Island of Military Bases (Ebook)
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1 By John Michael Purves © 2001 by John Michael Purves [email protected] 2 Island of Military Bases: A Contemporary Political and Economic History of Okinawa An electronic book (e-book) © 2001 John Michael Purves Cover Artwork "Sokoku Fukki no e" by S. Tamanaha, Fukki Mondai Kenkyu, Vol. 1, 1968. The Island of Military Bases: A Contemporary Political and Economic History of Okinawa e-book is distributed as a public information resource. Permission is granted for individual and/or classroom use and reproduction on condition the author's intellectual property rights to the original materials are respected. In the case that quotes from sections are intended for publication the express written permission of the author must be obtained. In this regard, e-mail is acceptable and perhaps most convenient. A copy of the published article should be sent to the author at the postal address below. In terms of organizing footnotes and/or bibliographical references for this 'e-book' please follow whatever stylistic conventions exist in your area of origin. Island of Military Bases: A Contemporary Political and Economic History of Okinawa is founded on the thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Relations at the International University of Japan, Niigata Prefecture, on 15th May, 1995, and on preliminary research as a doctoral candidate at the Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University, in 1996. The Introduction, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, and Conclusion are presented essentially as was in the original MA thesis text. Chapter Four was researched and written at the same time as other sections but not included in the final submitted text. Chapter One was written during 1996. This current text has previously only been available in online form through The Contemporary Okinawa Website (niraikanai.wwma.net/index.html) the author established in 1995 and continues to maintain. Please feel free to send observations, criticisms, or whatever, regarding this e-book to the author at: [email protected] John Michael Purves - 13th February, 2001 Yoshinaga Heights Apt #202, Aza-Kin 742 Kin-Cho, Kunigami-Gun, Okinawa-Ken 904-1201 Japan © 2001 by John Michael Purves [email protected] 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 CHAPTER I: From the Sanzan Era to the Pacific War I-1 Geography and Climate 6 I-2 The Evolution of Okinawan National Self-Identity 7 I-3-1 The First Period: “From Obscurity to ‘Discovery’” 11 I-3-2 The Second Period: ‘An Economy of Transit’ 18 I-3-3 The Third Period: ‘One Nation, Two Masters’ 23 I-3-4 The Fourth Period: ‘The Ryukyus Consumed’ 32 CHAPTER II: The Evolution of the Japan-US Security Alliance System II-1 The Evolution of the Security Alliance System 50 II-2 Transforming Okinawa into the "Keystone of the Pacific" 58 II-3 Mutual Cooperation and Security 60 II-4 The Vietnam War and Okinawa's Bases 65 II-5 The Reversion of Okinawa to Japan 68 II-6 Okinawa's Bases in the Post-Reversion Era 74 II-7 Post-Cold War Okinawa 83 CHAPTER III: Postwar Okinawan Politics and the Military Base Factor III-1 Okinawan 'Political Culture' 87 III-2 Early Postwar Okinawan Politics 89 III-3 Post-Peace Treaty Okinawan Politics 93 III-4 The Rise and Rise of the Reversion Movement 105 III-5 The Reversion of Okinawa to Japan 115 III-6 Okinawan Political Movements in the Post-Reversion Era 122 III-7 Patterns of Resistance and Accommodation 124 CHAPTER III: The Postwar Okinawan Economy IV-1 The Economy of Scarcity 132 IV-2 The Postwar Okinawan Economy 133 IV-3 Convergence and Divergence 138 IV-4 Economic Progress and the Shift to Long-Term Planning 146 IV-5 High Economic Growth: The Third "Golden Age" of the Ryûkyûs? 154 IV-6 The 'Reversion Shock:' Anxieties and Realities 159 IV-7 The Promotion and Development of the Okinawan Economy 162 IV-8 Post-Cold War Okinawa: The Prospects for Economic Self-Reliance 168 CONCLUSION 176 BIBLIOGRAPHY 187 © 2001 by John Michael Purves [email protected] 4 INTRODUCTION “Okinawa: Island of Bases” On 27th February, 1995, the United States Department of Defence once more reaffirmed the importance of maintaining a strong military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. This policy announcement went contrary to reports published in 1990 and 1992 which suggested that it was planning to continue substantially reducing its troop deployment in the region in line with the collapse of the Soviet Union and with defence budget cuts. Between 1990 and 1994 the number of US military personnel in the region had been cutback from 135,000 to 100,000. According to the Department of Defence's US Security Strategy for the East Asia-Pacific Region, "Post-Cold War reductions have been accomplished; no further changes in war fighting capability