The Economist - USA (2022-05-14)

38 Asia TheEconomistMay14th 2022

Japan’sfar-flungislands

Base case

F

lames lickedtheskyoverCapeHedo

onthenorthernmosttipofOkinawa’s

mainisland,burningbrightenoughtobe

seenfromthenearbyislandofYoron.After

the secondworld war, whenYoron be­

longedtoJapanbut Okinawawasunder

Americanoccupation,localslitbonfiresas

signals,asiftosay“Hi,we’restillhere”to

theirbrethren.Whenthefireburnedagain

inlateApril,itwastomarkthe50thanni­

versaryofOkinawa’sreturntoJapan.Poli­

ticians waxedlyrical aboutpeace, occa­

sionallyinterruptedbyAmericanmilitary

aircraft overhead. An old protest song

blaredfroma tinnyspeaker:Okinawawo

kaese!(GivebackOkinawa!)

YetforOkinawanstheanniversary,on

May15th,islesscauseforcelebrationthan

forsoberreflectiononunfulfilledhopes—

andonnewthreatstotheirislandsfrom

tensionsbetweenAmericaandChina.“It’s

been 50 yearsbutsomanyissuesremain,”

lamentsMiyagiHisakazu,a formermayor

ofKunigami,CapeHedo’sdistrict.

WhenJapantookbackcontrolofOkina­

waandtherestoftheRyukyuIslands,lo­

calsexpectedthegovernmentinTokyoto

helpstimulatetheeconomyandreduce

theAmericanfootprint(seemap).Living

standardshaveimproved,butOkinawais

stillthepoorestofJapan’s 47 prefectures.

SomeAmericanfacilitieshaveclosed,but

morethan 250,000American troopsre­

mainonOkinawa,whichishometo70%of

AmericanbasesinJapanbyarea.Thosein­

stallationswouldplaya bigroleinanycon­

flictwithChina.

The Ryukyushave oftenbeen caught

betweengreatpowers.Formost oftheir

history,theyformedanindependentking­

dom,balancedbetweenJapanandChina.

Japanannexedit onlyin1879,duringa per­

iodofimperialexpansionism.Roughlya

quarterofthecivilianpopulationperished

inthesecondworldwar.

After thewar, theAmericansstayed,

makingOkinawaa defactocolonyandex­

propriatinglandformilitarybasestosup­

portoperationsintheKoreanandVietnam

wars.Carsdroveontheright.Okinawans

useddollars,andneededpassportstovisit

mainlandJapan.ViolentcrimesbyAmeri­

can soldiers were common. Bythe late

1960s,theoccupationhadcometothreat­

enthealliancebetweenAmericaandJa­

pan.WhenAmericareturnedOkinawa,it

insistedonkeepingthebases.Inreturn,it

agreed to remove nuclearand chemical

weaponslocatedthere.

The government lavished Okinawa

with subsidies and helped build  infra­

structuresuchasportsandroads(Okinawa

alsoreceivesmoneyforhostingthe bases).

Beforethepandemichit,theislands  had

developeda boomingtourismindustry. Ta­

makiDenny,Okinawa’s62­year­old gover­

nor,recallsthatinhisyouth“there  were

mainlandbarsthatsaid,‘NoOkinawans al­

lowed.’”Now,beingOkinawaniscool. 

The relationship with America  has

evolvedtoo.Generationshavegrown  up

alongsideAmericansoldiers,forming last­

ingbondsandevenfamilies.Memoriesof

theoccupationhavefaded:many young

Okinawansknowlittleofthehardshipsen­

duredbeforethereversion.YoungerOki­

nawans are “becoming more pragmatic

andlessideological”,saysMikeMochizuki

ofGeorgeWashingtonUniversity,leading

togreateracceptanceoftheAmericanpres­

ence. Chineseaggressionhas convinced

moreOkinawansofthelogicofdeterrence.

Evenso,a majoritywouldstillliketo

seetheAmericanbasesshrink.Forpaci­

fists,Ukraine’smisfortuneisproofnotof

theneedformorepowerfuldefences,but

oftherisksofentanglementingreat­pow­

ercompetition.Evensupportersofthealli­

ance fret that large concentrations of

troopsandmateriel,andwiththemordin­

aryOkinawans,arevulnerabletoChinese

missiles.Duringa crisis,Chinamightalso

seektoexploitdivisionbetweenthemain­

landandOkinawa.

WhatunitesOkinawansacrossthepo­

liticalspectrumisthesensethatthegov­

ernmentin Tokyoignoresthem.Hawks

wouldlikeittothinkmoreabouttheirlo­

calresidents’safety.Manyothersfeelthat

itsintransigenceonthesubjectofbasesis

proofoflingeringcolonialattitudes:main­

landershavebeen sparedtheproblems,

suchasnoise,accidentsandcrime,that

come with hosting bases.

A particular irritant is Futenma, a base

in a densely populated area. After the rape

of  a  12­year­old  Okinawan  girl  by  three

American  soldiers  in  1995,  the  Japanese

government promised to move it. But engi­

neering problems have hobbled its plan to

build a replacement off the coast of a quiet­

er  part  of  the  island.  Most  Okinawans  op­

pose that plan anyway. Mr Tamaki has peti­

tioned the authorities in Tokyo to call it off.

Doing so, he says, “wouldshow they have

listened  to  our  feelings”.Thegovernment

is bent on pushing ahead.n

KUNIGAMI, OKINAWA

Fifty years after Okinawa’s reunification withJapan,itspeople

still feel cut off

Trying to get Tokyo’s attention

Ginowan

Naha

Okinawa

Ishikawa

Futenma

Marinecorps

airstation

Nago

Hedo

PACI F I C

OCEAN

East

China

Sea OKINAWA

(Japan)

Yo r o n

Kunigami

20 km

JAPAN

To k y o

AREA OF

ENLARGEMENT

CHINA

SOUTH

KOREA

SouthChina TAIWAN

US military bases Sea