Panel 5A: Reinterpreting contemporary issues derived from past Japanese expansion to the Pan-Pacific region with insights gained from Greenland-Denmark post-colonial relations Format: Paper panel in English Conveners: Naotaka Hayashi & Minori Takahashi Panel 5A abstract: We apply insights derived from reexamining the political relations between Greenland and Denmark to reinterpret consequences of the Japanese diplomacy and expansion into the Pan-Pacific region from the mid 19th century, when started full-scale modernization reformation. While Greenland has been granted the right to self-determination for a large part of its domestic affairs, the political imbalance with Denmark is still apparent in many aspects. The challenges facing Kalaallit (Inuit Greenlanders) include the formation of political identity toward Denmark, the ethical, yet sensitive reflection on past colonialism, and diplomatic policy-making as a non-nation. These challenges can resonate with issues of Japanese colonial territorial expansion, migration to Pan-Pacific countries, and post-WWII diplomacy, though social-political contexts differ. We examine how we can apply lessons learned from the Greenland-Denmark relations to cases outside Europe. For example, we argue that a parallel can be found between the stable and continuous US airbase operation in Thule with the Japanese government allowing the US military to maintain its bases in (the southernmost area in Japan). Also, the political situation in which the Kalaallit are strengthening their ethnic identity against Danish influences is comparable to a recent cultural revitalization of the Ainu (indigenous people in the northernmost region of Japan, called ). The nuanced relations between Aborigines and Coloureds in Australia can mirror the difficulties that half-Danish Greenlanders have for self-identification. More broadly, we welcome issues from other Pan-Pacific countries, such as Taiwan, to advance comparative studies of political/social bargaining.

Paper 5A.1 Minori Takahashi: Shedding new light on Okinawa from Greenland: A Comparative Study of US Military Bases Paper 5A.2 Naotaka Hayashi: Challenges facing the Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan, and the revitalization of their culture Paper 5A.3 Yuriko Yamanouchi: Globalising/domesticating the colonial responsibility Paper 5A.4 Ayako Kato: Nationality of indigenous peoples in Karafuto after World War II Paper 5A.5 Akari Konya: Postcolonial Nostalgia Toward Japan in the South Sea, Palau

Paper 5A.1 abstract Minori Takahashi: Shedding new light on Okinawa from Greenland: A Comparative Study of US Military Bases

Okinawa Prefecture, one of Japan’s local administrative units, is an area which accounts for only 0.6% of the country’s territory but in which 74% of all military bases in Japan used exclusively by the U.S. military are concentrated. In such an environment, the incumbent of Denny Tamaki has put forth, as one of his policy goals, the rearrangement and reduction of U.S. bases, with a view to realizing an Okinawa with no U.S. military installations. In his inauguration speech Tamaki demanded from both the Japanese and U.S. governments a democratic stance in which solutions would be found through a dialogue. On that occasion he proposed an initiative for the improvement of the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO), that is, the inclusion of Okinawa in the framework of SACO, which was founded in 1995 for discussing issues concerning installations and areas used by the U.S. military in Okinawa, by establishing the Special Action Committee with Okinawa (SACWO) as a venue for tripartite talks between Japan, the U.S. and Okinawa. However, the Government of Japan continues its treatment of Okinawa, which has been so heavy-handed that it has often been judged as “the military colonization of Okinawa.” The objective of this presentation is to examine how Okinawa could influence the track one diplomacy so that its initiative would not end up being just another fruitless protest of a local government or periphery. As an auxiliary line of analysis, I shall refer to the Joint Committee established through the international negotiations regarding the U.S. base in Greenland under the Igaliku Agreement, extrapolate its implications and contrast them with the case of Okinawa. What lies therein is not simply the problem of military bases and national security. It is also the problem of the structural, tripartite, synchronic and diachronic relationships between the center, quasi-periphery and periphery and the lingering influence of post-colonialism on the politics involving them.

