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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
So rank are the injustices wrought upon Okinawa, and so long continuing, that I am led to conjecture that the reason the world pays so little attention to the issues and makes such muted criticism of the governments largely responsible for the injustices must be that the situation is so complex and so little-reported as to defy understanding. Historians and political scientists pay close attention to the East China Sea, but tend to see it, and the military conflicts that occur around it, through the prism of the nation state. In what follows, I look at the present and recent past of the “Okinawa problem” through the prism of Okinawa, paying closest attention to how the Okinawan people see their recent past and present. I focus especially on the years of the (second) Abe Shinzo government (beginning December 2012).
1 Since my book with Satoko Oka Norimatsu (Resistant Islands - Okinawa versus Japan and the United States, Rowman and Littlefield, 2012) covers the years to 2012, this essay may be seen as a supplement. My essays since 2012 have appeared mainly in The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, but also in Le Monde Diplomatique (in French and other languages), Sekai (in Japanese) and as chapters in several books in English and Japanese.
2 For fuller treatment of this background, Gavan McCormack, “Ryukyu/Okinawa's Trajectory - From Periphery to Center, 1600-2015,” in Sven Saaler and Chris Szpilman, eds, Routledge Handbook of Japanese History, London and New York, Routledge, forthcoming, 2017.
3 Ibid.
4 Details in McCormack and Norimatsu, Resistant Islands.
5 Richard Falk, “Remembering Okinawa,” published in Japanese in Ryukyu shimpo, 22 August 2016 as part 39 of Satoko Oka Norimatsu's series “Seigi e no sekinin” (“Responsibility for Justice), original English version to be published in Falk's blog, https://richardfalk.wordpress.com/.
6 McCormack and Norimatsu, p. 98
7 According to Moriya Takemasa. Senior official in the Defense Agency, later Department of Defense, 1996-2007, responsible for Henoko matters, in his 2010 book Futenma kosho hiroku,” noted in “Henoko shimin 700 nin kesshu, taishu undo no seika da,” Okinawa taimusu, 25 November 2015.
8 Gavan McCormack, “Hillary in Japan - the enforcer,” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, 22 February 2009. Sakurai Kunitoshi, “The Guam treaty as a modern ‘disposal’ of the Ryukyu's,” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, 21 September 2009. http://apljf.org/-Sakurai-Kunitoshi/3223/article.html/
9 For a detailed account, McCormack and Norimatsu, Resistant Islands, 2012.
10 Quoted in Torigoe Shuntaro, “Boso suru Abe seiken - Heisei no fashizumu no ashiato,” Ryukyu shimpo, 7 December 2013.
11 “Seron chosa: Henoko chushi isetsu kyoko hantai hirogaru,” Ryukyu shimpo, 5 May and 26 August 2014.
12 Kihara Satoru, “Onaga chiji tadachi ni ‘gansho hasai kyoka’ o toikaese,” Ari no hitokoto, 14 January 2016. See also my “The Ginowan mayoral - Okinawan currents and cross-currents,” The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, February 2016.
13 “Mendan moshiire fuhatsu seifu wa Okinawa no koe o kike,” Okinawa taimusu, 27 December 2014.
14 “Kussaku sagyo ni chakushu, mohaya ‘kyofu seiji’ da, banko chushi min-i o toe,” Ryukyu shimpo, 18 August 2014. (Also posted on the web as “Abe administration signals future reign of terror in Henoko.”)
15 “Henoko umetate Beigun, ken no tachiriiri chosa o kyohi,” Okinawa taimusu, 12 March 2015.
16 See inter alia on this question Kihara Satoru's “Senso ‘ampo-ho’-ho haishi ni sansei shinai Onaga chiji,” Ari no hitokoto, 27 February 2016.
17 Police Policy Research Center and National Police Academy of Japan, “Laws and Orders relevant to Policing,” n.d., https://www.npa.go.jp/english/seisaku7/hourei1-4.pdf/
18 The sharpest critic of Onaga on this ground is Kihara Satoru. For one recent essay, “Onaga chiji wa naze ‘Takae no kidotai’ o hikiagesasenai no ka,” Ari no hitokoto, 27 August 2016.
19 Onaga, “Chinjutsusho,” 3 August 2016, Statement to Fukuoka Court, Okinawa prefecture home page, and (Galapagos) “Henoko kakunin sosho, umetate zehi de honshitsu tsuke,” Ryukyu shimpo, editorial, 3 August 2016.
20 Figures given by Onaga, “Chinjutsusho.”
21 Gavan McCormack, “’Ceasefire’ on Oura Bay: The March 2016 Japan-Okinawa ‘amicable agreement” - Introduction and six views from within the Okinawan anti-base movement,” The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 1 April 2016. http://apjjf.org/2016/07/McCormack.html/.
