50 Years after America Relinquished Control over Okinawa, Has It Truly Become Part of Japan?

Published in Nishinippon Shimbun
(Japan) on 4 January 2022
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by D Baker. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
After being occupied by the United States military at the end of World War II and ruled by the U.S. after the war, Okinawa was returned to Japan on May 15, 1972. This year marks 50 years since the Reversion Agreement.

Having been the site for a tragic ground war and then ruled by another country for 27 years, Okinawa has a painful history unlike any other region of Japan. Even now, half a century on from its reversion to Japan, these scars have yet to heal.

'Snow Will Fall'

“When Okinawa returns to Japan, snow will fall.” So went the rumor that spread among Okinawan elementary school students a year or two before the reversion.

Kazuhiro Shinjo, 58, an editor who has written a book about post-reversion Okinawa and was born and raised in Naha, remembers the rumor well.

“We were taught about the reversion at school, but children don't really understand what it means to 'return to Japan.' We interpreted it the way children would, thinking that the island would attach itself to Kyushu, and that if that was true then it would probably snow.”

The people of Okinawa campaigned passionately under the American regime to rejoin the rest of Japan, regarding reversion to be an “escape from the tyrannical rule of the United States.”

In negotiations with the United States over reversion, the Japanese government argued for an Okinawa that would match the mainland and be without nuclear weapons. The idea of equality with the mainland was a condition relating to the adoption of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty and Okinawa's administration, but to the people of Okinawa, they were words of hope. The vision of snowfall was born out of these expectations.

Increased Concentration of Military Bases

Fifty years have now passed. Did Okinawa ever become the same as the mainland?

According to documents held by Okinawa Prefecture, the average income per person in Okinawa was 59.5% of the national average in 1972, the year of reversion. By 2018, this had jumped to 74.8%. However, in prefectural income rankings, Okinawa is last almost every year. The echoes of U.S. administration policy decisions can be felt even today: at the time, the U.S. heavily emphasized imports, which stifled the growth of Okinawa's manufacturing industry.

There is also, of course, the issue of U.S. military bases. The area covered by U.S. military facilities in Okinawa Prefecture was 27,893 hectares in the year of the reversion. This had shrunk to 18,484 hectares by 2020.

However, in terms of concentration, the percentage of U.S. military facilities across the whole of Japan that are based in Okinawa rose steeply from 58.7% in 1972 to 70.3% in 2020. Compared to the mainland, there has been no progress on the reduction of military bases, with there instead being an increased concentration in Okinawa.

The domineering behavior of the U.S. military remains unchanged. Even when its aircraft and helicopters crash, it will not even permit prefectural police to investigate. Last year, it was revealed that the U.S. military had released chemicals suspected to be carcinogenic into the sewage system. Every time the people of Okinawa read such news, they are reminded that they are not, after all, the same as people on the mainland.

Incomprehension and Indifference

The Japanese government is currently forcing through the relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in Nago. There is also no effort to revise the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, which grants special treatment to U.S. forces. Time and time again Okinawans have spoken out. Time and time again they have been ignored.

So what do people on the mainland think? In response to protests by local residents about the construction of a U.S. military helicopter base in Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture on Oct. 16, a riot police officer who had been sent from the mainland to assist with security referred to the local people as “the natives.”

In January of the same year, snow (sleet) was recorded for the very first time on the main island of Okinawa. The idea of what it would be to join Japan, as conceived by children, became reality. Though rather than citizens on the mainland feeling a sense of unity with Okinawans, they seem to be drifting further away, blinded by incomprehension and indifference.

Have residents on the mainland been able to deliver this dream that Okinawans had 50 years ago of rejoining Japan? This year, at such a milestone, we should try even harder to revitalize the relationship between Okinawa and the mainland and bridge the distance. To achieve this, residents of the mainland will need to hear the story of Okinawa's history and imagine what lies in the hearts of all Okinawans.


