FOOTPRINTS IN PARADISE This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. New Directions in Anthropology General Editor: Jacqueline Waldren, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford Volume 1 Coping with Tourists: European Reactions Volume 23 Science, Magic and Religion: Th e Ritual to Mass Tourism Process of Museum Magic Edited by Jeremy Boissevain Edited by Mary Bouquet and Nuno Porto Volume 2 A Sentimental Economy: Commodity and Volume 24 Crossing European Boundaries: Beyond Community in Rural Ireland Conventional Geographical Categories Carles Salazar Edited by Jaro Stacul, Christina Moutsou and Volume 3 Insiders and Outsiders: Paradise and Helen Kopnina Reality in Mallorca Volume 25 Documenting Transnational Migration: Jacqueline Waldren Jordanian Men Working and Studying in Europe, Volume 4 Th e Hegemonic Male: Masculinity in a Asia and North America Portuguese Town Richard Antoum Miguel Vale de Almeida Volume 26 Le Malaise Créole: Ethnic Identity in Volume 5 Communities of Faith: Sectarianism, Mauritius Identity, and Social Change on a Danish Island Rosabelle Boswell Andrew S. Buckser Volume 27 Nursing Stories: Life and Death in a Volume 6 After Socialism: Land Reform and Rural German Hospice Social Change in Eastern Europe Nicholas Eschenbruch Edited by Ray Abrahams Volume 28 Inclusionary Rhetoric/Exclusionary Volume 7 Immigrants and Bureaucrats: Ethiopians Practices: Left-wing Politics and Migrants in Italy in an Israeli Absorption Center Davide Però Esther Hertzog Volume 29 Th e Nomads of Mykonos: Performing Volume 8 A Venetian Island: Environment, History Liminalities in a ‘Queer’ Space and Change in Burano Pola Bousiou Lidia Sciama Volume 30 Transnational Families, Migration, and Volume 9 Recalling the Belgian Congo: Gender: Moroccan and Filipino Women in Bologna Conversations and Introspection and Barcelona Marie-Bénédicte Dembour Elisabetta Zontini Volume 10 Mastering Soldiers: Confl ict, Emotions, Volume 31 Envisioning Eden: Mobilizing and the Enemy in an Israeli Military Unit Imaginaries in Tourism and Beyond Eyal Ben-Ari Noel B. Salazar Volume 11 Th e Great Immigration: Russian Jews in Volume 32 Tourism, Magic and Modernity: Israel Cultivating the Human Garden Dina Siegel David Picard Volume 12 Morals of Legitimacy: Between Agency Volume 33 Diasporic Generations: Memory, Politics, and System and Nation among Cubans in Spain Edited by Italo Pardo Mette Louise Berg Volume 13 Academic Anthropology and the Volume 34 Great Expectations: Imagination, Museum: Back to the Future Anticipation and Enchantment in Tourism Edited by Mary Bouquet Jonathan Skinner and Dimitrios Volume 14 Simulated Dreams: Israeli Youth and Th eodossopoulos Virtual Zionism Volume 35 Learning from the Children: Childhood, Haim Hazan Culture and Identity in a Changing World Volume 15 Defi ance and Compliance: Negotiating Edited by Jacqueline Waldren and Ignacy- Gender in Low-Income Cairo Marek Kaminski Heba Aziz Morsi El-Kholy Volume 36 Americans in Tuscany: Charity, Volume 16 Troubles with Turtles: Cultural Compassion and Belonging Understandings of the Environment on a Greek Island Catherine Trundle Dimitrios Th eodossopoulos Volume 37 Th e Franco-Mauritian Elite: Power and Volume 17 Rebordering the Mediterranean: Anxiety in the Face of Change Boundaries and Citizenship in Southern Europe Tijo Salverda Liliana Suarez-Navaz Volume 38 Tourism and Informal Encounters in Volume 18 Th e Bounded Field: Localism and Local Cuba Identity in an Italian Alpine Valley Valerio Simoni Jaro Stacul Volume 39 Honour and Violence: Gender, Power Volume 19 Foundations of National Identity: From and Law in Southern Pakistan Catalonia to Europe Nafi sa Shah Josep Llobera Volume 40 Footprints in Paradise: Ecotourism, Volume 20 Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory and Local Knowledge, and Nature Th erapies in Okinawa the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus Andrea E. Murray Paul Sant Cassia Volume 41 Living Before Dying: Imagining and Volume 21 Who Owns the Past? Th e Politics of Time Remembering Home in a ‘Model’ Bulgarian Village Janette Davies Deema Kaneff Volume 42 A Goddess in Motion: Visual Creativity Volume 22 An Earth-Colored Sea: ‘Race’, Culture in the Cult of Maria Lionza and the Politics of Identity in the Postcolonial Roger Canals Portuguese-Speaking World Miguel Vale De Almeida