Life under Siege: Militarized Welfare in U.S.-Occupied Okinawa by Asako Masubuchi A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of East Asian Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Asako Masubuchi 2019 Life under Siege: Militarized Welfare in U.S.-Occupied Okinawa Asako Masubuchi Doctor of Philosophy Department of East Asian Studies University of Toronto 2019 Abstract This dissertation examines the formations of what I have termed “militarized welfare,” that is, the multilayered ways in which discourses and practices of protecting and promoting life became intricately and intimately connected with militarism in Okinawa through the period of U.S. administration (1945-1972). This project draws on, and aims to contribute to, roughly three fields of scholarly literature: the politics of life and death, theorized most explicitly by Michel Foucault; U.S. (and Japanese) Cold War expansionism in the Asia-Pacific; and transpacific militarism. The central argument of my thesis is that the expansion of medical welfare in Okinawa was not antithetical to militarization, but in fact enabled it. I demonstrate this complementary relationship between warfare and welfare by closely examining the lived experiences of agents and subjects of welfare in/for occupied Okinawa – missionaries, medical practitioners, patients, Okinawan diaspora, and displaced farmers. While each actor engaged in promoting and protecting life in their own right, their acts of welfare were often easily appropriated by the U.S. military and U.S. and Japanese governments to serve their respective purposes. My thesis also tries to capture the moments when this affinity between welfare and the military was destabilized by actors who closely observed the limits of medical welfare in Okinawa. Chapter 1 explores the role of American Christianity in occupied Okinawa in producing the narratives of liberation and rehabilitation to transform Okinawa into a place ii worthy of salvation in the American imagination. Chapter 2 closely examines the lived experiences of public health nurses, illustrating how the education and mobilization of public health nurses constituted part of the biopolitical strategy of the U.S. Cold War empire. Chapter 3 explores the transpacific circuits of care and relief that connected occupied Okinawa, Hawaiʻi and beyond in multifaceted ways. I argue that transpacific biopolitical projects of “nurturing life” were facilitated through the necropolitical network that simultaneously shaped the Pacific in Cold War formations. Chapter 4 focuses on the protest by displaced farmers and shows how land and life itself became an effective basis for the struggle against militarism. However, these movements were soon depoliticized through social security measures. iii Acknowledgment This dissertation is the product of my personal and scholarly encounters and conversations with numerous people who have guided and supported me throughout my journey of inquiry, including those whom I only met through historical documents. I am indebted to all of them for helping me actualize this project. I would especially like to thank the nurses, doctors, and their families in Okinawa and Hawaiʻi for sharing their valuable stories with me. Their tireless and sincere efforts to bring a better life to Okinawans, and their sharp observations of people’s lives there have always been the most powerful source of my inspiration. This dissertation could not exist in its current form without the unchanging support of my dissertation committee. First and foremost, I offer my deepest heartfelt gratitude to Professor Lisa Yoneyama for being an exceptional scholar, supervisor, and person. I first “met” her through her book when I was an undergraduate student in a university in Tokyo, and ever since, her work has been one of my most important guiding principles during my scholarly voyage. Her research has shown me how to shape questions to resonate with others who are struggling with similar predicaments. It is such a privilege to work with her; she has guided me to a rich world of scholarship and has pushed me to broaden my theoretical and disciplinary boundaries. Her careful mentorship, generosity, wisdom, and endless support and trust in me has imbued my journey towards a Ph.D. with excitement and joy. I am blessed to have her as my supervisor. I would also like to extend my thanks to Professor Takashi Fujitani for not only giving me thoughtful and stimulating feedback throughout the dissertation writing process but also for organizing workshops to create valuable opportunities for doctorate candidates to meet and share their progress. These workshops proved fruitful and revitalizing, and casual conversations with fellow writers and professors at the gatherings