沖縄復帰50年 本土の心離れていないか

太平洋戦争末期に米軍に占領され、戦後も米国に統治されていた沖縄は、1972年5月15日に日本へ復帰した。今年はそれからちょうど50年となる。

 悲惨な地上戦の舞台となり、他国に27年間も支配された沖縄は、日本のどの地域とも違う苦難の歴史をたどった。それによって生じたひずみは復帰から半世紀の今も解消されていない。
■「雪が降る」のうわさ
 「日本に復帰したら、沖縄にも雪が降る」-。復帰の1~2年前、沖縄の小学生の間でこんなうわさが広がったという。
 那覇市に生まれ育ち、沖縄の復帰後についての著書がある編集者の新城和博さん(58)は、それをよく覚えている。
 「学校で復帰について教わるんだけど、子どもにとっては『日本になる』の意味がよくわからない。それで子どもなりにイメージしようとして『島ごと動いて九州にくっつくのでは』『それならきっと雪も降る』などと話していました」と語る。
 当時、米国の統治下にあった沖縄の人々が熱烈な「祖国復帰運動」を繰り広げたのは、復帰を「米国の横暴な支配からの脱却」と位置付けたからだ。
 日本政府は米国との復帰交渉で「核抜き、本土並み」の原則を掲げた。「本土並み」は日米安保条約の適用と施政権に関する条件だが、沖縄の人々には「復帰すれば本土と同じになれる」という希望の言葉だった。「雪が降る」の想像も、そんな期待の中で生まれたのだろう。
■基地の集中は増した
 それから50年。沖縄は「本土並み」になったのだろうか。
 沖縄県資料によれば、復帰の年(72年)の1人当たり県民所得は全国平均の59・5%。それが2018年度には74・8%に縮まった。しかし、同所得の都道府県ランキングで沖縄はほぼ毎年最下位である。米国統治下の輸入偏重政策で、製造業が育たなかったのが響いている。
 米軍基地はどうか。沖縄県内の米軍専用施設の面積は、復帰の年が2万7893ヘクタールだった。それが20年までに1万8484ヘクタールに縮小している。
 ただ集中の度合いでいえば、全国の米軍専用施設面積に占める沖縄の割合は、復帰の年は58・7%だったのが、20年には70・3%に上昇。本土に比べて沖縄での基地削減は進まず、集中度はむしろ増している。
 米軍の横暴な振る舞いも相変わらずだ。軍用機やヘリが墜落しても米軍は県警に現場検証もさせない。昨年は発がん性が疑われる物質を下水に流したことが発覚した。そんなニュースが流れるたび、沖縄の人々は「本土との違い」を強く意識する。
■無理解と無関心では
 日本政府は今、米軍普天間飛行場の名護市辺野古への移設を強引に進めている。米軍優遇の根拠である日米地位協定の見直しには取り組もうともしない。沖縄県民が上げ続ける声は、ほったらかしにされている。
 では、本土の住民の意識はどうか。16年10月、沖縄県東村で米軍ヘリ基地建設工事に抗議する住民に対し、本土から警備の応援に派遣されていた機動隊員が「土人が」と言い放った。
 折しも同じ年の1月、沖縄本島での観測史上初となる雪(みぞれ)を記録した。子どもたちが「日本になる」の象徴としてイメージしていた自然現象が現実になった。しかしそれとは裏腹に、本土の住民は沖縄との一体感を強めるどころか、無理解と無関心により沖縄から遠ざかっているようにさえ見える。
 本土の住民はこの50年間、かつて「日本になる」ことを夢見た沖縄の期待に応えてきただろうか。節目となる今年、沖縄と本土との関係を改めて見つめ直し、その距離を縮めたい。それには、本土の住民が沖縄の歴史と現状を知り、沖縄の心を想像する努力が求められている。
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Australia: Could Donald Trump’s Power Struggle with Federal Reserve Create Next Financial Crisis?

Colombia: The Horsemen of the New Cold War

Taiwan: After US Bombs Iranian Nuclear Facilities, Trump’s Credibility in Doubt

China: US Chip Restrictions Backfiring

Thailand: US-China Trade Truce Didn’t Solve Rare Earths Riddle

Topics

Turkey: Europe’s Quiet Surrender

Austria: Trump, the Bulldozer of NATO

     

Israel: In Washington, Netanyahu Must Prioritize Bringing Home Hostages before Iran

Ukraine: Why Washington Failed To End the Russian Ukrainian War

United Kingdom: Trump Is Angry with a World That Won’t Give Him Easy Deals

Nigeria: The Global Fallout of Trump’s Travel Bans

Australia: Donald Trump Just Won the Fight To Remake America in 3 Big Ways

Colombia: The Horsemen of the New Cold War

Related Articles

Japan: Iran Cease-fire Agreement: The Danger of Peace by Force

Japan: Trump’s 100 Days: A Future with No Visible Change So Far

Japan: US Administration Losing Credibility 3 Months into Policy of Threats

Japan: US-Japan Defense Minister Summit: US-Japan Defense Chief Talks Strengthen Concerns about Single-Minded Focus on Strength

Japan: Trump’s Tariffs Threaten To Repeat Historical Mistakes