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Women's Fiction
Women of Okinawa: Nine Voices from a Garrison Island

Women of Okinawa: Nine Voices from a Garrison Island

List Price: $18.95
Your Price: $18.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Full of insight and meaning
Review: A great read from cover to cover. Ruth Ann Keyso accurately and poetically told the stories of nine Okinawan women, weaving in the island's history, culture, insight and perspective through carefully chosen words, ancedotes and descriptions. Being Japanese American, I am always searching for ways to develop my perspective on my culture, and this book has opened my eyes to the lives, dreams, tragedies and hopes of the Okinawan people. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an enthusiam to learn about the world and an eagerness to grow as a person.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Informative
Review: From June of 1945 until 1972 the Japanese island of Okinawa was under the direct control and direction of the U.S. Unlike, the main islands of Japan whose American occupation ended in 1952 Japan's southern most island, Okinawa continued to see lots and lots of American military bases. In fact the same number are still there today. Well, one would think that after 1972 the number of American military bases and military men would have ended or been severly curtailed. Nope. Due to the cold war the U.S. has kept a huge military presence on Okinawa. Inasmuch as it is a fairly small island, the American military presence has had an enormous impact opon the lives of the ordinary Okinawan Japanese living there. From the time of the Second World War when the largest battle of the Pacific theater was fought in May and June of 1945 until today. Ruth Ann Keyso, details the lives of 9 Okinawan women whose lives have been impacted in one way or another from the American presence. The interviews included the old who experienced the extreme hardship and brutality of war to the young bride married to American servicemen. In reading this, one really gets the impression America is really an empire. Even though the cold war with the Soviet Union is over, America's military presence is not. Why is America still in Okinawa, what military purpose does it serve? Could the Okinawans survive without the dollar contribution to the Okinawan economy? Ms. Keyso's well written book informs the ignorant reader like myself, through the lives of these women, what the American military presence means and has meant to Okinawans. It is informative and keeps the uninformed current on the state of affairs as it applys to our (America's) unintended impact on foreign cultures and peoples due to the economic fallout of many American military bases (bars, strip places, prostitution, crime, etc.). The book is an easy read, informative, and enjoyable. Joe Seckelman

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An accurate, detailed, emotional view of Okinawa
Review: Okinawa does not seem at all like Japan, but more like America with the amount of US Marines there. "If you arent with the military, what are you doing on Okinawa?" would be the constant question that would be asked to the White people who visit the island. When the conflict ended on June 22, 1945, more than 12,000 American troops, 90,000 Japanese troups, and 125,000 Okinawan civilians were dead. Memories from this three-month battle continue to haunt war survivors today, more than half a century after. The reason why Ruth Ann Keyso concentrated on the memories of women is simple; 1. Women had had the most direct contact with Americans over the proceeding half-century. 2. Women were the ones who worked for the Americans in the postwar years Ein clubs as waitresses, in stores as cashiers, and in private homes as maids. 3. Women were the ones who married some Americans Esome for love, others for money Eand bore their children. 4. Women were the ones who were the primary victims of sexual and other forms of physical violence committed by military personnel on the island. 5. As many of the island's men died in battle, women were responsible for rebuilding Okinawa in the postwar years and restoring a sense of normalcy to people's lives.

This book focused on three different types of women, and I would like to summarize them for you with a few examples...

1. Those born before the war began
This group focused on the horrifying days of WW2, and maelstrom of the immediate postwar years, a time during which they struggled to rebuild their lives in an environment characterized by physical destruction and psychological malaise. They were faced not only with the humiliation of living alongside their former enemy, but also with the knowledge that they needed the AmericansEeconomic assistance to survive. Their feelings are complicated Ebecause they remember the peace of their home before the war, and they also remember the horrifying days at war.

Two Examples -

Junko Isa, 67, nearly lost her entire family during the Battle of Okinawa. She was only 14 years old and lost 5 out of the 8 in her family Ein her family. She has been working as a maid of an American military family ever since the war ended.

Fumiko Nakamura, 84, remembers Okinawa as a peaceful place, an island of beauty. But the war has changed that. Now her homeland is crowded with US military bases, and the roar of planes, now breaks the former silence.

2. Those born during wartime
Unlike their elder sisters, they have little or no recollection of their past. Instead, their stories center on life in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. These decades defined by rapid social and political changes. These people express their dissatisfaction with conditions on the island, namely, the continued existence of the US military bases. As this has been ignored over years by the mainland Japanese, these women are eager to make a difference.

Two Examples -

Tatsuko Yamada, 57, remembers the discrimination she experienced as a university student in Tokyo during the 1960s when, as in the past, mainland Japanese looked down on Okinawans as racial and cultural inferiors.

Masayo Hirata, 58, recalls another consequence of the large US military presence on the island in those years: an increase in pregnancies. As a social worker, Hirata-san provided support for unwed Okinawan mothers with biracial children. The most complicated time, involved women who got pregnant by the US people they barely knew, then tried to get assistance in tracking the men down.

3. Those born well after the war ended
Revoked memories that were primarily pleasant, cheerful recollections of high school romances. Even though they are completely ignorant to their own history, they still complain somewhat about the American culture like of Okinawa, and also the military. However, they accept the bases with a sense of inevitably.

Two Examples -

Miako Sunabe, 21, said she cant imagine life without the Americans. She cant understand why the older generation want the military to leave the place. These people did nothing wrong, it wasnt their choice.

Mayumi Tengan, 30, said that she loved being an Okinawan because of all the American men who looked like movie stars on the streets. "I'm much more lucky to live in Okinawa than any other place. It is very romantic and exciting. They are just ordinary people."

Therefore we can clearly conclude that there are three clear types of women in Okinawa. These three types of women all have different views on the war and their position in society today.

I am studying in Japan at Ritsumeikan APU, International Management, and I will be heading off to Okinawa at the end of February 2003, so I look forward to learning more about it all.

Cheers,
Vaughan Allison


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