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States retained control of Okinawa, leaving Japan with

only "residual sovereignty."8   Okinawans even needed docu-

ments from the U.S. Civil Administration, which ruled the

Ryukyus, to visit Japan.  The U.S. high commissioner fre-

quently removed elected officials with whom he disagreed.

During the Korean War the United States began expand-

ing its military operations, seizing land at bayonet point

from farmers to make airfields.  (That is why a much larg-

er portion of U.S.-occupied land in Okinawa than on the

mainland is owned by private citizens rather than the

government.)  Many Japanese farmers displaced by the

United States were encouraged to emigrate to, of all

places, Bolivia, where they were essentially dumped in the

jungle.9   Washington acted like an arrogant colonial power.

Ken Miki, editor of the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper, contends

that "for the U.S., Okinawa was like a gift.  The U.S. won

World War II and got Okinawa, like the spoils of war."10

Unfortunately, America indeed treated Okinawa like spoils

of war.

Okinawans did not like being transferred from one

overlord to another.  Observes Ota, "Discontented with the

U.S. military occupation, and the suppression of human

rights and infringement of the right of property that

accompanied it, the Okinawan people struggled for many

years for reversion to Japan."11   Only in 1972, 27 years

after the conclusion of World War II, did Japan regain

control of the Ryukyus.  However, complains Ota, "today, a

quarter of a century after the reversion, the condition of

Okinawa has hardly changed."12   Just 15 percent of the land

once occupied by the U.S. military in Okinawa has been

returned, compared to 60 percent of the property once used

on the Japanese mainland.

Mounting Tensions

Okinawans have grown tired of paying such a

disproportionate share of the social cost of America's

deployments.  Even before Washington returned Okinawa to

Japan, islanders demonstrated in favor of eliminating the

U.S. presence.  Sociologist Kozy Amemiya interviewed one

Okinawan who explained, "The Americans may have been nice

as individuals, but politically they would immediately

label us as 'reds' if we participated in demonstrations."13

Washington has never recognized such protests as legiti-

mate.  Even today Anderson blames popular support for land

reversion on leftist newspapers that inflame anti-U.S. sen-

timents.14