Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Resistant Islands: Okinawa Confronts Japan and the United States (Asia/Pacific/Perspectives)

Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Resistant Islands: Okinawa Confronts 

Japan and the United States (Asia/Pacific/Perspectives)

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4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars
ByAmazon Customeron January 17, 2017
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I want to order another copy to give to a friend - why am I having problems with ordering?
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5.0 out of 5 starsEssential reading on U.S.-Japan relations
BySteveon August 31, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
This book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary U.S.-Japan relations. It draws on Wiki-leaks-released "confidential" e-mails and cables sent by high officials of both governments. The messages reveal, in vivid detail and colorful language, the unrelieved condescension of U.S.officials and the shameless subservience of their Japanese counterparts, especially in responding to appeals from Okinawa to relieve the disproportionate burden of American military bases borne by this small island prefecture. Exploited and deceived by the two governments and largely ignored by their fellow Japanese citizens, only the Okinawans come off well, successfully resisting, through public protests and the ballot box, the imposition of yet another military base in their midst.
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5.0 out of 5 starsHope the Japanese and Us Goverment read it to
ByBarney Gumbleon December 21, 2012
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
After 50 years its time to give back Okinawa to the people of Okinawa. Wargames and Weapon testing has a long history for the US, quite embarrasing to see Japan is paying the US even to do it on Okinawa. its time for a change - this book shows the secrets and history of an unheared island. Highly recommended !
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5.0 out of 5 starsRecommended reading
ByDavis Johnon January 27, 2013
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
A very well researched and readable account of the abuse of Okinawa by the US forces and a succession of puppet governments in Tokyo.
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1.0 out of 5 starsdiff perspective
Bytoniyoon February 22, 2013
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
Would like to preface my comments by saying that I am a "half" and have lived my entire life on Okinawa. Being "half", would also like to say that I see a little of both sides of the base issue.
I only give the book one star because of the very bias presentaion.
Book mentions thousands of crimes committed by military personnel over several decades. Overwhelming number of them are traffic offenses (parking/speeding tickets)? If the data was broken down it would most likely show that "incidents" involving the military have declined to the point where in most recent years U.S personnel statistically commit less offences than the Okinawan population. But is crime less or more acceptable depending on your nationality?
Okinawa has the highest DUI ratio for the entire nation. This week a young man was beaten and robbed. Last week a fight between Okinawans resulted in a stabbing. In January a home made bomb targeted and injured a family in Urasoe and a civil servant was arrested for having sex wih a minor. Last year a man was beaten to death. Year before last a girl was gang raped by several teenagers in a park. The same year an american high school student was killed by a local teenager with a replica samurai sword. The year before that a local boy was beaten to death by his classmates.
NONE of these crimes involved military personnel.
Local media often goes the extra mile to paint U.S. personnel in an unfavorable light. Hardly a week goes by without a negatively slanted "story" or op-ed concerning the military in general. Ex.: At one time local media tried to create a furor about base contracted school buses using local bus stops as pick up points for American children. This campaign didn`t carry too well and died out after about a week. Does the media have an agenda?
Book mentions 70% of the population is against the bases. I have to wonder about that figure. Could the figure have been influenced by the construct of the poll? And/or most likely a large number of people that are ambivalent just gave the politically correct reply.
The interesting thing is that if you ask people, more often than not the reply is that they like Americans.
Mention is made of the economic impact of the bases. Much more of Okinawa`s economy than indicated by the book depends on the bases (thousands of people directly employed by the bases, local contractors, vendors, moving companies, tour operators, real estate agencies, rent payments, etc.). Last week a local bar and restaurant association made an appeal requesting a relaxing of military curfew because many of them were in danger of going under.
When the military began moving personnel renting local housing back onto base housing the anti-military mayor of Okinawa City made an appeal to stop the moves due to negative economic impact on Okinawa City.
The government gives Okinawa "special" tax breaks and incentives which are exclusive to the island. These lower tax rates target local industries which would have difficulty staying afloat without them. Gas is 10-20 percent cheaper than on mainland Japan and travel to Okinawa as a vacation destination is subsidized.
Okinawa received over 3 billion dollars in subsidies from the Japanese government for 2012. Okinawa receives similar funding every year from the Japanese government "partially" in recognition of the "burden" of the bases. If this funding were adjusted so as not to reflect the "base burden" how would this affect the local economy?
The bases and the "special" provisions they bring are so much a part of the local economic fabric that pulling them apart would be devastating. None of this is openly acknowldged as being tied to the bases probably because it would be politically incorrect in the extreme.
Areas that reverted to local control (Shintoshin, Hamby, etc) have taken on average 25 years to begin development. Jobs created are overwhelmingly minimum wage (shopping malls, fast food restaurants, pachinko parlors). When business migrates to those areas other areas stagnate. ex: when "American Village Mihama" opened and was touted as an example of what what could be done when a base is turned over to local control little mention is made of the fact that "American Village Mihama" sucked all the business and economic life out of surrounding business centers.
The local leadership is portrayed as powerless victims of greater forces. If you look at their track record in so far as "bringing home the bacon", it's kind of hard to understand how they can keep portraying themselves as such.
The relationship between the local authorities and bases has evolved since Okinawa's reversion to Japan. Over the decades since Reversion an almost "david and goliath" type of symbiosis has emerged.
If local authorities truly want to take the moral high ground they should try not having both hands out while making their case about the "base burden". Refuse anything and everything monetarily related to the base presense, be honest with the Okinawan people, and start moving the Okinawan people away from an entitlement mindset.
There are issues with the military on Okinawa but is it as oppressive or detrimental as the book guides you to think? Most people are so uninformed I doubt a fair unbiased answer could be given.
The peace/anti-war military movement on Okinawa is a major industry on Okinawa. There are tours, lectures, symposiums, etc., etc. going on just about everyday of the week. The strange thing is none of the lectures, etc. really discuss how wars are started, how they can be averted, or how to really promote "peace". The theme throughout is how Okinawa and Okinawans suffered. Okinawan politics revolve around how Okinawa suffered during the war. Is this the "norm" in other countries? Is this the norm in the Philipines, Malaysia, etc.?
I know it's not the norm in any of the Japanese areas in the mainland that got bombed into rubble.
When does closure come? When does Okinawa move forward? Why do the leaders and "thinkers" of Okinawa work so hard to keep Okinawans "victimized"?
The authors and contributors might better serve the people of Okinawa by not consistently portraying Okinawans as victims and instead work a bit more on encouraging the strengths of Okinawa and moving forward.
Something different from a local.

