HIST 296: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia/Pacific - OKINAWA

"Between 1895 and 1945 Japan was constantly at war in Southeast Asia. After its defeat in 1945, Japan pushed the population to turn inward to a strong and revisionist nationalist power. But is this ideology from the past a threat to its present democracy? This documentary is built around present footage in four places that resonate with Japan's past; Tokyo, a place where electoral issues coalesce; Manchuria, the region conquered by Japanese imperialism; Okinawa and American post-war occupation, and Nagasaki, the symbol of modern-day Japan. These places make it possible to shed light on Japan's confrontations with the west, the geopolitical tensions in Southeast Asia and Japan's democratic politics."
**OKINAWA SEGMENT in Japan, a Power Crisis starts with lead into the segment at approximately 36:31 and runs until 47:28.**

"In-depth account of wartime and postwar history of Okinawa and the massive American military presence on the island, based on interviews and rare archival footage on the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, the 27-year American occupation and the ongoing struggles for peace of the local people up until the present. The film is a powerful statement on the historical background and complex reality of US bases on Okinawa, an issue that remains highly controversial on both the island itself and in mainland Japan."

"In Henoko, the construction of the U.S. Marine Corps base continues despite the objections of 80% of Okinawans. In Takae, the Government deployed over 1,000 riot police officers to facilitate the construction of MV-22 Osprey helipads. Protests continue despite the injuries and arrests of protesters. Simultaneously there are plans to build Self Defense Force missile sites and camps on Miyako and Ishigaki islands. But hosting a military facility also means that the islands risk being a military target. And as proven in the Battle of Okinawa over 70 years ago, the military force doesn't prioritize civilians' lives. The role of the protests is particularly urgent now as Japan has drastically changed its national security policy. The people in this film are at the frontline of a battle for peace as they safeguard democracy. Also woven into the film is the islands' rich culture with its nature and history."

After the U.S. victory in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, devastated Okinawans lived off of U.S. military rations, including unfamiliar foods such as pork luncheon meat and corned beef hash. Okinawans incorporated these and other U.S.-made goods into daily life as “Amerikamun,” literally meaning “American products,” but loaded with postwar Okinawan perceptions of America, its military, and the social contexts of the goods themselves. Connotations have shifted over the postwar period, at times suggesting Okinawan appropriation of American power through consumption of “luxurious” (jōtō) U.S. goods, but throughout the postwar period reminding Okinawans of American domination during the occupation and the unwelcome aspects of continuous U.S. military basing. “American Village,” which is a hybrid, American-style shopping mall and resort, is a concretization of this ambivalence, as multiple generations of Okinawans now have the opportunity to inscribe and reinscribe the meaning of Amerikamun on their landscape.

"Now marketed as a tropical beach destination, Okinawa's identity is also forever linked with the horrors of war. Okinawa's tumultuous past encompasses the Ryukyu Islands, which had close economic ties to China until being annexed by mainland Japan, were invaded by the US in the Second World War, were occupied until 1972 and, more recently, have become the centre of heated debates over the continued presence of US military bases. The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest of the Second World War and the inhabitants faced not only the American invasion but also the tactics of the Japanese army, who viewed the islands as expendable in order to slow invading forces from reaching mainland Japan. In the context of the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa in 2015, and beyond, it is argued here that these conflicting geopolitical disputes present significant challenges in terms of the messages presented to educational dark tourists visiting the Okinawa Peace Park and Memorials. The Peace Park Story Tellers or kataribe who are the Second World War survivors, have the critical task of mediating the message to both domestic and international tourists, some of whom are not prepared to hear anti-Japan sentiment. Through an examination of the historical and geographic background, and an analysis of the tourist experience at the Peace Park and Memorials, this paper explores the complexity of educational dark tourism where competing messages collide."

"This paper explores the militarized situation of Okinawa Island and the ongoing struggles and challenges that Okinawans continue to confront. Particular focus is placed on how Okinawans challenge dominant colonial forms of knowledge, which assert that the U.S. military presence on the island is beneficial for Okinawan and Japanese people. After contextualizing Okinawa Island within contemporary American imperial geopolitics and outlining the current state of the island, the paper looks at three different, yet closely integrated, ways in which Okinawans, led by activists and progressive local officials, challenge the dominant narrative on the U.S. military. By questioning dominant assumptions about security, a base-dependent economy, and Okinawans' indigenous status, these movements contribute to the decolonization of knowledge, an important step toward the demilitarization of the island. The paper concludes with a discussion of remaining challenges for decolonial knowledge production."

"This article re-examines the often misrepresented role of Okinawan agency by focusing on the divergence between mainstream framings of Okinawa, actual policies directed towards the Ryūkyū Islands and the sociopolitical reality on these outlying islands. In so doing, it interrogates the various narratives of Okinawa and the key terms that have articulated them in the post-reversion era. It thereby adds explanatory power to extant structuralist and critical literatures, which have tended to suffer from monolithic descriptions of structural power and polemic approaches to American and Japanese governance of the islands. Specifically, by analyzing a series of illustrative issue areas such as sexual and economic exploitation, environmental protection and military security, the article uses an adapted form of critical discourse analysis (CDA) to trace how framings and policy have shifted since reversion to Japanese rule. This concentrates primarily on prime-ministerial statements from the National Diet and other, mostly Japanese-language, materials relating to Okinawa's governance. These are contrasted with short case studies highlighting the disconnection between rhetoric and reality. Ultimately, the evidence points to a decoupling of mainstream narratives from the on-the-ground reality. The article thereby provides a nuanced understanding and expression of Okinawa's complex interests and agency."