C. T. Sandars
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198296874
- eISBN:
- 9780191685293
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296874.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter discusses the U.S. government's determination to take sole control of Japan and the Pacific region after World War II. The U.S. was determined to keep other allies, particularly Russia, ...
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This chapter discusses the U.S. government's determination to take sole control of Japan and the Pacific region after World War II. The U.S. was determined to keep other allies, particularly Russia, out of Japan, to prevent their development of offensive bases on the home islands. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were keen on building military bases on the Ryukyus Islands and in Okinawa, but not on a long-term basis. However, they were compelled to maintain a permanent presence on the mainland and home islands to ensure peace and stability along the areas bordering the Yellow Sea and because of the outbreak of the Korean War.Less
This chapter discusses the U.S. government's determination to take sole control of Japan and the Pacific region after World War II. The U.S. was determined to keep other allies, particularly Russia, out of Japan, to prevent their development of offensive bases on the home islands. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were keen on building military bases on the Ryukyus Islands and in Okinawa, but not on a long-term basis. However, they were compelled to maintain a permanent presence on the mainland and home islands to ensure peace and stability along the areas bordering the Yellow Sea and because of the outbreak of the Korean War.
Mamoru Akamine
Robert Huey (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780824855178
- eISBN:
- 9780824872953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824855178.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The author summarizes Ryukyu’s historical position in East Asia, noting how its own changes reflected the broader changes East Asian was going through. He argues that, though part of Japan today, ...
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The author summarizes Ryukyu’s historical position in East Asia, noting how its own changes reflected the broader changes East Asian was going through. He argues that, though part of Japan today, Okinawa is still different, and he calls that difference the “its heritage from the Ryukyu Kingdom and its ‘Asian experience.’” Chinese elements in Okinawan culture, for example, are not just the result of centuries of trade and diplomatic contact, but also come from the Kingdom’s conscious effort to “sinify” in the seventeenth century. As for Okinawan’s status today, the author notes that Okinawa’s sovereignty is still seen as an open question by China.Less
The author summarizes Ryukyu’s historical position in East Asia, noting how its own changes reflected the broader changes East Asian was going through. He argues that, though part of Japan today, Okinawa is still different, and he calls that difference the “its heritage from the Ryukyu Kingdom and its ‘Asian experience.’” Chinese elements in Okinawan culture, for example, are not just the result of centuries of trade and diplomatic contact, but also come from the Kingdom’s conscious effort to “sinify” in the seventeenth century. As for Okinawan’s status today, the author notes that Okinawa’s sovereignty is still seen as an open question by China.
CHUSHICHI TSUZUKI
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205890
- eISBN:
- 9780191676840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205890.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, Political History
The frontier wars of the 1930s had been more than ‘sideshows’ to the later Asia-Pacific War; they illustrate the process of the ‘abject slide’ into the war. The frontier war with Russia is ...
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The frontier wars of the 1930s had been more than ‘sideshows’ to the later Asia-Pacific War; they illustrate the process of the ‘abject slide’ into the war. The frontier war with Russia is illustrated. It also addresses the transition from French Indochina to Pearl Harbor. Jubilation over the initial victories in the war against the Allies lasted only six months; then came a series of disasters that continued for more than three years and ended in a final catastrophe. In addition, it outlines the Yokusan movement and war fascism, midway and Guadalcanal, ‘Tenshin’ and the ‘absolutely necessary national defence sphere’, and the Burma front. The American attempt to recapture the Philippines began with the landing of their troops on Leyte in October 1944 and on Luzon in January 1945. Discussion on home affairs and Tojo's resignation, the battle for Okinawa, the reckoning of a lost war, Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam, and Hiroshima, and Japanese surrender is given as well.Less
The frontier wars of the 1930s had been more than ‘sideshows’ to the later Asia-Pacific War; they illustrate the process of the ‘abject slide’ into the war. The frontier war with Russia is illustrated. It also addresses the transition from French Indochina to Pearl Harbor. Jubilation over the initial victories in the war against the Allies lasted only six months; then came a series of disasters that continued for more than three years and ended in a final catastrophe. In addition, it outlines the Yokusan movement and war fascism, midway and Guadalcanal, ‘Tenshin’ and the ‘absolutely necessary national defence sphere’, and the Burma front. The American attempt to recapture the Philippines began with the landing of their troops on Leyte in October 1944 and on Luzon in January 1945. Discussion on home affairs and Tojo's resignation, the battle for Okinawa, the reckoning of a lost war, Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam, and Hiroshima, and Japanese surrender is given as well.