22 “Henoko koji, ichinen chudan, Bei kaiheitai toppu ga shogen,” Ryukyu shimpo, 17 March 2016.
23 Onaga Takeshi, “Okinawa wa shinkichi o kobamu,” Sekai, (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten), January 2016, pp. 66-74 at p. 73.
24 Onaga chiji, Abe shusho kaidan zenbun (boto hatsugen),” Okinawa taimusu, 19 May 2015.
25 Sakurai Kunitoshi, “To whom does the sea belong? Questions posed by the Henoko assessment,” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, 20 July 2015. http://apjjf.org/2015/13/29/Sakurai-Kunitoshi/4346.html/
26 For an analysis by a prominent member of the panel, delivered immediately after submission of the formal report, see Sakurai, ibid.
27 “Governor's Comment,” 13 October 2015.
http://www.pref.okinawa.lg.jp/site/chijiko/henoko/documents/revoke.pdf/
28 Press Conference by Defense Minister Nakatani, http://www.mod.go.jp/e/pressconf/2015/10/151027.html/, 13 October 2015.
29 On the 950 page document, Miyamoto Kenichi, “Okinawa no jichi to Nihon no minshushugi,” Sekai, January 2016, pp. 75-83, at p. 76. For other details see my previous texts, especially “Battle Stations - Okinawa in 2016,” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, 18 January 2016.
30 “Tokyo overturns Futenma works plan,” Japan Times, 1 November 2015.
31 “Kokoku sosho teiki, Onaga chiji kaiken,” Ryukyu shimpo, 26 December 2015.
32 Kyodo news agency reports of high-level bureaucratic/judicial collusion through a secret planning group headed by Suga Yoshihide, Chief Cabinet Secretary, and including Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio, Defense Minister Nakatani Gen, and Tezuka Makoto, head of the Justice Ministry's Litigation Bureau and a specialist in “out-of-court” settlements, were carried in Chugoku Shimbun, Okinawa Times and other papers, on March 24, under the heading (Chugoku Shimbun) “Henoko wakai no butaiura, Suga-shi shudo, gokuhi no chosei, sosho furi no kyu tenkai,” and taken up again later in articles or editorials. For a convenient resume, Kihara Satoru, Ari no hitokoto - “Wakai no butaiura - Abe seiken to saibancho ga gokuhi ni sesshoku?” Ari no hitokoto, March 25, 2016.
33 “Dai shikko sosho dai yon kai koto benron,” Ryukyu shimpo, February 16, 2016. See also discussion in Kihara Satoru, “Henoko saiban judai kyokumen (2) ‘mizukara torikesu wa riteki hanshin koi,” Ari no hitokoto, February 17, 2016.
34 Major documents, in Japanese only, are to be found on the Okinawa prefecture home page, including both the January 29 conciliation proposal and the March 4 agreement. See (for the former) Chiji koshitsu Henoko shin kichi kensetsu mondai taisakuka, “Heisei 28 nen 1-gatsu 29 nichi ni saibansho ga teishi shita wakai-an.”
35 It is not clear exactly what Judge Tamiya was referring to but he was most likely making oblique reference to the need to get the US to agree to a revision of the status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).
36 Nakasone Isamu, “Henoko” The ‘amicable settlement’,” in “‘Ceasefire’ on Oura Bay” op. cit.
37 Chiji koshitsu Henoko shin kichi kensetsu mondai taisakuka, “Wakai joko,” 4 March 2016.
38 The tortuous prose of this Article 9 confirmed several courtroom oral exchanges to the same effect. Onaga was repeatedly asked for assurances. “Will you abide by the judgement?” to which he replied, repeatedly “Shitagau” (I will follow it.).
39 “Chiji, haiso demo kengen koshi, Henoko sesei shiji, keiso-i ni uttae e,” Ryukyu shimpo, March 9 2016.
40 Quoted in Kihara Satoru, “‘Chiji kengen koshi’ no shikinseki wa shonin no ‘tekkai’,” Ari no Hitokoto, 10 March 2016.
41 Reiji Yoshida, “Tokyo settles lawsuits, halts landfill at Henoko,” Japan Times, March 4, 2016.
42 “Ken, keiso-i ni fufuku moshide ‘zesei shiji’ no torikeshi kankoku motome,” Ryukyu shimpo, March 14, 2016.
43 “Henoko isetsu, keiso-shori i ni shinsa moshide hasso, Okinawa ken,” Asahi shimbun, March 14, 2016.
44 “Keiso-i handan wa yosoku konnan,” Okinawa taimusu, November 2, 2015.
45 “Shin kichi ‘sodai na guko,’ chiji, keiso-i de umetate hihan, kuni ‘shonin ni kasha nai’,” Ryukyu shimpo, April 23, 2016.
