Collaborative Post:  History

Photo of marines in Okinawa during WWII

On Wednesday, we were required to attend a military “newcomers briefing” to the island.   Overall it provided us with helpful information for getting settled.  We especially appreciated the message from the General that encouraged empathy and understanding by explaining some of Okinawa’s history and the history behind the military’s presence here.

 Okinawa was the main island in the Ryukyu Kingdom from around 1400 to 1800 during which the closest trading partner and largest influence on the culture was China.  During the early 1800s Japan started to exert more influence over the Ryukyu Kingdom and made it part of Japan.  During WWII the people of Okinawa felt that they were not given adequate support from Japan and were treated like a “speed bump” for the invasion of Japan by America.  During the battle of Okinawa nearly 1/3 (200,000) of the population was killed.  After World War II the US government was in charge of Okinawa.   Twenty-seven years later in 1972, rule of the Island was returned to Japan however, the US military continues to be a strong presence on the island.  Seventy-five percent of US military occupation in all of Japan is found on the island of Okinawa.  To put this in perspective, if the United States were Okinawa, Japanese military would occupy the state of Texas, North Dakota, South Carolina, and two other states.  On top of that, in 1997 and 2012 one of the Japanese military members would have gone into Oklahoma and raped a young American girl (referring to 2 cases in ’97 & ’12 where an American marine raped an Okinawan woman).  As a result, it is typical to see Okinawans holding protests against US military presence on the island one to two times per month. 

Protest against military aircraft after crash in Okinawa, 2012

All of this history was explained to express the need for positive American ambassadors in every exchange on and off-base and to help military members and their families better understand the Okinawan culture and the dislike of American occupation.