CHUSHICHI TSUZUKI
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205890
- eISBN:
- 9780191676840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205890.003.0020
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, Political History
This chapter addresses the stability of the Sato Eisaku government that depended largely on continuing high economic growth. It starts by discussing rapid economic growth and its problems. A ...
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This chapter addresses the stability of the Sato Eisaku government that depended largely on continuing high economic growth. It starts by discussing rapid economic growth and its problems. A description on the government of Sato Eisaku is given. Sato managed to secure an automatic extension of the Japan-US Security Treaty in June 1970. The Vietnam War and Japan and the reversion of Okinawa are highlighted. ‘Student Power’, which formed one feature of the Sato era, was only part of the radicalization of society. The citizens' movement can be traced to the Anpo struggle of 1960, when a group called the Voice of the Voiceless People's Association put in its appearance to support the rioting students. This was a spontaneous act on the part of unorganized citizens to show their sympathy with the students' protest.Less
This chapter addresses the stability of the Sato Eisaku government that depended largely on continuing high economic growth. It starts by discussing rapid economic growth and its problems. A description on the government of Sato Eisaku is given. Sato managed to secure an automatic extension of the Japan-US Security Treaty in June 1970. The Vietnam War and Japan and the reversion of Okinawa are highlighted. ‘Student Power’, which formed one feature of the Sato era, was only part of the radicalization of society. The citizens' movement can be traced to the Anpo struggle of 1960, when a group called the Voice of the Voiceless People's Association put in its appearance to support the rioting students. This was a spontaneous act on the part of unorganized citizens to show their sympathy with the students' protest.
Yuichiro Onishi
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814762646
- eISBN:
- 9780814762653
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814762646.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This book introduces the dynamic process out of which social movements in black America, Japan, and Okinawa formed Afro-Asian solidarities against the practice of white supremacy in the twentieth ...
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This book introduces the dynamic process out of which social movements in black America, Japan, and Okinawa formed Afro-Asian solidarities against the practice of white supremacy in the twentieth century. It argues that in the context of forging Afro-Asian solidarities, race emerged as a political category of struggle with a distinct moral quality and vitality. The book explores the work of black intellectual-activists of the first half of the twentieth century, including Hubert Harrison and W. E. B. Du Bois, who took a pro-Japan stance to articulate the connection between local and global dimensions of antiracism. Turning to two places rarely seen as a part of the black experience, Japan and Okinawa, the book also presents the accounts of a group of Japanese scholars shaping the black studies movement in post-surrender Japan and multiracial coalition-building in U.S.-occupied Okinawa during the height of the Vietnam War which brought together local activists, peace activists, and antiracist and antiwar GIs. Together these cases of Afro-Asian solidarity make known political discourses and projects that reworked the concept of race to become a wellspring of aspiration for a new society.Less
This book introduces the dynamic process out of which social movements in black America, Japan, and Okinawa formed Afro-Asian solidarities against the practice of white supremacy in the twentieth century. It argues that in the context of forging Afro-Asian solidarities, race emerged as a political category of struggle with a distinct moral quality and vitality. The book explores the work of black intellectual-activists of the first half of the twentieth century, including Hubert Harrison and W. E. B. Du Bois, who took a pro-Japan stance to articulate the connection between local and global dimensions of antiracism. Turning to two places rarely seen as a part of the black experience, Japan and Okinawa, the book also presents the accounts of a group of Japanese scholars shaping the black studies movement in post-surrender Japan and multiracial coalition-building in U.S.-occupied Okinawa during the height of the Vietnam War which brought together local activists, peace activists, and antiracist and antiwar GIs. Together these cases of Afro-Asian solidarity make known political discourses and projects that reworked the concept of race to become a wellspring of aspiration for a new society.
Manako Ogawa
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839611
- eISBN:
- 9780824869595
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839611.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Pacific Studies
This book provides new insights into Japanese lives in Hawai‘i by offering an alternative chronological history unique to fishing communities. In Japan, fishermen and their families constantly ...
