Oral History of Broadcasting Start from Scratch: Living the Broadcasting History of Post-War Okinawa Chosei Kabira, Former President of Okinawa Hoso Kyokai (OHK) [Okinawa Public Broadcasting System] December 2018 Isao Yoshida Kyoko Hirotani NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute Media History Research 1 Abstract The series “Oral History of Broadcasting” has been conducting interviews with an aim to trace the history of broadcasting from the testimonies of people involved in broadcasting by adopting the research methodology of oral history. This paper features the broadcasting history of post-war Okinawa. After WWII, Okinawa came under the direct rule of the U.S. military forces and was totally detached from the mainland Japan in terms of politics, economy, and legal system, which was extended to social and cultural aspects. Broadcasting history was no exception: how it began and how it developed was entirely different from that in the mainland Japan. In the ruins where broadcast function had been completely lost, a radio broadcast service was launched from scratch by the U.S. military and gradually evolved into an established entity while being tossed up and down by the Japanese and U.S. governments as well as social landscapes. Here is a person who has been deeply involved in the process, experiencing each critical stage: Chosei Kabira, former President of Okinawa Hoso Kyokai (OHK) [Okinawa Public Broadcasting System]. Mr. Kabira is a rare figure who has been involved in broadcasting all the way from the launch of broadcasting in the post-war period to the reversion of Okinawa to Japan. This paper focuses on how Chosei Kabira thought and acted at each phase as an individual broadcaster and what prompted him to do so, as an attempt to vividly elucidate the history of broadcasting in Okinawa. Introduction The series “Oral History of Broadcasting” has been conducting interviews with an aim to trace the history of broadcasting from the testimonies of people involved in broadcasting by adopting the research methodology of oral history. This paper features the broadcasting history of postwar Okinawa (hereinafter honorific titles omitted)1). After WWII, Okinawa came under the direct rule of the U.S. military forces and was totally detached from mainland Japan in terms of politics, economy, and legal system, which was extended to social and cultural aspects. Broadcasting history was no exception: how it began and how it developed was entirely different from that in mainland Japan. In ruins after the devastation of war, a broadcasting service was launched in Okinawa from scratch and developed, buffeted by the intents of the U.S. and Japanese governments and social landscapes. Here is a person who has been deeply involved in the process, experiencing each critical stage: Chosei Kabira, 91, former president of Okinawa Hoso Kyokai (OHK) [Okinawa Public Broadcasting System]. Chosei Kabira is a rare figure who has been involved in broadcasting all the way from the launch of broadcasting in the postwar period to the reversion of Okinawa to Japan. He, together with his brother Choshin Kabira, strived to create a broadcasting station for the people of Okinawa, and became very popular as the first radio announcer in Okinawa after WWII. Later, as an executive of the broadcasting station, he was in charge of not only the management and production but also negotiating with the U.S. military. He played a 2 major role in establishing the Okinawa Hoso Kyokai and became its first president. Not many studies have been carried out on the history of broadcasting in postwar Okinawa. Although there are excellent literature such as “Broadcasting History of Postwar Okinawa” by Etsujiro Miyagi and the “History of Okinawa Hoso Kyokai” (Okinawa Hoso Kyokai Documentary Literature Preservation Research Group), the history has not been sufficiently recorded looking at it from the eyes of those directly involved in broadcasting: what their intent was and how they acted. So, in this paper, we focused on how broadcasting in Okinawa transformed, and divided the time between right after WWII till Okinawa’s return to Japan into five phases (see table). And in each phase, we looked at how Chosei Kabira, who was involved in Chosei Kabira The Kabira family are descendants of the Ryukyu Dynasty and Chosei was born in 1927 in Taiwan, where the family had moved to, to Chohei (father) and Tsuruko (mother), as the youngest of seven children. He was called into military service when he was a student at Taihoku Higher School but the war ended six months later. The family went back to Okinawa, and he was instrumental, together with his elder brother Choshin, in starting broadcasting in postwar Okinawa. After studying at Michigan State University in the United States, he went back to Okinawa and married Wandalee Weaver, an American. He filled various posts such as the director of broadcasting and executive director at Ryukyu Broadcasting Corporation and became the first president of Okinawa Hoso Kyokai (Okinawa Public Broadcasting System). He was president until OHK merged with NHK. At NHK, he worked as an executive in charge of management. After retirement, he was professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Culture, Showa Women’s University. Currently, he is honorary director and professor emeritus of the above university. 