Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2011
ISLAND LIFE
Regarding “Isle of Freedom”: Interesting, except there is ample and recent precedent for concerns that the Chinese would attempt to annex Okinawa (especially if it were bereft of both US and Japanese protection). Your stance is specious. It doesn’t really matter if any argument put forward is convincing (to you) or not. The fact of the matter is, any argument claiming Chinese sovereignty over Okinawa need only be convincing to the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo standing committee. So you see, Okinawa has no choice for real independence. They can be part of Japan, or be independent but tied to the US’s defense umbrella, or they can be independent and swiftly annexed by China. There’s not really any alternative at this time. That’s not fair, that’s not nice—but that’s the way it is. No amount of articles published in/on Metropolis to the contrary, reliant as they are on happy thoughts and wishful thinking, will ever mitigate that reality.—John
Looking at it as an Okinawan resident, I agree with the first comment here. No matter if US bases are relocated, it will still mean that Okinawa can’t be self-reliant. If Okinawa receives even the 15% of land for, say, farming sugar cane, can enough produce be provided to make it self-reliant?—Jeridel Banks
One would have to assume that China would want to throw away all their newly achieved progress with Japan by annexing Okinawa. After all, there are other disputed islets and island groups to consider. China also claims the Senkakus, and Taiwan. All the US and Japan need do is offer assurances of aid in the unlikely event of an attack. The US bases are a blight on the national identity of Japan. I, for one, am in favor of their removal. But in the end it’s a matter for the Japanese themselves to decide. Okinawans, at least, should be given a referendum to decide on the bases.—Christopher Glen
RESTRAIN YOURSELF
Regarding “Sacrifice, Teamwork & Optimism”: Get ready for a lot of jaded ELT lifers to comment saying that your article is a generalizing over-simplification, but I think it’s not. The fact of the matter is that, whilst they’re sick of it, the majority of us fall in love with Japan because of that sense of community that, on a national scale, is rare to the point of being singular. Your piece summed up what I love about Japan. Thanks for writing it dude.—outlawhorse
Sorry to be a pooper to your “Japan: the nation admirable for this and that” party, but this is a classic case of uninformed, over-generalization and simplification. You could very easily say the same of almost any other culture in the world. I am a New Zealander and I saw the same qualities you talk so glowingly of in Japanese in Kiwis during the devastating earthquakes in NZ this year. Let’s celebrate the similarities of human nature and refrain from isolating and glorifying different peoples.—Kevin
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