting that grocery prices are down, as though somehow the cash registers across America have been rigged and the grocery clerks are lying to us. That is some high-level Emperor’s New Clothes action. That is shibai on high.

Word is that Trump is trying to adjust his tariff scheme so that the cost of some of the basics goes down, but remember when he said Americans would not be paying the tariffs? Big shibai.

The thing about calling something shibai back in the day was that it stuck. Any project, proposal or public figure that got labeled shibai in the community was looked at with increased scrutiny and in many cases, was effectively shunned. Shibai was the word that signaled harsh judgment. It let everyone know that a fraud was being perpetrated. 

Such a label would be useful right now, but perhaps it isn’t even needed. The cost of groceries speaks truth to power.