Okinawan dilemmas: coral islands or concrete islands

Abstract

In the late 1990s, the words 'Okinawa' and 'problem' are almost synonymous. The 'problem,' as most commonly understood, is that these lush, semi-tropical Japanese southern islands host a huge U.S. military base structure, which their people clearly do not want. But there are other reasons for seeing Okinawa as problem-bound. I believe that Okinawa is a microcosm through which the unsustainability of the Japanese system as a whole becomes visible. The poverty of a simply 'cut the bases; expand development' formula for the future of Okinawa is demonstrated by the fact that the Japanese government now insists that the only way forward is to combine both, bases and development, and promises to do just that. Certainly, the bases should be removed, but just as certainly, I believe, development must be re-thought.