INTERVIEW/ Teruo Hiyane: Okinawa shares much in common with Asia

The following are excerpts from an interview with Teruo Hiyane, a professor emeritus of the University of the Ryukyus, who is an expert on the history of modern relations among Okinawa, Japan and Asia. He was asked to name the 10 biggest incidents in modern and contemporary history in East Asia. This is a part of a series to complement the "Impact of History--150 years in East Asia."

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The 10 biggest incidents I chose are:

1. Asia-Pacific War and the Battle of Okinawa in 1945

2. Separation of Okinawa from Japan and the start of U.S. military control of Okinawa

3. Abolition of the Ryukyu Kingdom and Japan's annexation of the Ryukyus in 1879

4. Japan--Qing dynasty dispute over the Ryukyu annexation

5. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Ryukyu problem

6. Meiji government's policy of assimilation and the emergence of Okinawan studies as a valid area of research

7. Taiwan-Korea problem and ties with Okinawa

8. Rise of the movement to restore Okinawa to Japan's control from the late 1960s

9. The escalation of the Vietnam War from the late 1960s to the early 1970s and the anti-war and Okinawan reversion movements

10. The late 1990s' struggle against "signature by proxy" to expropriate Okinawan land for U.S. military bases and the anti-U.S. bases movement

I chose these 10 events as they all involved Okinawa, which has in common with East Asia a history of much oppression. The Okinawan experience sheds light on important issues of the past century.

One important point to note about the Battle of Okinawa is that Japan's military viewed it in the same light as other battles Japanese forces fought in East Asia.

Not only did the Japanese military not protect Okinawa residents, it saw them as spies and killed them. It did the same on its war fronts in China and Southeast Asia, where the Imperial Japanese Army massacred local residents. If we view the Battle of Okinawa in this way, we can more easily understand why the horrors that happened there occurred.

After the Battle of Okinawa, Okinawa was cut off from Japan and put under U.S. military control. During the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, the United States forcibly expropriated private land in Okinawa and destroyed livelihoods in a method locals dubbed the "bayonet and the bulldozer."

In response, people started to question the meaning of the Battle of Okinawa. Japan's policy of selling off Okinawa piece by piece and U.S. hard-line policies soon led to a re-examination of history from the Meiji Era onward.

Okinawa's history goes back to the Ryukyu Kingdom. Until it was annexed by Japan, the kingdom had maintained friendly relations with the rest of Asia as part of a "Sinocentric" system, a loose organization that can be likened to an East Asian community of the time.

Under that framework, the Ryukyus' arts and literature blossomed. But the annexation severed those ties with the rest of Asia.

With the abolition of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Japan advanced its policy of assimilation. At the threshold of modern times, Okinawa simultaneously faced datsua (breaking away from Asia) and doka (assimilation). I call this process "datsua-doka." The more assimilation advanced, the more Okinawa cut off its ties with Asia.

The turning point came in 1894, when the First Sino-Japanese War began. As a result of the Japanese victory, China's Qing dynasty stopped objecting to the annexation of the Ryukyus and by and large, the dispute over control was settled.

Later, as Japan forcibly advanced assimilation in Okinawa and cut it further off from Asia, Okinawan culture came to be regarded as inferior, barbaric and uncivilized. This view helped shape Japan's perspective on the rest of Asia as well.

At the beginning of the 20th century, however, scholars such as Fuyu Iha (1876-1947) began to research and promote Okinawan studies based on the historical accounts by native Okinawans. Such studies did much to eradicate discrimination and prejudice toward Okinawa.

Around that time, anti-colonial scholars against the major Western powers emerged one after another across Asia. They are Jose Rizal (1861-1896) in the Philippines, Phan Boi Chau (1867-1940) in Vietnam and Lu Xun (1881-1936) in China.

These intellectuals shared the same ideas: How can Asia nations break away from Western rule and recover their dignity? In East Asia, the search for an answer developed into an ongoing form of historical research, and the study of Okinawa is also one of these.

The movement to revert control of Okinawa to Japan initially emerged as a form of simple nationalism after World War II. However, as the Vietnam War intensified, its nature changed.

When a B-52 bomber exploded at Kadena Air Base in November 1968, local residents became greatly alarmed. Okinawans were gradually realizing that the U.S. B-52s taking off from Okinawa bases were heading off to kill people in North Vietnam. Until the B-52 crashed and exploded, the movement for reversion to Japan had stressed Okinawa was "a victim."

However, as awareness grew that Okinawa was in effect supporting the Vietnam War, many realized they were also "perpetrators" and began standing up to join the "anti-war and reversion movement." This ultimately led to the movement against the U.S. military bases.

After World War II, ties between Okinawa and Asia were broken. However, after awareness that Okinawa had become "a perpetrator," Okinawans began to identify themselves with Asia and understand Asia.

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Teruo Hiyane is a commentator on contemporary politics.(IHT/Asahi: December 12,2007)