Text Fwd: [famoksaiyanfriends] Okinawa's 1972 = Guam's 1950 오키나와의 1972년은 괌의 1950년

* Text informed from Martha Duenas on Nov. 5, 2010

Marianas Variety
Okinawa's 1972 = Guam's 1950
Friday, 05 November 2010
Letter to the Editor

Okinawa, a name given to a southernmost archipelago prefecture of Japan, was historically a separate political entity: the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429-1879). It was an independent nation with an indigenous Ryukyuan language, yet after annexation by an expanding Japan in 1879, cultural assimilation began. Okinawa continues to be a separate entity to mainland Japan, with a distinct national identity.

Why are Okinawan people so angry, when, eight thousand US Marines are about to leave for Guam? Its because, even in 2010, they have no self-determination. Today, the Okinawan people are openly accusing Japan of discriminating against them as second-class citizens.

The experience of Okinawans following US occupation parallels that of Guam following the 1950 Organic Act.

Okinawa Main Island was reduced to ruins in the Pacific War between the US and Japan.

Okinawans well remember the atrocities perpetrated by the Japanese Army at this time: residents forced collective suicides; brutal killings of babies for crying when in hiding from the Americans; and executions for merely speaking in the Okinawan dialect illegible to the Japanese (and thus were under suspicion of spying activities).

150,000 local civilians were killed in the war, and with many unearthed skulls and explosives intact, Okinawa was again occupied after the war, this time by the US. Surviving residents were interned in US concentration camps. The local children and adults, covered in DDT, lived on US-rationed milk, cans of spam, and blankets. To this day, many older Okinawans remember the individual American GIs as heroes who fixed their roofs after typhoons. They recall US soldiers dressed as Father Christmas visiting schools in sleds (jeeps) with bags of presents, and the taste of American cheese, a rare treat. The fledgling Communist Party in Okinawa called the US liberators.

Between 1945 and 1972, Okinawas political status was a US military depot. Like that of the people of Guam until 1950. Residents were neither US nor Japanese citizens. They were cheap labor for military construction, placed under authoritarian administration under the US High Commissioners. Even before they returned from internment, the US military evicted Okinawans from their land to build bases. Between the Korean and Vietnam War, the US continued to acquire land. Those who resisted had their houses and farms bulldozed. Thus, bases were built in places like Futenma and Kadena. The US suggested a lump-sum purchase of land at individual prices next to nothing, which infuriated everyone. Ultimately, it was the land issue that mobilized Okinawans into collectively demanding a return to Japanese rule. Workers on-base and off-base went on strikes.

In 1972 Okinawa reverted to Japan, and Okinawans regained Japanese citizenship. Today, reversion is remembered with much bitterness, even viewed as a traumatic event. The most important demand of Okinawans in reversion was to become free of the US military. This demand, however, was hijacked by the political status issue. The US bottom line condition for Okinawas reversion was their military remaining undisturbed in Okinawa. Agreeing, then Prime Minister Sato Eisaku signed a deal with the US. Okinawans today are the poorest in Japan, and increasingly unhealthy: their reputation as the worlds longest living is quickly eroding. Younger generations can understand the indigenous Ryukyuan words but cannot speak it. The Okinawan economy is dependent on guilt money from the central government, paid in the form of rent for US bases in inflated market prices and subsidies to local governments. The economy depends on tourism, sub-contracts and the service industry.

Many Okinawans would be in crisis if all US military bases were removed; but with one exception: Futenma.

The USMC Futenma Air Station is called the most dangerous base in the world located immediately next to urban houses, hospitals, roads, schools, etc. Combined with Kadena Base, it fences off a central chunk of the islands real estate. Traffic is extremely heavy: there are no railways or reliable public transport. The plan to close the US base in Futenma followed the particularly heinous rape incident of a local girl in 1995. Then the Japanese government announced a plan to build a new substitute facility in Henoko, next to Camp

Schwab (in Northeastern Okinawa). This area has the only pristine ocean and mountains remaining in Okinawa, where endangered species of coral, birds and dugong are to be found: a precious asset of all Islanders, like Pagat.

Camp Schwab, together with Camp Hansen, is a major US Marine Corps base that will remain in Okinawa. Henoko is planned to serve as an additional aviation facility that effectively combines ground to air training of the Marines. Even after 8,000 and their families relocate to Guam, the Marines are staying in Okinawa Island: they're only getting out of the overcrowded southern region and heading to the pristine north.

Nago residents refused the new base in Henoko with a referendum in 1997. Protesters have, for more than a decade, continued to block construction by sitting in on the beach.

Meanwhile in 2004, a US helicopter crashed on Okinawa International University, located fence-to-fence to the Futenma Air Station.

What Okinawans really wanted from reversion in 1972 was the right to determine their own affairs, especially regarding their land. Reversion to Japan ultimately wasnt the answer.

Today, the Japan-Okinawa relationship is at rock bottom. The Okinawans are ever more assertive about their unique Okinawan identity. They might want a divorce from Japan; but under what political status? Okinawans would need to come up with an invention different from conventional state sovereignty. Their predicament is deep, but not unique. History following the 1950 Organic Act here resonates and overlaps with theirs. Spam is just a beginning. The Okinawans are a Pacific sibling of the Chamorros, providing important clues for co-existing with US military bases and striving for dignity as a people.