Python calling Java

[jimh]

We have a bunch of Python (cgi) scripts producing html behind an Apache web
server.  We also have a set of Java libraries that I want to access from
these Python scripts, but I haven't been able to figure out how to do this.
I have downloaded and tried out Jython, but it takes 5-6 seconds just to run
a one-line 'print "hi"' script, and this is, of course, not acceptable for a
web server.

Any ideas?