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This book provides new insights into Japanese lives in Hawai‘i by offering an alternative chronological history unique to fishing communities. In Japan, fishermen and their families constantly traveled to various parts of the nation and beyond since ancient times. Their advancement to Hawaiian waters since the late nineteenth century quickly pushed aside native fishermen and established themselves by dominating the local fishing industry. Even when outbreak of the Pacific War crippled Japanese fishing activities, those of the fishing industry paved the way for the post-war revival under the military rule. After the war, the Japanese fishermen returned to Hawaiian waters and reconstructed the industry. Starting in the 1960s, fishermen from Okinawa began to come to Hawai‘i and supplemented the ranks of retiring Japanese fishermen. From the late twentieth century on, many fishermen with various ethnic backgrounds have replaced their Japanese and Okinawan counterparts, although the Japanese influence on the local fisheries industry remains noticeable even today.Less
This book provides new insights into Japanese lives in Hawai‘i by offering an alternative chronological history unique to fishing communities. In Japan, fishermen and their families constantly traveled to various parts of the nation and beyond since ancient times. Their advancement to Hawaiian waters since the late nineteenth century quickly pushed aside native fishermen and established themselves by dominating the local fishing industry. Even when outbreak of the Pacific War crippled Japanese fishing activities, those of the fishing industry paved the way for the post-war revival under the military rule. After the war, the Japanese fishermen returned to Hawaiian waters and reconstructed the industry. Starting in the 1960s, fishermen from Okinawa began to come to Hawai‘i and supplemented the ranks of retiring Japanese fishermen. From the late twentieth century on, many fishermen with various ethnic backgrounds have replaced their Japanese and Okinawan counterparts, although the Japanese influence on the local fisheries industry remains noticeable even today.
Jana K. Lipman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520255395
- eISBN:
- 9780520942370
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520255395.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
The U.S. military appeared strong and intact, and its archipelago of bases was well equipped to defend against communism and to maintain U.S. military and economic dominance. The Navy Civil Engineer ...
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The U.S. military appeared strong and intact, and its archipelago of bases was well equipped to defend against communism and to maintain U.S. military and economic dominance. The Navy Civil Engineer Corps', or Seabees', account of Building the Navy's Bases in World War II defined the construction of bases throughout the world, listing its accomplishments: “Bases in the North Atlantic,” “Construction Battalions in France and Germany,” “Bases in Alaska,” “Bases in the Philippines, and Okinawa.” These bases did not fade at the end of the war. The structure and network of U.S. bases morphed into a defensive perimeter against the Soviet Union instead. The U.S. government feared Soviet expansionism and militarism, and it actively sought to support anti-communist governments and protect U.S. economic interests on a global scale. The U.S. military infrastructure that had developed during World War II began to articulate a new Cold War geography.Less
The U.S. military appeared strong and intact, and its archipelago of bases was well equipped to defend against communism and to maintain U.S. military and economic dominance. The Navy Civil Engineer Corps', or Seabees', account of Building the Navy's Bases in World War II defined the construction of bases throughout the world, listing its accomplishments: “Bases in the North Atlantic,” “Construction Battalions in France and Germany,” “Bases in Alaska,” “Bases in the Philippines, and Okinawa.” These bases did not fade at the end of the war. The structure and network of U.S. bases morphed into a defensive perimeter against the Soviet Union instead. The U.S. government feared Soviet expansionism and militarism, and it actively sought to support anti-communist governments and protect U.S. economic interests on a global scale. The U.S. military infrastructure that had developed during World War II began to articulate a new Cold War geography.
Ka-che Yip
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622095878
- eISBN:
- 9789882206854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622095878.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This section explains that the essays in this book have examined both the temporal and spatial aspects of the development of various approaches to combating malaria during the colonial and ...
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This section explains that the essays in this book have examined both the temporal and spatial aspects of the development of various approaches to combating malaria during the colonial and postcolonial period in Hong Kong, Okinawa, Taiwan, and mainland China. It further shows that the essays consider the historical development of malaria and its control or eradication in modern East Asia as a dynamic process of interaction between the interests and objectives of the state (colonial or sovereign), international interests, the emergence of new medical knowledge and technology, changing concepts of disease and health, and local environmental conditions and local society, as well as the political, social, and economic forces at work in a particular locality at a particular time. It points out that they demonstrate the complexity required in the formulation and implementation of anti-malaria policies, and highlight factors central to the health of a society.Less
This section explains that the essays in this book have examined both the temporal and spatial aspects of the development of various approaches to combating malaria during the colonial and postcolonial period in Hong Kong, Okinawa, Taiwan, and mainland China. It further shows that the essays consider the historical development of malaria and its control or eradication in modern East Asia as a dynamic process of interaction between the interests and objectives of the state (colonial or sovereign), international interests, the emergence of new medical knowledge and technology, changing concepts of disease and health, and local environmental conditions and local society, as well as the political, social, and economic forces at work in a particular locality at a particular time. It points out that they demonstrate the complexity required in the formulation and implementation of anti-malaria policies, and highlight factors central to the health of a society.
