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Okinawa has long had a difficult relationship with

Japan.  Only in 1879 were the Ryukyu islands, long

independent and then under indirect Japanese control, for-

mally absorbed by the Japanese empire.4   But the Okinawans

retained a distinctive culture and did not fit well into

increasingly militarized Japan.  In particular, they were

considered insufficiently patriotic and loyal to the

emperor.

Scars from World War II

Unfortunately, their pacifist tendencies did not insu-

late them from the ravages of World War II.  As the tide

turned against Tokyo, the Japanese military took over the

island, drafting civilians to construct airfields, staff

hospitals, and serve the military.  But Okinawans were

still distrusted; scores were executed as alleged spies.

And the military did not bother to evacuate civilians

before the U.S. assault.  Observes Ota, a student con-

script during the battle, the Japanese commanders dragged

"not only their line soldiers but also the unfortunate

civilians into the war."5   The brutal battle, highlighted

by the "typhoon of [U.S.] fire from ships, planes and how-

itzers," as one Japanese soldier put it, lasted nearly

three months.6   The consequences for Okinawa were cata-

strophic: more than 220,000 Japanese died, as many civil-

ians as soldiers, and the fight essentially destroyed the

island.

The scars remain.  Older Okinawans still bristle over

their treatment by the dying Japanese empire.  Even today

Okinawans treat American servicemen with greater respect

than they do members of Japan's Self-Defense Force.  (Some

say with surprising forcefulness that they would not allow

the SDF to take over any relinquished American military

facilities.)

To commemorate Okinawa's sacrifice in World War II,

the prefectural government erected the Cornerstone of Peace

in 1995, the 50th anniversary of the battle.  Ota's unique

inspiration was the inclusion of the name of everyone,

including 14,005 Americans, who died in the battle.

Washington's Postwar Military Colony

After the war, the island became a dumping ground for

15,000 U.S. troops who were at what some called "the

logistical end of the line."7   Although Tokyo and

Washington signed a peace treaty in 1952, the United