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Okinawa and the Revamped US-Japan Alliance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Gavan McCormack
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George and Junichiro, two great buddies (if the Japanese media is to be believed) meet again, on 15 and 16 November, in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto. Since Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro is one of the dwindling band of ever-faithful Bush supporters, and since officials on both sides have been working hard to clear away all possible obstacles from the negotiating table between them, the mood may be expected to be warm: Japanese troops will remain in Iraq till September 2006; the ban on US beef imports, till recently cause of great congressional anger, is about to be lifted; the Japanese Post Office, sitting on the world's largest pool of funds, is about to be privatized; and, perhaps most important, a deal has just been done on the re-organization of US forces in Japan. The ground should therefore be clear for an untroubled meeting, plenty of windy rhetoric about the world's “closest and most important” relationship, some photo-ops, and perhaps some quiet tippling under the red and yellow-hued autumn foliage of the old Kyoto palace.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 3 , Issue 11 , November 2005 , e20
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

References

Notes

[1] See my previous essays, “Koizumi's Japan in Bush's World” and “Koizumi's Kingdom of Illusion”.

[2] “Beigun 66 nen ni no keikaku,” Asahi shimbun, 4 November 2005. Okinawan architect and activist Makishi Koichi has posted key US archival documents on this plan on his blog.

[3] See Gavan McCormack, “Okinawa and the structure of dependence,” Glenn D. Hook and Richard Siddle, eds, Japan and Okinawa - Structure and Subjectivity, London and New York, RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, pp. 93-113.

[4] Urashima Etsuko, a local activist, author, and environmentalist, has written a powerful chronicle of the local movement in the monthly journal Impakushon. Her final chapter details recent events: Urashima Etsuko, “Zoku - Okinawa dayori - furidashi ni modoru,” Impakushon, No 149, October 2005, pp. 108-115.

[5] Kanako Takahara, “Japan, U.S. agree on a new Futenma site,” Japan Times, 27 October 2005.

[6] Full text of the Interim Agreement in Asahi Shimbun, 30 October 2005.

[7] Asai Motofumi, “Bigun kichi hantai ni okeru shiten tenkan o,” Ryukyu shimpo, 6 November 2005.

[8] Interview, Nago, 5 November 2005.

[9] Asahi shimbun, 9 November 2005.

[10] Opinion surveys, Okinawa Times, 14 September 2004; Ryukyu shimpo, 22 June 2005; and Okinawa Times, 5 November 2005.

[11] “Engan-an ‘hantai’ 72% Futenma isetsu,” Okinawa Times, 15 November 2005.

[12] Hiyane Teruo, “Kawaru kokka zo - Okinawa no kiki,” Ryukyu shimpo, 7 and 8 November 2005.

[13] Koji Taira, “The Okinawan charade: The United States, Japan and Okinawa: Conflict and Compromise, 1995-1996,” Japan Policy Research Institute, Working Paper, No 28, January 1997.

[14] Ota Masahide, lecture, International Christian University, Tokyo, 14 November 2005.

[15] “Kyoken - Okinawa neraiuchi/hanron fusatsu ni tsuyoi ikari,” Okinawa Times, 27 October 2005.

[16] Hiyane, cit,

[17] “Kyoken,” Okinawa Times, 27 October 2005.

[18] In focusing here on the distinctive Okinawan experience, I set aside the rising resentment and anger in other prefectures, notably Yamaguchi and Kanagawa, over the burdens assigned them in the new military arrangements.

[19] BBC, 6 August 1998, quoted in Aurelia George Mulgan, “Managing the US base issue in Okinawa: A test for Japanese democracy,” Working Paper No 2000/1, Department of International Relations, Australian National University, Canberra, January 2000.

[20] See, for example, Hamazato Masashi, Sato Manabu, and Shimabukuro Jun, Okinawa jichishu - anata wa do kangaeru? Okinawa jichi kenkyukai, Naha, 2005.

[21] Medoruma Shun, Okinawa sengo zero nen, Tokyo, NHK seikatsu shinsho, 2005, p. 189.