Annmaria M. Shimabuku
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282661
- eISBN:
- 9780823285938
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282661.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
Alegal reveals modern Okinawa to be suspended in a perpetual state of exception: it is neither an official colony of Japan or the U.S., nor an equal part of the Japanese state. Today it is the site ...
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Alegal reveals modern Okinawa to be suspended in a perpetual state of exception: it is neither an official colony of Japan or the U.S., nor an equal part of the Japanese state. Today it is the site of one of the densest concentrations of U.S. military bases globally—a truly exceptional condition stemming from Japan’s abhorrence toward sexual contact around bases in its mainland that factored into securing Okinawa as a U.S. military fortress. This book merges Foucauldian biopolitics with Japanese Marxist theorizations of capitalism to trace the formation of a Japanese middle class that disciplined and secured the population from perceived threats, including the threat of miscegenation. Through close readings of poetry, reportage, film, and autobiography, it reveals how this threat came to symbolize the infringement of Japanese sovereignty figured in terms of a patriarchal monoethnic state. This symbolism, however, was met with great ambivalence in Okinawa. As a borderland of the Pacific, racial politics internal to the U.S. collided with colonial politics internal to the Asia Pacific in base towns centered on facilitating encounters between G.I.s and Okinawan women. By examining the history, debates, and cultural representations of these actors from 1945 to 2015, this book shows how they continually failed to “become Japanese.” Instead, they epitomized Okinawa’s volatility that danced on the razor’s edge between anarchistic insurgency and fascistic collaboration. What was at stake in their securitization was the attempt to contain Okinawa’s alegality itself—that is, a life force irreducible to the law.Less
Alegal reveals modern Okinawa to be suspended in a perpetual state of exception: it is neither an official colony of Japan or the U.S., nor an equal part of the Japanese state. Today it is the site of one of the densest concentrations of U.S. military bases globally—a truly exceptional condition stemming from Japan’s abhorrence toward sexual contact around bases in its mainland that factored into securing Okinawa as a U.S. military fortress. This book merges Foucauldian biopolitics with Japanese Marxist theorizations of capitalism to trace the formation of a Japanese middle class that disciplined and secured the population from perceived threats, including the threat of miscegenation. Through close readings of poetry, reportage, film, and autobiography, it reveals how this threat came to symbolize the infringement of Japanese sovereignty figured in terms of a patriarchal monoethnic state. This symbolism, however, was met with great ambivalence in Okinawa. As a borderland of the Pacific, racial politics internal to the U.S. collided with colonial politics internal to the Asia Pacific in base towns centered on facilitating encounters between G.I.s and Okinawan women. By examining the history, debates, and cultural representations of these actors from 1945 to 2015, this book shows how they continually failed to “become Japanese.” Instead, they epitomized Okinawa’s volatility that danced on the razor’s edge between anarchistic insurgency and fascistic collaboration. What was at stake in their securitization was the attempt to contain Okinawa’s alegality itself—that is, a life force irreducible to the law.
Kären Wigen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520259188
- eISBN:
- 9780520945807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520259188.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The map of Japan—a collection of forty-three prefectures, forming a smooth arc from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south—is as familiar as to seem eternal. Japan's best known episodes took ...
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The map of Japan—a collection of forty-three prefectures, forming a smooth arc from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south—is as familiar as to seem eternal. Japan's best known episodes took place along the state's borders. The Yamato chiefdom eratically expanded from its original home in western Honshu until its descendants had claimed most of the archipelago through a millennium of warfare and diplomacy. The recent study traces the restoration of one bounded region in central Honshu. Its terrain—the sprawling district officially known as Nagano Prefecture, or more colloquially by its older labels, Shinshu and Shinano—is in a singular map in many ways. Shinano is known to students across the country as the home of Japan's highest ranges, longest rivers, biggest ski resorts, and the ur-landscape of a mountainous archipelago.Less
The map of Japan—a collection of forty-three prefectures, forming a smooth arc from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south—is as familiar as to seem eternal. Japan's best known episodes took place along the state's borders. The Yamato chiefdom eratically expanded from its original home in western Honshu until its descendants had claimed most of the archipelago through a millennium of warfare and diplomacy. The recent study traces the restoration of one bounded region in central Honshu. Its terrain—the sprawling district officially known as Nagano Prefecture, or more colloquially by its older labels, Shinshu and Shinano—is in a singular map in many ways. Shinano is known to students across the country as the home of Japan's highest ranges, longest rivers, biggest ski resorts, and the ur-landscape of a mountainous archipelago.
