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When CERD considered the Japanese government report during its 17th session in 2010, Okinawa was one of the issues most frequently focused on during the discussions. In its concluding observations, the Committee indicated its concern over the situation of Okinawa and included several recommendations to the government to address problems faced by Okinawan people. In this issue, we bring you an interesting essay about Okinawa by Dr. Yasukatsu Matsushima, Professor of Ryukoku University and the representative of civil group “Yuimarle Ryukyu no Jichi (autonomy of Ryukyu).”

We are not treated as equals

My love for Okinawa is boundless. Okinawa is my mabui (spirit) and my body. I was born on the island of Ishigaki and grew up on the islands of South Daitô, Yonaguni and Okinawa, among the peoples, cultures and the seas of these islands.

It has become customary to use the name of the main island of the group, Okinawa, interchangeably and as representative of the whole Ryûkyû chain. In historical contexts, it stands for the independent Kingdom of Ryûkyû. We Ryûkyûans call ourselves Uchinanchū (we, us, ourselves) and the Japanese Yamatunchū (those from Yamato/ Japan). Even when I moved to Tôkyô to enter University and lived in a dormitory, I could not forget Okinawa. The contrary, my love grew even deeper. When the Yamatunchû asked, “Where do you come from? What is your nationality?” and I replied, “I am from Okinawa”, they gazed at my face with puzzled curiosity. I repeatedly faced this kind of encounter, I had never before experienced in Okinawa.

Throughout my primary, middle and high school years, I had a Japanese education and spoke Japanese, although I am Okinawan. In 1972, when the USA “returned” Okinawa to Japanese administration, I was a third grader. At the time, I had an unforgettable experience. A teacher identified one of the students who had said something in our language by placing a “dialect label” around his neck and punishing him, because the school authorities were enforcing the rule that all speak Japanese. This was also customary in pre-war, (Second World War) contexts. I experienced with my body what it meant to be under Japanese rule.

Although we are Japanese citizens, have a Japanese education and speak Japanese, the Japanese never acknowledge us as equals and treat us as foreigners. Among the Okinawans in the dormitory, some friends were so shocked by this treatment that they left school. It was the Japanese who made me conscious of my complexion, facial features and language. I read and discussed with my friends the books written by the fathers of Ryûkyûan studies Iha Fuyû, Higashiona Kanjun and Yanagita Kunio, who espoused a thesis, alleging the cultural and historical identity of Japan and Ryûkyû - the so-called “same ancestor theory”. If we were one people and one culture, how do we explain the historical fact that Japan did unspeakable things to us?

An irresistible quest from the core of my being to solve questions, asking things such as,“What is the Okinawa issue ?” and ”Why Okinawa? ”, made me decide to enter the path of scholarship. My primary subjects were comparative studies of the Ryûkyû archipelago and other Pacific islands and island economies. I confirmed my view that all islands are equal in their mutual relationships and learn from each other. I am Okinawa! When Okinawa or Okinawans are appreciated, I am happy, and when they are discriminated against and insulted, I feel sad and angry.

This is not a sign of a shallow local patriotism, but an expression of our determination to prevent yet another period of colonization. Ever since the US military occupied Okinawa 56 years ago and turned administrative power over to Japan 38 years ago, the Japanese government and the Japanese people have turned a blind eye to threats to the lives and livelihoods of the Okinawan people and ignore the stabilization of this dire colonial situation. It can be said the Okinawa issue is a discrimination issue and I want to find a way to liberate us.

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