TalkTuesday 11 October 2022
6:00pm – 7:00pm
US Military Bases in Okinawa: An Activist’s Response
ドリンクレセプション 7:00pm – 8:00pm
13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP
大和日英基金 主催
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa from the US to Japan. But even today, Okinawa has one of the heaviest concentrations of US military bases in the world. Okinawa represents 0.6% of Japan’s land area, yet it contains about 70% of all US military bases in the country. As a result, the people of Okinawa are subject to incidents and accidents caused by US troops, noise from US military aircraft, and environmental pollution caused by the bases.
Most people in Okinawa oppose any further extension of the US base burden on them, and in the 2019 Okinawan prefectural referendum on construction of a new base at Henoko, 72% of people voted against it. There have been demonstrations against it both locally and nationally.
In this talk moderated by Dr Ra Mason, Jinshiro Motoyama, an activist who played a leading role in the referendum, talked about his recent activities and the response to them, his current initiatives, main challenges, and hopes for the future of Okinawa.
The drinks reception featured cocktails made with Okinawan fruit juices, supported by KANASA.
コントリビューターについて
Dr Ra Mason
Dr Ra Mason (moderator), Associate Professor of International Relations and Japanese Foreign Policy, University of East Anglia. After completing his double-degree PhD (University of Sheffield/Tohoku University), and a teaching fellowship in Japanese Studies at the University of Leeds, Ra secured a full-time post as Lecturer and Course Leader of Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). Whilst at UCLan, he was then awarded a JSPS Fellowship to research nationalism in Okinawa at the University of the Ryukyus, before being appointed as Associate Professor of Public Policy at Tohoku University. Ra has authored or co-authored a number of books and articles on Japan’s foreign policy and regional security, with a specific disciplinary focus on the role of risk in international relations, as well as having written regularly for the ASAN Forum, Asahi Shimbun’s Asia Japan Watch (AJW) and The Conversation.
Jinshiro Motoyama
Jinshiro Motoyama, PhD Student in the Graduate School of Law, Hitotsubashi University / Former Representative of the “Henoko” Okinawa Prefectural Referendum. A founding member of SASPL (Students Against Secret Protection Law), SEALDs (Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy), and SEALDs RYUKYU. In January 2019, he went on hunger strike against five city mayors who announced their non-participation in the Okinawa prefectural referendum regarding the construction of a new military base in Henoko, Okinawa. In May 2022, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Okinawa Reversion, he went on hunger strike in front of the Prime Minister’s Office to demand the immediate termination of the construction of the new military base at Henoko.