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(★)(The Battle of Okinawa, the final campaign in the Pacific War, began in March 1945. I was a student at the Okinawa Normal School at that time. Students as well as teachers at our school were mobilized into the defense forces and sent to the front under the orders of the Commanding General of the Japanese 32nd Imperial Army. Male students of twelve high schools throughout Okinawa were ordered to form the ´Tekketsu Kinno Tai´, or ´Blood and Iron Corps´. And I was one of them. We were told to defend our homeland at all cost. As Ivan Morris, a British scholar of Japanese Studies, aptly says,´The fortress of Okinawa now appeared to be the home island´s only protection from (American) invasion, and its defense was the key to whether Japan would survive as an independent nation´. The Battle of Okinawa, or ´The Typhoon of Steel´ as the Okinawans call it, almost ended on June 22, 1945 when the Japanese defense forces´ systematic resistance ceased. However it took another four months to mop up the campaign, and the terms of the Japanese forces´ unconditional surrender were officially signed by both U.S. and Japanese militaries at the 10th Army Headquarters at Kadena on September 7. During the Battle of Okinawa, Hanson W. Baldwin, a famous New York Times military historian, reported about the battle as follows : ´In retrospect, the battle for Okinawa can be described only in the grim superlatives of war. In size, scope and ferocity, it dwarfed the Battle of Britain. Never before had there been, probably never again will there be, such a vicious sprawling struggle of planes against planes, of ships against planes. Never before, in so short a space, had the Navy lost so many ships ; never before in land fighting had so much American blood been shed in so short a time in so small an area : probably never before in any three months of the war had the enemy suffered so hugely, and the final toll of American casualties was the highest experienced in any campaign against the Japanese. There have been larger land battles, more protracted air campaigns, but Okinawa was the largest combined operation, a ´no quarter´ struggle fought on, under and over sea and land.´ In this vicious battle, it was the Okinawan people who suffered the most. More than 140,000 inhabitants were killed. The vast majority were civilians caught helplessly between opposing armies. The number of civilian dead exceeded the military dead, accounting for almost one third of the island´s entire population. Indeed, in the battle of Okinawa, the Okinawan people endured one of ´the fiercest and ugliest campaigns´ of modern times. So when I escaped death by a hair´s breadth, I asked myself,´What is a war for? Who and what are we defending from whom?´ When Tokyo realized that the ´Okinawan barrier´ was utterly lost, the Emperor summoned his highest ministers of state and the military staff and suggested that the Army consider ´other means´, such as asking intermission by third country, to bring about an end to the war. The ´home islands´ must not suffer as Okinawa had suffered. Negotiations for surrender and peace had to be entered into quickly, before an assault upon Japan was made. Thus, George H. Kerr, the author of ´Okinawa, The History of an Island People´, contends : ´Okinawans had no part in formulating Japan´s military policies which led to the Battle of Okinawa, and fewer than five thousand trained Okinawan conscripts took part. Nevertheless, the Okinawan people were forced to make a hideous sacrifice on Japan´s behalf.´ He further argues : ´Fundamental ´Japanese polity´ does not hold Okinawa to be a vital part of the nation´s body ; it is expendable, under duress, if thereby the interests of the home islands can be served advantageously. The mystical Japanese sense of national identity centers in the home provinces, imperial domain (in theory, al least) since the dawn of history. Okinawa, a separate kingdom and a separate people, was annexed only in 1879. Put this bluntly, the Okinawans reject this thesis, and many Japanese are startled by it, but the records bears out such an interpretation.´ Accordingly,´Okinawa has shared the fate of many frontier territories too small and poor to attract attention in times of peace, but doomed to rise to international prominence during crises among the world powers.