Steve Rabson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835347
- eISBN:
- 9780824871772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835347.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This introductory chapter presents a historical background of Okinawa's past in order to reveal the underlying tensions between the prefecture and mainland Japan. Like minorities elsewhere, Okinawans ...
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This introductory chapter presents a historical background of Okinawa's past in order to reveal the underlying tensions between the prefecture and mainland Japan. Like minorities elsewhere, Okinawans experienced prejudice and discrimination in Japan because differences—real and imagined—have caused them to be viewed as outsiders of inferior status. A history and culture distinct in many ways from the rest of the country has forced them to cope with a society in which such differences are often considered “strange” or “wrong,” and with a central government that has long imposed a monocultural standard in education, publicly priding itself on the nation's mythical “homogeneity.” Hence the chapter sets out the terms and methodology to be used in this research, at the same time employing these to debunk the fallacies employed in mainland discourse.Less
This introductory chapter presents a historical background of Okinawa's past in order to reveal the underlying tensions between the prefecture and mainland Japan. Like minorities elsewhere, Okinawans experienced prejudice and discrimination in Japan because differences—real and imagined—have caused them to be viewed as outsiders of inferior status. A history and culture distinct in many ways from the rest of the country has forced them to cope with a society in which such differences are often considered “strange” or “wrong,” and with a central government that has long imposed a monocultural standard in education, publicly priding itself on the nation's mythical “homogeneity.” Hence the chapter sets out the terms and methodology to be used in this research, at the same time employing these to debunk the fallacies employed in mainland discourse.
Steve Rabson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835347
- eISBN:
- 9780824871772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835347.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter acts as a general overview to the Okinawa Prefecture—its history, geographical quirks, demographics, climate, wildlife, migration patterns, and so on. What the Japanese government ...
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This chapter acts as a general overview to the Okinawa Prefecture—its history, geographical quirks, demographics, climate, wildlife, migration patterns, and so on. What the Japanese government designated as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879 encompasses most of the islands in the Ryukyu chain. First recorded in China, the place-name Liu Ch'iu (Ryūkyū in Japanese) means “circle of jewels.” The boundaries of the Japanese prefecture today include the island groups of Okinawa, Yaeyama, and Miyako, but not the northernmost Amami group, which is administered separately by Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu. Patterns of migration from the prefecture's earlier days indicate that, in the centuries that followed, the cultures of Japan and the Ryukyus diverged in dwelling construction, clothing, diet, language, religion, and burial customs—differences that are still clearly evident in Okinawa today amid the ubiquitous influences of mainland Japanese culture.Less
This chapter acts as a general overview to the Okinawa Prefecture—its history, geographical quirks, demographics, climate, wildlife, migration patterns, and so on. What the Japanese government designated as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879 encompasses most of the islands in the Ryukyu chain. First recorded in China, the place-name Liu Ch'iu (Ryūkyū in Japanese) means “circle of jewels.” The boundaries of the Japanese prefecture today include the island groups of Okinawa, Yaeyama, and Miyako, but not the northernmost Amami group, which is administered separately by Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu. Patterns of migration from the prefecture's earlier days indicate that, in the centuries that followed, the cultures of Japan and the Ryukyus diverged in dwelling construction, clothing, diet, language, religion, and burial customs—differences that are still clearly evident in Okinawa today amid the ubiquitous influences of mainland Japanese culture.
Steve Rabson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835347
- eISBN:
- 9780824871772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835347.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter looks at the ways in which Okinawans coped with hardships arising out of Japan's surrender post-World War II and the American military occupation. By mid-August 1945, when Japan's ...
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This chapter looks at the ways in which Okinawans coped with hardships arising out of Japan's surrender post-World War II and the American military occupation. By mid-August 1945, when Japan's government leaders finally made their tragically belated decision to surrender, the occupation of Okinawa, which had started officially with the Nimitz Proclamation on April 1, was well under way. During this period, Okinawa Prefecture had lost about a third of its wartime population. Moreover, civilian communications were cut off, and many on the mainland also lost their homes in Okinawa, and even their land when the American military later seized thousands of family farms and home lots to expand existing bases and build new ones. And though evacuees from Okinawa were treated kindly in many communities where they were relocated, tensions soon arose between the evacuees and their host communities.Less
This chapter looks at the ways in which Okinawans coped with hardships arising out of Japan's surrender post-World War II and the American military occupation. By mid-August 1945, when Japan's government leaders finally made their tragically belated decision to surrender, the occupation of Okinawa, which had started officially with the Nimitz Proclamation on April 1, was well under way. During this period, Okinawa Prefecture had lost about a third of its wartime population. Moreover, civilian communications were cut off, and many on the mainland also lost their homes in Okinawa, and even their land when the American military later seized thousands of family farms and home lots to expand existing bases and build new ones. And though evacuees from Okinawa were treated kindly in many communities where they were relocated, tensions soon arose between the evacuees and their host communities.