46 “Panel refrains from supporting Okinawa in base relocation spat,” Mainichi shimbun, June 18, 2016.
47 “Keiso-i tekihi handan sezu, jichi o kobamu kuni e no keikoku da,” Ryukyu shimpo, June 18 2016. For documents from the hearings, see Okinawa prefecture home page: http://www.pref.okinawa.lg.jp/site/chijiko/henoko/
48 “Abe looks down nose at Okinawa despite court's advice on issue,” Asahi Shimbun, 10 March 2016.
49 “Okinawa, Henoko sosho, chiji ‘zesei shiji ukeru iwarenai’,”NHK News web, 5 August 2016.
50 Matsunaga Kazuhiro, quoted in “Henoko, iho kakunin sosho, Okinawa ken wa zenmen-teki ni arasou shisei, jokoku fukamaru ugoki mo,” Okinawa taimusu, 20 August 2016.
51 Medoruma Shun, “’Wakai’ o kangaeru - fukutsu no shimin undo kuni ugoku,” Okinawa taimusu, 21 March 2016.
52 For Ota's speech, see Chalmers Johnson, ed., Okinawa: Cold War Island, Cardiff Ca: Japan Policy Research Institute, 1999. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0967364205/
53 “Futenma soon sosho, seiji kokka to ieru no ka,” Ryukyu shimpo, June 12, 2015. See also “Futenma soon sosho’ iho jotai o hochi suru na,” Okinawa taimusu, June 12, 2015.
54 Details on this and the following cases, in “’All Japan’ versus ‘All Okinawa’ - Abe Shinzo's military firstism,” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, 16 March 2015. On Shimabukuro Fumiko, “Henoko 85-sai josei kega, ichiji ishiki ushinau,” Ryukyu shimpo, 22 November 2014
55 “’Keitokuho de futari taiho’ shinjigatai futo kosoku, naze,” editorial, Okiinawa taimusu, 24 February 2015.
56 Urashima Etsuko, “Medoruma Shun shi ga futo taiho,” Shukan kinyobi, 8 April 2016, pp. 7-8.
57 Ando Kenji, “Kono kuni wa zentaishugi ni ippo ippo susunde iru, Hyakuta Naoki ni Ryukyu shimpo to Okinawa times ga hanron,” The Huffington Post, 2 July 2015.
58 Discussed in Gavan McCormack, “To the Courts! To the streets! Okinawa at December 2015,” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, 7 December 2015. http://apljf.org/-Gavan-McCormack/4405/
59 Gavan McCormack, “To the courts! To the streets,” op. cit.
60 “Kube 3-ku kofukin, Seiken no ichite wa gyaku koka unda,” Ryukyu shimpo, November 30, 2015. See also “Kuhe 3-ku kofu yoko o sakutei, kaku-ku ni 1300-man en,” Ryukyu shimpo, November 27 2015.
61 Takeda Shinichiro, professor of administrative law at Seikei University, quoted in Suzuki Takuya, Uechi Kazuki, Yoshida Takushi, “Seiken, Henoko 3 chiku ni chokusetsu shinkohi no shishutsu, ken, machi no atamagoshi ni,” Asahi shimbun, October 26, 2015.
62 For detailed analysis, Gavan McCormack, “Battle stations - Okinawa in 2016,” and “The Ginowan mayoral - Okinawan currents and counter-currents,” op. cit.
63 “Sakima-shi saisen, Abe shusho ‘yukizukurareta’, Suga-shi wa chiji hihan,” Okinawa taimusu, 26 January 2016.
64 Despite the dismissal at the hands of the Okinawan electorate, Abe decided to retain Shimajiri as deputy (hosakan) to the newly appointed Minister (her successor), Tsuruho Yosuke. (“Shimajiri-shi ga hosakan ni, Okinawa sho ni jogen, eikyoryoku hoji,” Ryukyu shimpo, 10 August 2016.)
65 “Marines won't leave Futenma till new base built,” Japan Times, 12 April 2014. Pacific Commander Admiral [Samuel] Locklear told a senate hearing the same (“‘Gonen inai teishi hitei’ kyoko no tanpo to shonin no tsumi,” Okinawa taimusu, 13 April 2014.
66 Boeisho, “Beigun saihen zainichi Beigun no churyu ni kansuru shisaku,” http://www.mod.go.jp/j/publication/wp/wp2013/pc/2013/pdf/25020305.pdf (April 2013).