were glimmers of light that punctuated the often lonely labor of writing. Professor Rachel Silvey was equally a great source of encouragement, support, invaluable input, especially in the field of feminist geography. My external reviewers, Professor Ken Kawashima and Professor Keith L. Camacho at the University of California, Los Angeles, have also been indispensable to the completion of this project. It is a great pleasure and excitement to receive commentary from Professor Camacho, whose scholarly works have greatly inspired me to think about militarism and the politics of life from transpacific and transoceanic perspectives. iv Besides my committee members, Professors Janet Poole, Andrea Schmid, Shiho Satsuka, Jotaro Arimori, Yasuyo Tomita, and Ikuko Komuro-Lee, continuously gave me intellectual insights and emotional support. I would also like to thank Norma Escobar and Natasja VanderBerg for their administrative support and their efforts to ensure a welcoming and cooperative atmosphere at the Department of East Asian Studies. I’d also like to thank Fabiano Takashi Rocha at the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library for helping me to collect materials. Outside of Toronto, I am grateful to Professor Tomiyama Ichirō at Doshisha University, whose thought-provoking works on Okinawa have motivated me throughout this project. He also generously allowed me to participate in weekly workshops called Kayō-kai, where students, scholars, and activists of various backgrounds gather to freely discuss a wide range of questions about violence, colonialism, militarism, etc. I received valuable input and inspiration from these workshops. Through Kayō-kai, I was introduced to my precious comrades, Yoko Asato, Rima Higa, Kei Kohagura, Akiko Mori, and Naomi Okamoto. We spent hours and hours in Kyoto and in Okinawa, often over beer and awamori, discussing so many illuminating topics. Thanks to them, I have been able to keep my research closely connected with on-going discussions about Okinawa and Okinawa Studies. I would like to offer special thanks to Kei for his incredible support in collecting materials, without which this project would not have been feasible. The conversations with him have shaped some of the core arguments of this dissertation. I am beholden to the support offered by the Connaught International Scholarships for Doctoral Students, which made my life in Toronto possible. It was with the generous support of the Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation, School of Graduate Studies Research Travel Grant, and Dr. David Chu Scholarship in Asia Pacific Studies that I was able to conduct extensive research in Okinawa, Tokyo, and Hawaiʻi. In Okinawa, Professor Ogawa Sumiko at Meio University generously offered me valuable documents on the development of medicine and public health in Okinawa. She also introduced me to Kinjo Eiko, a former public health nurse, who shared her experiences with me. My one-month research trip in Hawaiʻi in May of 2017 was institutionally supported by the East-West Center, which accepted me as an affiliated scholar. Professor Mire Koikari at the University of Hawaiʻi provided me with great assistance by introducing me to important figures and documents. Librarian Sachiko Iwabuchi kindly taught me to access the valuable resources from the University of Hawaiʻi libraries. Dr. Satoru Izutsu, Vice Dean of the University of Hawaiʻi Medical School offered his time to educate me on the development of the University of Hawaiʻi’s Okinawa Chubu Hospital internship project. I was v fortunate to have the opportunity to meet graduate students at the University of Hawaiʻi as well. I would especially like to express my thanks to Rika Inamine for not only sharing me her stories and insights while training to be a nurse but also for introducing me to the Okinawan community in Hawaiʻi. I have greatly benefitted from presenting papers at two conferences: “The Militarism and Migration Conference” organized by the University of California, San Diego in April 2017 and “The Intersections of Colonialism and Medicine in East Asia” sponsored and organized by the University of Pittsburgh in March 2018. While all the people I met in each place were full of helpful insights and feedback, I would like to extend my gratitude to scholars who spent time on making comments on my drafts: Professor Kamala Visweswaran at the University of California, San Diego, Professor Sonja Kim at Binghamton University, and Professor Aya Homei at the University of Manchester. In addition, Professor Hiroko Matsuda at Kobe Gakuin University gave me an opportunity to write a book chapter for her edited book, Rethinking Postwar Okinawa: Beyond American Occupation (Rowman and Littlefield: Lexington Books, 2017).