Update July 2013: Local authorities requested Japanese Maritime forces patrol waters south of the main Okinawan island because of fears of possible confrontation with foreign vessels. When Japanese Maritime patrol ships docked for resupply after patrolling the disputed area, the same islanders protested their presence. After repeated intrusions okinawan authorities complained that the Japanese Maritime patrol boats were taking too long to arrive when foreign vessels were spotted. Japanese government determined this to be a national security issue and requested permission to build a forward deployment base in the area. After much negotiation permission was granted and then rescinded. Area residents/authorities complained that plans for the base did not have enough of a positive financial impact on the community and wanted to renegotiate terms.
While this was going on the prefectural/state authorities were also busy trying to woo tourists (and their money) from the country of the "foreign" vessels with the pitch that the current strain in relations between Japan and said country had nothing to do with the Okinawan people. History of cultural ties, trade, etc. were touted to show the "special" relationship between Okinawa and said country. These incongruous positions by local leaders are not seen as contradictory or self-serving. Only on Okinawa?

Local media reported that local construction workers were exposed to asbestos when renovating on-base housing. Reporters slam the military establishment for exposing the locals to hazardous materials. Worker interviewed expressed distress at being tricked/deceived by the military. Media called for an investigation into the military's disregard for the welfare of the Okinawan people. What was not mentioned is that U.S. military housing is built for the bases by the Japanese government. Construction of facilties is contracted to local businesses using local labor with locally supplied construction material. After completion the buildings are then turned over to the base authorities. Disinformation used to push an agenda.

Update 9 October 2013: Reported in local media (Ryukyu Shimpo Newspaper and television) that local/Okinawan authorities are requesting the return to Okinawan control of 400 acres of U.S. military controlled land (part of Camp Hansen) be delayed. Return and subsequent cut-off of military rent would be too damaging to community finances. Fighting for return of base land but only on our terms.
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1.0 out of 5 starsThis book is too biased and one sided to be ...
ByMichael Bennetton April 19, 2016
Format: Hardcover
This book is too biased and one sided to be a serious academic work. The author obviously has an agenda against the US military, against Japan and against Americans.
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2.0 out of 5 starsDon't expect academic reserve
ByJRon October 21, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
McCormack is a critical historian of a New Left persuasion. Nothing against this personally, but this book definitely reflects this viewpoint. He is a great scholar on Japan (I haven't heard of Norimitsu before) and this book is admirable as an accessible overview of Okinawa's history and relations with Japan and the US. However, don't expect objectivity. The authors make many social science "no-no's," one of which is to impute motivations for actors that you don't have evidence for. This stretches the boundaries of interpretive license into a political agenda. The authors often say things like "No doubt this was what many in Washington thought as well," or "Hatoyama was rebuffed in a way no ally has even been." These assertions are just that, assertions, and until evidence is marshalled to prove them they will remain unsubstantiated.

