Hiromori Maedomari, editorialist for the Okinawa-based Ryukyu News Company, argues that the idea that the US military presence in Okinawa props up the local economy is a myth. Précis of article in February edition of current affairs journal ‘Sekai’.
Maedomari begins by arguing that the answer to the question of whether the Okinawan economy is viable without the US military presence would be a resounding ‘yes’ and comments that the bases are more of a parasite on the local economy than a support and that local opinion is that the time has come to give it a taste of its own medicine. While the bases did contribute to the relative wealth of the region for a period during their construction and, particularly, during the Vietnam War when US soldiers had money in their pockets to burn before heading overseas to fight – during this ‘bubble’ period, the local people had no choice but to depend on the economic opportunities afforded by their ‘generosity’. Formerly an agricultural island, Okinawa lost most of its farmable land to the predatory expansion of the US military zones. With nowhere to work or live the local people became dependent on handouts from the US occupiers and a large pool of labour was created to work for the construction companies that built the bases and associated properties – by 1950, it is estimated that over 50% of the local economy was dependent on this demand for roads (eg., Route 58), ports (Naha Military Port), airports (Kadena, Futenma, Iejima, etc.), the associated sewerage infrastructure, in addition to the libraries and other public buildings necessary for the maintenance of a stable civil society. The burden of all this work was borne by the local people and was the main foundation of the post-war recovery process.
After the initial construction boom and after the end of the Vietnam War, it became apparent that the economy had become severely skewed in the direction of providing entertainment and solace for members of the US military. Useful tax revenue was extremely low and the disassociation of economic activity from actual local needs hindered the development of healthy, independent economic activity. The consumerist economy focused on the needs of the foreign military presence that developed after the war has seen no need for the actual production base that exists in Okinawa. Propped up also by handouts from the Japanese government, the market mechanism is not properly earthed in the local region – far more than local business conditions or events, the economy is affected by international power politics. Through all this, the Okinawan people have never had their voice heeded nor their right to express opposition to the effectively-occupying force recognized – instead they have been brutally sucked into a cruel era in which history has forced on them an economic structure which leaves them dependent for their livelihoods on an un-opposable foreign military presence.
Some statistics are quoted in the article from data collected by the Okinawa Prefecture US Base Policy Response Agency. In March 2008, there were 34 American military installations in Okinawa prefecture, occupying 23,293 hectares of land or 10.2% of the entire prefecture, and 18.4% of Okinawa island itself. 25% of US military installations in Japan are located in Okinawa, accounting for 23% of the total land area occupied by the US military in the whole country. 38.8% of the military installations operated exclusively by the US military (as opposed to being operated in cooperation with the Japanese SDF) are located in Okinawa prefecture. Okinawa prefecture itself makes up no more than 0.6% of the total land mass of Japan, yet despite this carries the burden of 48% of the total number of military installations in the country. Of the 33,286 US soldiers in Japan, 64% are based in Okinawa prefecture; of those 86% are the US Marines typically involved in many of the crimes, incidents and accidents that plague the local society. This is before any mention is made of the traumatizing noise pollution created in the course of their daily activities.
There have been approximately 5,584 criminal incidents involving members of the US military in the 36-year period (1972-2008) since Okinawa was officially returned to Japan. Of those, murder, armed robbery, arson and rape accounted for 559 cases. There are over 100 serious traffic accidents involving US military-associated vehicles each year, and the numbers have been increasing in the last 5 years to around 160-180 accidents a year. Related deaths number between 2 and 5 people each year, with over 200 people being injured. In many cases, proper investigation of the accidents is prevented and those responsible are rarely insured properly to allow for compensation payments to their victims.
Under US military rule, Okinawa was kept separate from the mainland through their support of a Ryuukyuu Government Organization, the primarily agricultural workforce were redirected into construction and industry (16.7% of the workforce), employed on US bases or nearby in commercial entreprises (77.5%) and the exchange rate between the dollar and yen was artificially distorted (the ‘B yen’ was worth about a third of the mainland currency) which had the effect of removing any incentives to produce goods for ‘export’ and made the economy heavily dependent on imports, an effective containment and control fiscal policy which aimed to harmonize the Okinawan economy with the American. Thus, the agricultural prefecture of Okinawa was forcefully transformed into a service-based economy dependent on the custom of the American military. The revenue stream was generally directed out of the region and the local economy did not prosper as much as might be expected from the visual transformation that it underwent.
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