Ann-Elise Lewallen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824852801
- eISBN:
- 9780824868666
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824852801.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
Modernist historiography has long bracketed Ezo (present-day Hokkaido) and Okinawa as internal colonies, conventionally dismissing them from discussions of Japan’s imperial project. This historical ...
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Modernist historiography has long bracketed Ezo (present-day Hokkaido) and Okinawa as internal colonies, conventionally dismissing them from discussions of Japan’s imperial project. This historical perspective rationalizes and codifies the narrative that Hokkaido especially is an inherent, inalienable part of Japanese territory. However, this version of history begins to fall apart when we take account of the interrelations between Ainu women and ethnic Japanese men (wajin). The interpellation of Ainu women as objects of sexual desire established the intimate frontiers of Japan’s modernist recasting of Ezo as a distinctly Japanese imperial zone long before its political and administrative incorporation into the Japanese nation-state. The sexual subjectivity of these women in turn provides a different perspective revealing how Japan’s territorial expansion and its nascent imperialism was charted through the terrain of Ainu women’s bodies, and demonstrating how sexual intimacy and sexual violence are corollaries of political and physical power.Less
Modernist historiography has long bracketed Ezo (present-day Hokkaido) and Okinawa as internal colonies, conventionally dismissing them from discussions of Japan’s imperial project. This historical perspective rationalizes and codifies the narrative that Hokkaido especially is an inherent, inalienable part of Japanese territory. However, this version of history begins to fall apart when we take account of the interrelations between Ainu women and ethnic Japanese men (wajin). The interpellation of Ainu women as objects of sexual desire established the intimate frontiers of Japan’s modernist recasting of Ezo as a distinctly Japanese imperial zone long before its political and administrative incorporation into the Japanese nation-state. The sexual subjectivity of these women in turn provides a different perspective revealing how Japan’s territorial expansion and its nascent imperialism was charted through the terrain of Ainu women’s bodies, and demonstrating how sexual intimacy and sexual violence are corollaries of political and physical power.
Brian Woodall
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780813145013
- eISBN:
- 9780813145327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813145013.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter traces the evolution of Japan’s cabinet system in the first years of the “1955 System,” during which time a seniority system for cabinet ministers became established. Because Liberal ...
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This chapter traces the evolution of Japan’s cabinet system in the first years of the “1955 System,” during which time a seniority system for cabinet ministers became established. Because Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers monopolized ministerial portfolios, appointment to a cabinet post became simply another wrung on the perpetually ruling party’s internal promotional ladder. And yet because the LDP was, in essence, a “federation of factions” united for purposes of campaign and legislative strategy, rather than a unified national party, Machiavellian machinations played a role in deciding the party’s president, who doubled as prime minister. Yet, under the surface, differences in style and outlook pitted rival camps of “ex-bureaucrats” and “career politicians,” and the need to maintain balance among intraparty factions dictated frequent cabinet changes, and often, the appointment of ministers with dubious qualifications. At the same time, the autonomy of cabinets in executive affairs was called into question by the actions of an activist government bureaucracy and a hegemonic party that preapproved all major policy departures. Meanwhile, prime ministers and cabinets were forced to respond to challenges produced by high-speed economic growth and dissatisfaction with institutional arrangements put in place during the American-led occupation.Less
This chapter traces the evolution of Japan’s cabinet system in the first years of the “1955 System,” during which time a seniority system for cabinet ministers became established. Because Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers monopolized ministerial portfolios, appointment to a cabinet post became simply another wrung on the perpetually ruling party’s internal promotional ladder. And yet because the LDP was, in essence, a “federation of factions” united for purposes of campaign and legislative strategy, rather than a unified national party, Machiavellian machinations played a role in deciding the party’s president, who doubled as prime minister. Yet, under the surface, differences in style and outlook pitted rival camps of “ex-bureaucrats” and “career politicians,” and the need to maintain balance among intraparty factions dictated frequent cabinet changes, and often, the appointment of ministers with dubious qualifications. At the same time, the autonomy of cabinets in executive affairs was called into question by the actions of an activist government bureaucracy and a hegemonic party that preapproved all major policy departures. Meanwhile, prime ministers and cabinets were forced to respond to challenges produced by high-speed economic growth and dissatisfaction with institutional arrangements put in place during the American-led occupation.
