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Military Bases and Modernity
Author(s) -
Tobe Hideaki
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
transforming anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.325
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 1548-7466
pISSN - 1051-0559
DOI - 10.1525/tran.2006.14.1.89
Subject(s) - americanization , modernity , administration (probate law) , government (linguistics) , power (physics) , military government , political science , economic history , colonialism , history , ancient history , law , politics , philosophy , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics
Okinawa was an independent island kingdom that was forcibly annexed by Japan in 1879. The Japanese colonial administration did little to modernize the islands of Okinawa. Following the defeat of the Japanese in World War II, the American government took over the administration of the island. The U.S. government built a series of military installations in Okinawa, turning the islands into military staging areas for the projection of American power in Asia. This article focuses on the experience of a new modernity brought forth by the U.S. military bases in the Okinawan islands. The article also considers how the bases, as an expression of Americanization and U.S. global expansion, impacted the formation of Okinawan identity in the latter half of the 20th century.