67 Heianna Sumiyo, “Henoko shin kichi kassoro chakko wa 2024 nendo, Futenma henkan wa 25 nendo igo da,” Okinawa taimusu, 23 January 2016
68 Admiral Harry Harris, Commander-in-Chief US Pacific Forces, Congressional evidence quoted in “Beigun no honne, hirogaru hamon, Bei shireikan no Henoko isetsu okure hatsugen,” Okinawa taimusu, 3 March 2016.
69 Quoted in Heianna Sumiyo,”Harisu Beigun shireikan ‘hantai undo kakudai shite iru’ Nakatani shi ni Henoko okure ken-en tsutatsu,” Okinawa taimusu, 25 February 2016.
70 Shimada Manabu, “Henoko isetsu ‘isogaba maware’ kuni, sosho ipponka e Okinawa-ken to wakai shikirinaoshi ni ‘shosan,’ Bei mo rikai,” Nihon keizai shimbun, 14 March 2016.
71 Heianna Sumiyo, “Obama daitoryo Henoko okure o yonin ‘shibaraku ugokanai no da na,” Okinawa taimusu, 20 March 2016.
72 Heianna Sumiyo, “Obama daitoryo Henoko okure o yonin ‘shibaraku ugokanai no da na,” Okinawa taimusu, 20 March 2016.
73 SLAPP: Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. Lawsuit filed by the state to secure
an order restraining citizen protest. For background on the Osprey deployment and Takae, McCormack and Norimatsu, Resistant Islands, pp. 167-172.
74 “Chakurikudai senko teikyo, hajisubeki taibei juzoku da, editorial, Ryukyu shimpo, 19 February 2015.
75 According to Okinawa Defense Bureau, quoted in Jon Letman, “Fighting to save a remote Okinawan forest,” Honolulu Civil Beat, 12 August 2016.
76 “Higashi-son de Noguchigera mado ni shotsushi, kotoshi yon-wa me,” Oknawa taimusu, 29 October 2014.
77 “Chakurikudai hantai, Takae 80%, sansei kaito wa zero, Honshi ga 2-ku jumin anketo,” Ryukyu shimpo, 3 August 2016.
78 “Ho keishi no chakurikudai koji ‘hochi kokka no na ni ataesezu,” Ryukyu shimpo, 2 August 2016.
79 Watase Natsuhiko and Morizumi Takashi, “Kyukyu hanso tsuzuku kogi genba,” Shukan kinyobi, 5 August 2016, pp. 42-43.
80 Ryota Nakamura, “Riot squad sent to subdue Takae protesters similar in scale to that sent to eradicate yakuza gangsters,” Ryukyu shimpo, 18 July 2016.
81 Quoted in Letman, op. cit.
82 Okinawa Kengikai, “Beigun hokubu kunrenjo heripaddo kensetsu ni kansuru ikensho,” 21 July 2016.
83 VFP (Veterans for Peace), “Emergency resolution opposing arbitrary resumption of helipad construction at Takae, Okinawa,” adopted 14 August 2016. Text (in English) reproduced in Okinawa taimusu, 16 August 2016. (Two resolutions were adopted, one for Henoko, the other for Takae.)
84 On Yonaguni, Gavan McCormack, “The end of the postwar? The Abe government, Okinawa, and Yonaguni Island,” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus, December 5, 2014. http://apljf.org/2014/12/49/Gavan-McCormack/4233.html/
85 “Miyako rikuji haibi jumin no fuan ni mukiae,” Okinawa taimusu, editorial, 16 June 2016.
86 “Japan to deploy 500 GSDF troops on Ishigaki Island,” Japan Times, 29 November 2015. “200 protesters surround Ishigaki City Hall to oppose SDF deployment,” Ryukyu shimpo, 14 June 2016.
87 Detailed accounts in Okinawan and some national media from late May. For the message from the victim's father, “’Zen kichi tekkyo o’, higaisha no chichioya ga Okinawa kenmin taikai ni messeji,” Ryukyu shimpo, 20 June, 2016.
88 “Moto kaiheitai-in no Beigunzoku ni yoru josei shitai o iki jiken ni kansuru ikensho,”. 26 May 2016, http://www.pref.okinawa.jp/site/gikai/documents/h285gatu26nitiikensyo.pdf//
89 Kihara Satoru, “Okinawa Beigunzoku josei satsugai (2) Onaga shi wa chiji ni fusawashii ka,” Ari no hitokoto, May 22 2016. http://blog.goo.ne.jp/satoru-kihara/
90 Maedomari Hiromori, “Towareru kenmin no honkido,” Ryukyu shimpo, 30 May 2016.
91 Lawrence Repeta, “Construction of an outlaw base in Henoko,” Japan Times, 15 November 2015
92 Gavan McCormack, “To the courts! To the streets!” op. cit.
93 The discovery of 17 culturally significant earthen and stone ware objects in the Oura Bay site vicinity was announced in November 2015. Ibid.
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