A beach on Tokunoshima, one of the Amami islands between Okinawa and Kyushu.
2010年6月29日火曜日
The Road Less Taken (2)
A beach on Tokunoshima, one of the Amami islands between Okinawa and Kyushu.
The Road Less Taken
Tokunoshima is located a little north of Okinawa, part of the Amami island chain. During the US occupation of the Japanese island Okinawa (which continued until 1972!) Tokunoshima was the southernmost point a Japanese tourist could get to without a passport.
If you transferred this scenario to the US, it would mean people from NJ who wanted to escape the snow and go to Florida would need to apply for a passport and a visa first. What would you do to have a nice vacation without the hassle? Probably go to the islands off the Carolinas instead. And that's how Tokunoshima came to enjoy a teeny bit of tourist prosperity.
2010年4月20日火曜日
No Rainbows Here
When something is a good thing, everyone wants it, right? Okinawa doesn't want it, Guam doesn't want it, and now Tokunoshima says it doesn't want it, either. The "it" is a US military installation.
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
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