Mamoru Akamine
Robert Huey (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780824855178
- eISBN:
- 9780824872953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824855178.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In what became controversially known as the “Ryukyu Shobun,” the new Meiji government gradually took over Ryukyu, starting by using a massacre of Ryukyuan sailors in Taiwan as a pretext to claim ...
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In what became controversially known as the “Ryukyu Shobun,” the new Meiji government gradually took over Ryukyu, starting by using a massacre of Ryukyuan sailors in Taiwan as a pretext to claim Ryukyuans as “people who belong to the nation of Japan,” who needed Tokyo’s protection. In 1874, the Meiji government compelled Ryukyu to cut its ties to China. In 1879, Tokyo annexed Ryukyu and designated it Okinawa Prefecture. That same year, the Ryukyu King was forced to move to Tokyo, and died there in 1901. China did not have sufficient military power to resist the move, but the chapter also describes activities between China and restorationists in Ryukyu, some of whom went to China, rather than remain as Japanese subjects. However, the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), in which China was defeated, effectively brought the restoration movement to an end.Less
In what became controversially known as the “Ryukyu Shobun,” the new Meiji government gradually took over Ryukyu, starting by using a massacre of Ryukyuan sailors in Taiwan as a pretext to claim Ryukyuans as “people who belong to the nation of Japan,” who needed Tokyo’s protection. In 1874, the Meiji government compelled Ryukyu to cut its ties to China. In 1879, Tokyo annexed Ryukyu and designated it Okinawa Prefecture. That same year, the Ryukyu King was forced to move to Tokyo, and died there in 1901. China did not have sufficient military power to resist the move, but the chapter also describes activities between China and restorationists in Ryukyu, some of whom went to China, rather than remain as Japanese subjects. However, the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), in which China was defeated, effectively brought the restoration movement to an end.
Wesley Ueunten
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780824847586
- eISBN:
- 9780824873066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824847586.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter is based on participant observations and interviews with Okinawan women who immigrated to the U.S. after World War II as wives of Americans men who had been stationed in Okinawa as part ...
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This chapter is based on participant observations and interviews with Okinawan women who immigrated to the U.S. after World War II as wives of Americans men who had been stationed in Okinawa as part of the U.S. military presence there. The women, most in their 70s and 80s, were part of a small social group that gathered monthly to sing Okinawan and Japanese karaoke. The focus of the study is the agency of the women to recover and define their Okinawan identity in opposition to their marginalized positions within the context of Okinawa’s dual geopolitical subordination to Japan and the U.S.Less
This chapter is based on participant observations and interviews with Okinawan women who immigrated to the U.S. after World War II as wives of Americans men who had been stationed in Okinawa as part of the U.S. military presence there. The women, most in their 70s and 80s, were part of a small social group that gathered monthly to sing Okinawan and Japanese karaoke. The focus of the study is the agency of the women to recover and define their Okinawan identity in opposition to their marginalized positions within the context of Okinawa’s dual geopolitical subordination to Japan and the U.S.
Etsuko Takushi Crissey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824856489
- eISBN:
- 9780824875619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824856489.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
After World War II, the U.S. military built vast installations and imposed occupation rule until 1972. For all the post-war years Okinawans have lived next door to American bases. As one result, ...
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After World War II, the U.S. military built vast installations and imposed occupation rule until 1972. For all the post-war years Okinawans have lived next door to American bases. As one result, large numbers of Okinawan women married American military men and immigrated to the U.S. Couples had to overcome stubborn resistance to their marriages from the U.S. military in Okinawa, and a legacy of discriminatory immigration laws in the United States, especially targeting Asians. Couples also faced racial prejudice living in the U.S., where interracial marriages were illegal in several states until 1967. Negative stereotypes about international marriages abound in American popular culture, such as James A. Michener’s 1954 novel Sayonara about an American airman and his Japanese fiancee. Yet many women interviewed in this study had successful marriages and fulfilling lives, demonstrating extraordinary courage and perseverance in adjusting to a markedly different society and culture. Many have formed local Okinawa prefectural associations throughout the U.S. for mutual support and participation with their families in Okinawan cultural events.Less
After World War II, the U.S. military built vast installations and imposed occupation rule until 1972. For all the post-war years Okinawans have lived next door to American bases. As one result, large numbers of Okinawan women married American military men and immigrated to the U.S. Couples had to overcome stubborn resistance to their marriages from the U.S. military in Okinawa, and a legacy of discriminatory immigration laws in the United States, especially targeting Asians. Couples also faced racial prejudice living in the U.S., where interracial marriages were illegal in several states until 1967. Negative stereotypes about international marriages abound in American popular culture, such as James A. Michener’s 1954 novel Sayonara about an American airman and his Japanese fiancee. Yet many women interviewed in this study had successful marriages and fulfilling lives, demonstrating extraordinary courage and perseverance in adjusting to a markedly different society and culture. Many have formed local Okinawa prefectural associations throughout the U.S. for mutual support and participation with their families in Okinawan cultural events.