are currently planned; the United States will maintain a force structure requiring approximately 100,000 personnel in Asia." Most of these forces, some 89% will continue to be deployed at US military bases in South Korea (37%), Guam (7%), and Japan (45%). The Defence Department also stressed that of all of the United States' military commitments in the region the security alliance with Japan is the "linchpin of US security policy in Asia." It relies on access to Japanese bases and Japanese support for US operations. Japanese "support" for a continued US presence in the region is not merely moral. Japan provides the US with whatever land and facilities its forces require undertaking their designated duties, and continues to donate a hefty financial contribution each year towards the operating costs of those facilities. Japan is "by far the most generous host-nation," and its financial support makes it "less expensive to the American taxpayer to maintain...[its]...forces forward- deployed than in the United States." Thus, the military status quo in Japan will persist into the 21st century. Whilst this renewed commitment on the part of the US to remain a "Pacific power" was warmly welcomed by the Japanese Government, this reaction was not necessarily mirrored in Okinawa Prefecture, where many people had been hoping for a reduction in the American military presence rather than a continuation at the same level. There is a marked disparity in the extent of military base and troop deployment on the Japanese mainland and its southernmost prefecture. The entire land area of Okinawa Prefecture constitutes only 0.6% of Japan's total land area (roughly the same relationship in size as that of Rhode Island and California). Within that tiny portion of the Japanese Archipelago, however, 75% of all the American military installations in the exclusive use of the United States forces in Japan and 61.5% of all troops are located. Furthermore these bases are not distributed throughout the Prefecture, instead they claim 20% of the land on the main island of Okinawa (including Iejima), most of which was prime arable land. This disparity could then lead one to conclude that it is in fact Okinawa, rather than Japan as a whole, that is the "linchpin" of US security policy in Asia. It may have been the case that there was a reasonable balance in terms of troop deployment and base facility levels between the Japanese mainland and Okinawa at an earlier stage in the evolution of the Japan-US security alliance, but this is clearly not the case now. Although Okinawa Prefecture was returned to Japanese control on 15th May, 1972, after 27 years of American military occupation, and although the Cold War officially became a part of twentieth century history in 1989, there has been no substantial restructuring and reduction of the American presence in the islands. A 25% decrease in the overall American military presence in the Asia-Pacific region between 1990 and 1994 has not affected Okinawa's bases. Over the last 15 years there has been only a 7% reduction in the number of troops deployed in Okinawa and a 5% increase © 2001 by John Michael Purves [email protected] 5 in the number deployed on the Japanese main islands. These changes are routine and consistent with a "flexible" US security strategy in which small numbers of troops have their duties and stations rotated. As such, they represent no fundamental shift in policy. The Governments of both Japan and the United States are content to leave the current system intact. Given that security policy remains exclusively under national government sovereignty and that Okinawa Prefecture is only one of 47 "local" or provincial districts, the Prefectural Government and the local population have great difficulty in influencing the current status quo. © 2001 by John Michael Purves [email protected] 6 CHAPTER I Okinawa’s History from the “Sanzan” Era to the Pacific War I-1. Geography and Climate Okinawa is the largest island in the Ryukyu Archipelago: a chain of more than 160 islands which stretch the approximately 1300 kilometres between the southernmost tip of Kyushu (Japan) and Taiwan (The Republic of China).1 Okinawa Island has a total land area of 1,199 square kilometres. Okinawa is also the name given to the fourth smallest administrative unit, or prefecture, of the forty- seven that constitute the modern Japanese State.2 Okinawa Prefecture was established in 1879, and consists of some 70 of the Ryukyu Islands furthest from Kyushu. The remaining islands in the chain became part of Kagoshima Prefecture in the same year. Okinawa Prefecture may further be broken down into the three geographically dispersed island groups of Yaeyama, Miyako and Okinawa. The Yaeyama Island group, which includes Ishigaki, Yonaguni, Iriomote, and the Daioyu or Senkaku Islands,3 lies furthest from Japan.