THE OKINAWA PROBLEM AND OKINAWA MOVEMENT : CONTEMPORARY VIEWS AND IDENTITIES

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the contemporary scope of views and framing of the intersectional and complicated Okinawa problem and the Okinawa movement, according to the views expressed by the Okinawa movement itself. The movement is found to be long standing with historically rooted stances of resistance to the status quo of complicated Okinawa-Japan, and post war Okinawa-Japan-U.S. trilateral relations. The movement continues to campaign and protest against the broad scope of negative impacts and problems of the U.S. military base burden in the prefecture and the quagmire status quo of Okinawa-Japan-U.S. trilateral relations that are collectively widely referred to as the Okinawa problem. This paper seeks to amplify the voice of the Okinawan movement and enhance understanding of the movement’s own perspectives in the areas of society and politics in which it is concerned in its advocacy for the meaningful reduction of U.S. bases hosted in Okinawa and for equal rights and recognition for Okinawa as a prefecture of Japan. Primary source qualitative in-depth interview data and participatory observational data was collected and analyzed for the purpose of this research.

This paper concludes that the contemporary Okinawa movement has historically and continues to view the Okinawa problem as a simultaneously complex and simple problem that is highly pervasive and deeply rooted in Okinawa’s history. The movement is found to employ a diverse range of frames in its definitions and approaches to the problem, including five main fundamental frames, the wicked problem analysis frame, and six keys frames to the aspect of normalization of the problem. The movement views its landscape as flexible and containing two main component groups; the inner core group composed of participants and supporters who are local Okinawans and residents of the prefecture, and the outer solidarity support network group made up of domestic Japanese, and international participants and supporters that includes Okinawan diasporic community members.

Further research may benefit from a quantitative approach to the contemporary movement as it relates to the theorization of the phases of the third, most recent wave of Okinawan protest, as well as levels of contemporary youth engagement and strategies for maintaining the movement’s momentum and longevity. Further research may also benefit from more detailed inclusion of international expert opinions and analysis of the problem and movement, to help broaden the range of perspectives included in the discourse.