Etsuko Takushi Crissey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824856489
- eISBN:
- 9780824875619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824856489.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
The Battle of Okinawa, which began in late March and ended in late June, 1945, took the lives of 94,000 Japanese soldiers, 28,000 Okinawans in local defence corps, which included middle school boys, ...
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The Battle of Okinawa, which began in late March and ended in late June, 1945, took the lives of 94,000 Japanese soldiers, 28,000 Okinawans in local defence corps, which included middle school boys, 12,500 Americans, and an estimated 122,000 civilians, between one-fourth and one-third of the prefecture’s wartime population. Most of the survivors ended up in refugee camps for several months. It was the only battle of the Pacific War fought in a Japanese prefecture. With the congealing of the Cold War in the late 1940’s, the U.S. government decided to hold strategically located Okinawa for the long term, stationing some 30,000 troops there. The U.S. created civilian administrative agencies, but the military maintained ultimate authority until reversion to Japanese sovereignty in 1972. The result was an economy heavily dependent on jobs and incomes generated by the bases, such as auto mechanic, janitor, maid, taxi driver, bar hostess, and prostitute. To make room for the rapidly expanding bases, the U.S. military forcibly evicted Okinawans from their land with “bayonets and bulldozers.” Massive protests led to Congressional hearings and marginally increased, though still wholly inadequate, “rental payments” to landowners. Reversion restored Japanese administration to Okinawa, but the bases remain to this day,Less
The Battle of Okinawa, which began in late March and ended in late June, 1945, took the lives of 94,000 Japanese soldiers, 28,000 Okinawans in local defence corps, which included middle school boys, 12,500 Americans, and an estimated 122,000 civilians, between one-fourth and one-third of the prefecture’s wartime population. Most of the survivors ended up in refugee camps for several months. It was the only battle of the Pacific War fought in a Japanese prefecture. With the congealing of the Cold War in the late 1940’s, the U.S. government decided to hold strategically located Okinawa for the long term, stationing some 30,000 troops there. The U.S. created civilian administrative agencies, but the military maintained ultimate authority until reversion to Japanese sovereignty in 1972. The result was an economy heavily dependent on jobs and incomes generated by the bases, such as auto mechanic, janitor, maid, taxi driver, bar hostess, and prostitute. To make room for the rapidly expanding bases, the U.S. military forcibly evicted Okinawans from their land with “bayonets and bulldozers.” Massive protests led to Congressional hearings and marginally increased, though still wholly inadequate, “rental payments” to landowners. Reversion restored Japanese administration to Okinawa, but the bases remain to this day,
Robert A. Paul
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226240725
- eISBN:
- 9780226241050
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226241050.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
While gender asymmetry entailing male social and cultural superiority is widely found in the ethnographic record, it is not universal or necessary; rather it is one formulation of the distinction ...
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While gender asymmetry entailing male social and cultural superiority is widely found in the ethnographic record, it is not universal or necessary; rather it is one formulation of the distinction between the cultural and the genetic programs. This chapter demonstrates this through ethnographic examples of cases in which the sexes are equal or women are superior or perform social roles more usually associated with men. Cases include the Sherbro; the community of Nazare in Portugal; the women warriors of Dahomey; the female priests of Okinawa; and the “matriarchy” of the Minangkebau. Reasons are given for why men do not form corporate groups in these societies, and how male competition is managed.Less
While gender asymmetry entailing male social and cultural superiority is widely found in the ethnographic record, it is not universal or necessary; rather it is one formulation of the distinction between the cultural and the genetic programs. This chapter demonstrates this through ethnographic examples of cases in which the sexes are equal or women are superior or perform social roles more usually associated with men. Cases include the Sherbro; the community of Nazare in Portugal; the women warriors of Dahomey; the female priests of Okinawa; and the “matriarchy” of the Minangkebau. Reasons are given for why men do not form corporate groups in these societies, and how male competition is managed.