3 table : Outline of broadcasting history in postwar Okinawa 1945-1972 Phase One The “Forgotten Island” 1945-1947 Was occupied by U.S. forces, and direct rule starts. Military rule was in confusion and residents were in poverty. Phase Two The age of “government (military) run broadcaster” 1948-1953 U.S. positions Okinawa as the “Linchpin of the Pacific,” and increases its importance. U.S. rethinks military rule in Okinawa. U.S. opens new broadcasting station for the people of Okinawa. (U.S. bears all cost for facilities and network) Phase Three The age of a semi-governmental broadcaster 1954-1957 Japan recovers its independence and as a measure against communist countries, the United States declares “indefinite possession” of U.S. bases in Okinawa. Broadcasting station becomes semi-government owned to reduce costs of ruling Okinawa. (Ryukyu Broadcasting took a special form where the station was operated by a private entity, but the U.S. owned the facilities) Phase Four The age of commercial broadcasting and television 1958-1966 Confiscation of land by the U.S. military erupted into demonstrations against the military by all of Okinawa→intensified movements for the reversion of Okinawa to Japan. Ryukyu Broadcasting buys radio facilities from the U.S. → a step toward becoming a “truly” private company. Okinawa Television and Ryukyu Broadcasting starts television broadcasts. Radio Okinawa starts. With the opening of Japan-Okinawa microwave link, television broadcasts are sent directly from Japan to Okinawa. →”Television fever” heats up in Yaeyama, Miyako, and other islands. →Reorganizing of commercial broadcasters and the need of public broadcasting proposed Phase Five The age of co-existence of public and commercial broadcasters 1967-1972 Japanese and U.S. governments move toward the reversion of Okinawa→Residents’ movement for “Okinawa without bases” intensifies. Commercial broadcasters (Okinawa Television, Ryukyu Broadcasting, Radio Okinawa) and public broadcaster (Okinawa Hoso Kyokai) co-exist. (Compiled based on “The Broadcasting History of Postwar Okinawa”) 4 broadcasting at the time, thought, acted, and what was behind his actions, aiming to draw a three dimensional picture of the history of broadcasting in Okinawa. As a prerequisite, we’ll like to take a look at Taiwan, where Chosei Kabira was born and raised, until immediately after WWII. He came to know and was involved in broadcasting in Taiwan before the war, and that experience is thought to have had a major influence on his founding the broadcasting service in Okinawa. 1. Prologue 1927 – 1947 Starting from Taiwan, a “forerunner” in broadcasting Chosei Kabira was born in 1927 in Taiwan, which was under Japanese rule at the time. His parents and family moved to Taiwan from Okinawa, so both places were home to him. And we found intriguing facts by comparing the broadcasting environment of these two places back then. Taiwan was colonized by Japan in 1895 and radio test broadcasting began there in June 1925, only three months after broadcasting began in Japan. In 1928, a broadcasting station in the city of Taihoku was opened by the Governor-General’s Office to broadcast the coronation ceremony of Emperor Showa, and regular broadcasting began in January 1931. After that, the Taiwan Hoso Kyokai (Taiwan Broadcasting Corporation) was established in February as an incorporated association. There were few subscribers to radio broadcasting back then, but radio ownership grew quickly among Japanese residents, and by fiscal 1941, the penetration rate was some 50 percent, which about equals that in mainland Japan2). Now let’s look at the situation in Okinawa. The “Okinawa Broadcasting Station, long- awaited by some 600,000 people of Okinawa”3) was founded in March 1942, 11 years after radio services started in Taiwan. Even after radio broadcasts began in Okinawa, not many people owned radios. Not only was the ownership rate the lowest in the nation, the “gap between other prefectures was too large to easily fill.”4) This meant that, if you look at the broadcasting environment alone, Chosei Kabira was lucky enough to be born and raised in Taiwan, where radio broadcasts were easily accessible, rather than in his parents’ homeland of Okinawa. In addition, his brother Choshin’s involvement in broadcasting had a lot to do with what happened later on. The Kabira family moved to Taiwan from Okinawa in 1925 for financial reasons5). Back then, many Okinawans moved to Taiwan to find jobs. Chosei had three brothers much older than him, who in Chosei’s words “not blindly loved him but competed with each other to show their affection for him.” The eldest brother, Choshin, was 18 years older than Chosei.