The authors also assume that if the US-Japan would "equalize" or that the alliance would crumble altogether, a new zone of peace and prosperity in East Asia would flourish. They seem to assume that China is basically friendly with everyone, North Korea doesn't exist, Russia doesn't matter, and that an East Asian version of the EU is right around the corner. Maybe so, but darker scenarios could be envisioned as well. "Deterrence" is bandied about as if it was just a smokescreen for American Empire rather than a real security concept that many countries employ...and that includes China. Perhaps Japan and Okinawa will gamble that McCormack is right. Maybe they're wagering that he is wrong, and they actually have more agency in the relationship with the US than he seems to think.
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1.0 out of 5 starsAuthors are to biased to one opinion which basically blames the US Okianwa's current posture.
ByAmazon Customeron August 4, 2013
Format: Hardcover
First let me say that I am an American living in Okianwa on and off for the past 18 years. I love Okinawa and it's lifestyle. I have an Okinawan wife and my children attend public schools on Okinawa. The authors of this book explain many points of Okinawa's history and how Okinawa basically bowed to both Japan and China. But the current climate in Okinawa and what I gather from this book is that the root of all evil here is the US Military. The author's express how tragedies on Okinawa are remembered annually and I totally respect that and agree that history should not be forgotten but the way in which the Okinawan's celebrate those anniversary's all point to the devil Americans. I have to confess that I was almost convinced that I was the foreign devil because of all the terrible atrocities that occurred on Okinawa were supposedly committed by Americans. As the years passed and I started to research on my own, Okianwa's history I seen that the root of all evil was not due to the US. As the author's state Japan took over Ryukyo long before the American's landed. Also, the author's state that China was also holding a grip on the Ryukyus. Who can speculate which direction the island would have taken if the Japanese military did not make such a strict stand on Okinawa. How many countless Okinawa's died simply because their heads were filled with lies from the Japanese military about what the monster Americans were going to do to them. How many mother's had to smother their own children to keep them quiet? Hmm, I submit to anyone that if the Japanese did not sacrifice, as is stated in the book, the island of Okinawa, thousands of lives could have been saved. Now to today. The resistant Okinawa people are, just as they did in the past, putting up a humble resistance in my opinion. While one side protests the the military "occupying" Okinawa the other sides mooches off huge profits. Land owners charge American families upwards of $4000 a month to rent a house. No Okinawa family pays this month to rent. The US Govt happily pays it. I charge anyone to sit outside Camp Foster or Kadena Air base at 7:30am and 4:30pm and watch the thousands of local Okinawan;s going to work and home in brand new cars. Stay throughout the day and watch thousands of local contractors from construction workers to house keepers that a flowing in and out of base. Watch as locals pull up to the local DRMO (Defense Re-utilization Management office and purchased used American military wares for pennies and then take them off base to flip them for major profits. Watch as on the weekends 1000s of locals purchasing items at the base flea markets only to re-sell, for profit, a few stalls over more American goods. Compare what an Okinawa cashier earns on base to a similar cashier at the local San-A. The Okinawa govt will say that the GDP of Okinawa only receives a small portion from the bases, but I say that is hog wash. If the Okinawan's want to earn respect in my opinion and they really want to rid themselves of the American devils, then I charge the Okinawa people to put up a real resistance and put their mouths where the money is. Have every Okinawan worker that works on base to quit and let the Okinawan government find them similar replacement income. Have all Okinawa land owners kick out all US residents from their land and rental properties and let the Okinawan govt find locals to fill those vacancies. Let every off base establishment close their doors to the Americans and stop taking the Americans money. Hmmm, is any one with a big mouth willing to do that? I don't see the author's making those recommendations? Hmm, I wonder what would have happened if Japan had one the war, would Japan had been as helpful to the locals as the Americans were? Would Japan have helped America rebuild? Hmm, I think not. The Okinawa's are so proud to save the memory of the atrocities of war committed by the Americans but I don't see the Okinawan's trying to bring back the Hogan language or teaching their children the old Okinawa ways. My children only learn of how bad America bombed the island. To the authors and the Okinawa people, if you want to put of a real resistance then do so, if not, then lets try to move forward in a productive way that will enable the younger generation of Okinawan's to have a future to look forward to that is not filled with disgust for Americans. Take advantage of the Americans that are here today by having some real beneficial exchange programs that will allow the Okinawa children to become fluent in English and educate them to be players in the international community. What do Okinawa's youth have to look forward to now? Working at the front desk of a resort hotel? A cashier at the local San-A, a attendant at one of the endless pachinko parlors? Let's hear what the Okinawa government has in store for a prosperous Okinawan future. The book only points to one side, the side of the Okinawan's that hate the US Military.
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