Paper 5A.2 abstract Naotaka Hayashi: Challenges facing the Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan, and the revitalization of their culture

The past two decades have seen a dramatic shift in the Japanese government’s policy toward the Ainu, an Indigenous people mainly inhabiting Hokkaido, northern Japan. Beginning mid-19th century, the Japanese government led the full-scale expansion to Hokkaido. Hokkaido, which the Ainu inhabited before Japanese colonial migration, was a frontier rich in natural resources. Fearing Russia's southward expansion, the government felt it was urgent to take control of Hokkaido before the Ainu embraced Russia's rule. Japanese migration to Hokkaido was the process of internal colonialism and assimilation of the Ainu to Japanese society. The degree of assimilation was such that today few people speak the Ainu language fluently and that many Japanese do not notice the existence of the Ainu around them in everyday life. While the pendulum of government policy has swung toward the revitalization of Ainu culture, how they retrieve their identity as an Indigenous people is at stake. This situation makes a stark contrast with Kalaallit of Greenland who still retain some cultural elements in their everyday life, including the language, hunting tools such as dogsleds and kayaks, and customs. This paper discusses contemporary challenges facing the Ainu and compares them with those of the Kalaallit Greenlanders.

Paper 5A.3 abstract Yuriko Yamanouchi: Globalising/domesticating the colonial responsibility

The colonial responsibility of non-mainstream (often non-white) migrants in settler societies has been discussed (e.g. Hage 2001; Hokari 2003; Trask 2008). Although their migration was part of the colonial exploitation of Indigenous peoples’ resources, they also shared Indigenous peoples’ predicament of being victims of mainstream racism. In the context of Australian colonization, this paper explores the possibility of non-mainstream migrants dealing with colonial responsibility by reunifying with relatives in their ancestors’ home countries. From the 1870s to the 1960s, Japanese migrant workers flowed into northern Australia to work in the pearl-shell industry and related occupations. Since most were male and could not bring wives, many formed relationships with local Indigenous Australian women. Their relationships were alternately portrayed as exploitative, and mutually beneficial and respectful. Many of these relationships did not last due to the White Australia policy which limited the residency rights of Asian migrants, as well as the strict regulation of Indigenous Australians’ sexual relationships. Regarding mixed Japanese-Indigenous Australian descendants, this paper explores how recognition by their Japanese relatives constituted acknowledgment of their Japanese ancestors’ Australian life, potentially alleviating feelings of abandonment, (though not necessarily for children of exploitative relationships). This effected a private opening of a space for ‘reconciliation’ between offenders and victims of colonization, hinting at a potential means of approaching the consequences of Australian and other countries’ colonial legacies.

Paper 5A.4 abstract Ayako Kato: Nationality of indigenous peoples in Karafuto after World War II

With the abandonment of Japanese sovereignty over colonies based on Treaty of Peace with Japan, Japan Ministry of Justice issued an official notice that the person with Taiwanese and Korean family register lost his Japanese nationality. However, some indigenous peoples in Karafuto (territory of the in Sakhalin Island) who were registered in the Japanese colonial family like the Taiwanese and Koreans were able to live in Japanese territory as Japanese citizens without losing their Japanese nationality even after World War II. This report aims to clarify the post-colonial aspect of the indigenous peoples in Karafuto, which was an exception in the postwar treatment of Japanese colonies. The author surveyed judicial precedents and documents to reveal the judicial doctrine of Japanese nationality retention of the indigenous peoples in Karafuto. The results showed that the court in Japan admitted Japanese nationality to indigenous peoples in Karafuto because of their stateless under Soviet rule and their wishes to live in Japan. The court in Japan referred that they should be treated as Japanese citizens even if they are former colonial residents. The results indicated that Sakhalin Island was not released as hometown from Japanese colonial rule for indigenous peoples in Karafuto, who had been under the influence of Russo-Japanese rule since modern times.

Paper 5A.5 abstract Akari Konya: Postcolonial Nostalgia Toward Japan in the South Sea, Palau

The archipelago of Palau in the pacific islands of Micronesia had experienced four different periods of colonial rule: Spain(1891-1899), Germany(1899-1914), Japan(1914-1945), and the United States(1945-1994). After the islands became Japan’s colony as her mandate, “Assimilation Policy” strongly affected to the local island societies, such as through imperialization education or industrial developments. Moreover, for Palauans, it was their first time encountering so many outsiders ever in their history. In 1938, the size of the Okinawans and Japanese populations living in Palau had ballooned to twice larger than locals. Nostalgic memories of the Japanese mandate are deeply linked to a biased postcolonial discourse termed “Japanophilia.” Nostalgic stories told by Palauan elders in fluent Japanese portray the “friendliness” felt among people. Simultaneously, these stories recount tales of the “Imperialism” from long ago. However, this nostalgia is not directed toward "Imperialism" as Palauans had no way of knowing what it was, even after the war. This paper discusses the complexity and ambiguity of postcolonial nostalgia toward Japan in the contemporary Palau, finding the way how people drawing and disconnecting their colonial history between the two.