´ Kerr continues,´It cannot escape, the consequences of wars and revolutions in larger states nearby ; the postwar ´Okinawa problem´ was produced by events set in train long ago by accidents of geography and history.´ Pondering on these thoughts, I have frequently written essays and papers on the ´Okinawa problem.´ This volume is a compilation of these essays and papers. The G-8 Summit will be held from July 21 to 23, 2000 here in Okinawa. It is an opportunity for the Okinawan people to appeal to the world for the reduction and withdrawal of the huge U.S. military bases on this tiny island. I sincerely hope that the Summit will help realize the long cherished hopes and dreams of the Okinawan people.[from ´PREFACE´] ◆Masahide Ota, former governor of Okinawa, is a professor emeritus at the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa. At present, he is a director of Ota Peace Research Institute at Naha. He was born in Okinawa in 1925. While a student of the Okinawa, he was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army as a member of the ´Blood and Iron Student corps (Tekketsu Kinnoutai)´ organized just before the invasion of Okinawa by U.S. Forces on April 1, 1945. After the war, he went to Tokyo to attend Waseda University and graduated from the school in 1954. He then went to the United States as a scholarship student for advanced studies, receiving an MA degree in journalism from Syracuse University in New York in 1956. He has taught at the East-West Center, University of Hawaii, as a research associate (1973), and at Arizona State University as a Fulbright visiting scholar (1978). He writes many articles and more than sixty books about Okinawa, including ´The Battle of Okinawa´ ; ´THE OKINAWA MIND (Okinawa no Kokoro)´ ; ´WHO ARE THE OKINAWAN ? (Okinawajin towa Nanika)´ ; ´THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF MODERN OKINAWA (Okinawa no Seiji Kozo)´ and ´THE CONCIOUSNESS OF THE OKINAWAN PEOPLE (Okinawa no Minshu Ishiki)´ and more. ▼CONTENTS : CHAPTER 1.Re-Examining the History of the Battle of Okinawa／An Ill-prepared, Reckless War／Treating Okinawa as an Occupied Land／The ´Ground Preparation´ Strategy／The Battle Forsaken from the Outset／The Spy Incidents／What the Battle of Okinawa Teaches Us Now／ CHAPTER 2.War Momories Die Hard On Okinawa War Wounds／War Wounds／The Emperor´s Message／The Poorest Prefecture／Growing Social Distance／Accusations／ CHAPTER 3.Social Consciousness in the Ryukyus／Island of Courtesy／Low Social Awareness／Rigid Social System／Overlapping Laws／No Freedom of Speech／Mass Poverty／Underdeveloped Communications／Publication of the ´Ryukyu Shimpo´／Jahana and Civil Rights／Newspaper Feuds／Consciousness of Discrimination／Reactions to Discrimination／Okinawan Pessimism／Neglect of Local Customs／Enhancement of Political Consciousness／ CHAPTER 4.Okinawa : A North-South Problem Within Japan／Problems of the Land Used by U.S. Forces／´Base Economy´ -Heavy Local Dependence／Peace-Loving Nation in Spite of Military Pressure／The War, Sacrifice, and Tragedy／Continued Exploitation to Save Mainland Japan／ CHAPTER 5.The American Occupation of Okinawa and Postwar Reforms in Mainland Japan／Okinawa as Military Base and the Start of the American Military Government／Planning Okinawa´s Occupation／The Establishment of the U.S. Military Government／Changes in Okinawan Views of the United States／Okinawa´s Detachment and Postwar Policy Toward Japan／Conclusion／ CHAPTER 6.At the Supreme Court of Japan As the Governor of Okinawa／The Impact of the U.S. Military Bases／Origins of Forced Acquisition of Land／Land Acquisition by the American Military／The Government´s Promises and People´s Expectations／Nothing Has Changed／I Demand, Request, Wish...／ CHAPTER 7.Why Can´t We Reduce the U.S. Military Presence On Okinawa?／The Process of U.S. Military Bases Construction and the Current Situation in Okinawa／Burden of the Military Bases in Okinawa／The History of Okinawa and Mainland Japan／The Central Government´s Recent Policies Toward Okinawa／America´s View of Okinawa／Reduction of the U.S. Military Bases／Post-Return Economy／What We Ask of the United States of America／ CHAPTER 8.Speech to the American Congressional Study Group On Japan／) |
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