This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. FOOTPRINTS IN PARADISE Ecotourism, Local Knowledge, and Nature Th erapies in Okinawa Andrea E. Murray berghahn N E W Y O R K • O X F O R D www.berghahnbooks.com This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. First published in 2017 by Berghahn Books www.berghahnbooks.com © 2017 Andrea E. Murray All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Murray, Andrea E. Title: Footprints in paradise : ecotourism, local knowledge, and nature therapies in Okinawa / Andrea E. Murray. Description: New York : Berghahn Books, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2017010903 (print) | LCCN 2017015913 (ebook) | ISBN 781785333873 (eBook) | ISBN 9781785333866 (hardback : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Ecotourism—Japan—Okinawa Island. | Economic development— Japan—Okinawa Island. | Traditional ecological knowledge—Japan—Okinawa Island. Classifi cation: LCC G155.J3 (ebook) | LCC G155.J3 M87 2017 (print) | DDC 338.4/79152294—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010903 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-78533-386-6 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-78533-473-3 (open access ebook) An electronic version of this book is freely available thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. More information about the ini- tiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at knowledgeunlatched.org. is work is published subject to a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivatives 4.0 International license. e terms of the license can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. For uses beyond those covered in the license contact Berghahn Books. This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. For my grandparents, Jo and Winston Murray, who taught me the value of good old-fashioned hard work This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures viii Preface x Acknowledgments xi Introduction: “We want them to know nature!!” 1 Chapter One: Okinawa’s Tourism Imperative 15 Chapter Two: Slow Vulnerability in Okinawa 29 Chapter Th ree: Knowing and Noticing 62 Chapter Four: Ecologies of Nearness 79 Chapter Five: Healing and Nature 114 Conclusion: Yambaru Funbaru! 151 References 156 Index 167 vii This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 0.1 Map of Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan 13 Figure 1.1 Map of U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa 19 Figure 2.1 Advertisement for Habu-Mongoose Show, Nago 31 Figure 2.2a Giant Yambaru Kuina, Churaumi Aquarium, Motobu 36 Figure 2.2b Kuina in Training, Tourism Welcome Center, Kunigami 36 Figure 2.2c Cuddly Kuina Mascot at Waterfowl Festival, Naha 37 Figure 2.2d Crying Kuina, Kunigami 37 Figure 2.3a “Mongoose Northward Prevention Fence,” Yonabaru Forest, Kunigami 39 Figure 2.3b Ministry of Environment “Mongoose Busters” Extermination Program Logo 39 Figure 2.4 Tourist Habu-Mongoose T-Shirt: “A Battle of Legend” 41 Figure 2.5 Okinawan Agrotourists Harvest Sugarcane, Itoman 47 Figure 2.6 Agrotourists Operate Sugarcane Press, Itoman 48 Figure 3.1 Northern Okinawans Dine and Chat During Community Gathering, Kunigami 67 Figure 4.1 Dolphins Kiss in Caricature at Wellness Village, Motobu 87 viii This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. List of Figures Figure 4.2 “Restaurant Flipper” Invokes Okinawan Culinary Tradition, Nago 92 Figure 4.3a Volunteer Coral Gardeners on Land, Ginowan 106 Figure 4.3b Coral Polyp Transplants (3 months) 107 Figure 4.3c Coral Polyp Transplants (6 months) 107 Figure 4.3d Volunteer Coral Gardeners at Sea, Ginowan 108 Figure 5.1 Okinawans Do Forest Th erapy, Yonabaru Forest 114 Figure 5.2 Flier for Okinawans: “Treasure Box” N ature Games 119 ix This open access library edition is supported by Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale. PREFACE Social and political life on small subtropical islands is frequently shaped by the economic imperative of sustainable tourism development. In Okinawa, “ecotourism” promises to provide employment for a dwindling population of rural youth while preserving the natural environment and bolstering re- gional pride. In this volume, I consider how new subjectivities are produced when host communities come to see themselves through the lens of the visit- ing tourist. I further explore how Okinawans’ sense of place and identity