Okinawa Tie these names on the stone tablet in the Peace Memorial Park in Manchin City record the tragic battle before the 70s. (Photo by Cai Hong)
China Daily Tokyo July 27 (Reporter Cai Hong Shan Yi) After leaving Okinawa Airport, he was immediately surrounded by the hot and viscous moisture of the island country in midsummer. After a few days in Okinawa, I felt the easy-goingness of the locals and the strong political awareness that was incompatible with my own personality.
Okinawa taxi driver: After retirement, I want to go to China to see
Getting a taxi from the airport, and I soon felt that it was very different from the driver who was silent in Tokyo. This man, who is not very big and is almost elderly, is very talkative. After we sat down, he started talking with us and talked about his disgust for relocating the US military Futenma Airport to Henoko.
The taxi drivers I took since then were also very talkative and straightforward.
One day, when I was passing by the bay port, the driver pointed to the mountain opposite the port and said that Okinawa was preparing to place a huge sculpture of dragon head there so that Chinese tourists who came by cruise ship could see it as soon as they got ashore, "I will feel close."
Okinawans' "pleasing" to Chinese tourists seems to make some sense. In the dining area on Naha International Street, most of the diners and several restaurant owners spoke Chinese, and the noise and casualness inside made us feel like we were at a tourist attraction in China.
Another day, we went to a farther interview place, and the journey back and forth made us familiar with the driver. He actually took the initiative to talk about his life experience. He studied electronics in college. After graduation, he worked in the CIA institution in Okinawa for eight years. At that time, he was instilled with how terrible China, which believed in communism, was. Before the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972, he went to Beijing to prepare for the live broadcast of the diplomatic relations ceremony, but found that China was not what he was told. After the CIA evacuated Okinawa, he sought another job and turned to a taxi driver. In his words, this is a job that can control the rhythm. Now at the age of 70, he plans to drive until he retires at the age of 73 - Japanese taxi drivers can work until he is 75. He said he wanted to go to China after retirement.
The former governor of Okinawa, Masahide Ota, who is in his 90s, imagines the future of Okinawa and is also worried about its uncertainty. (Photo by Cai Hong)
Former Governor of Okinawa Masahide Ota: Okinawans particularly emphasize the belief in peace
htmlNaha City, which was razed to the ground by US artillery shells in the Battle of Okinawa 170 years ago, is now a metropolis with high-rise buildings, and traces of the war in the past are gone.The subtropical climate has made this island in the southernmost part of Japan a vacation paradise with clear sky, vast blue sea and shady green trees. People on the island do not have to wear straight suits to work, but like Hawaiians, they wear shirts with various flower patterns. Okinawa has the reputation of Japan's "Hawaii".
Okinawa is far from Japan and is located at the connection point with China and Southeast Asia. It has its own unique history and culture that is different from Japan.
Former Okinawa Governor Masahisa Ota was interviewed by us at his Okinawa International Peace Institute, using the knife and the koto as an example to explain that Okinawa is different from the native Japanese.
During the Ryukyu Kingdom period, there were Nanshan, Zhongshan and Beishan, and there were constant conflicts between them. In the late 15th century, there was a king who reigned for 50 years and was the longest-reigning kingdom of Ryukyu. He summoned the princesses from Nanshan, Zhongshan and Beishan to the palace, confiscated their weapons, and issued a national notice prohibiting possession of weapons in Ryukyu. In 1609, the Japanese Satsuma family invaded Ryukyu and captured the king, banning Ryukyu from importing weapons. If the Ryukyu people do not allow weapons to be used, they will practice karate. After the Karate was promoted in Okinawa, it spread to Japan.
"Okinawans have not received weapons for 500 years, and we like peace the most. Okinawans emphasize the belief in peace," said Okinawans proudly.
A professor of anthropology from Harvard came to Okinawa and lived for a long time. He wrote the book "Religion of Okinawa". He found that Okinawa's culture is different from Japanese local culture: local culture is martial, while Okinawa's culture is about benevolence.
Oita said: "When you go to the homes of Japanese natives, the Japanese living room is decorated with either armor or Japanese swords.However, the Sanmi line is decorated in Okinawa's homes. "
Okinawans call other Japanese people north of Kyushu "natives".
Sanmi Line is a representative musical instrument of Okinawa, composed of a stick called oak, plus three strings. This instrument often appears in Ryukyu classical music, Okinawa folk songs, and even Amami folk songs. It is one of the indispensable instruments in the cultural circle of the Ryukyu Dynasty.
Unlike the tense pace of life in metropolis, Okinawan people's lives are soothing and leisurely. Just like the local dialect "Nankuru Naisa" means: Come slowly, relax and everything goes naturally. This is the philosophy of life that Okinawans follow, and it is also the charm of Okinawans.
This relaxed mentality makes Okinawans healthy and long-lasting. The average life expectancy of Japanese people is the highest in the world, among which Okinawa is the best.
90-year-old Masahisattva Ota said that he got up at 5 o'clock every day to work until 12 o'clock in the evening. When asked about his secret to longevity, his answer was to drink alcohol. What kept him energetic was whiskey, while drinking Japanese wine would make him dizzy and unable to work.
"How much do you drink a day?" "
" 4, 5 cups. "He said.
also displays a bottle of 20-year-old pagoda plaque given to him by Fujian Normal University on the bookshelf in his office.
Okinawa produces a unique soju, Ryukyu Basi, which is known as the mother of distilled liquor in Japan. It is said that in all parts of Japan, drinking Basi can make people feel a longing for Okinawa wherever they drink.
Okinawans who cannot "relax"
because of the teasing of history and destiny Okinawa has become a military and diplomatic struggle between Japan and the United States. Now people here no longer seem to be able to "relax" and the air in Okinawa seems to be filled with local people's sentiment about the US military base and concerns about the opposition between Okinawa and the Japanese government.
A driver named Shin-hwan cannot understand the issue of US military bases. He believes that the budget given to Okinawa by the country every year is similar to that of Tokyo, and is worried that if the confrontation with the government continues, the budget will be reduced. In addition, Okinawa relies on tourism to develop its economy in recent years. When the governor was in office, the Japanese government gave or promised many preferential policies related to the tourism industry. If the relationship between Okinawa and the Japanese government continued to be stalemate, he was afraid that the government would change these policies.
After Okinawa returned to Japan in 1972, the Japanese government formulated the Okinawa Special Measures Act for the Revitalization and Development. However, after one or two development plans, Okinawa's development did not improve. In 1988, a free trade zone system was established on the island to attract investment from Japan and foreign companies, and in the manufacturing and information and communications industry. , develop the goods and distribution industry in addition to the international tourism and leisure industry.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in an interview with the Nikkei Shimbun in early July that Prime Minister Abe made it clear at the cabinet meeting that the 300 billion yen (about 15 billion yuan) of revitalization fees allocated to Okinawa. Yoshihide Suga promised to implement this budget effectively.
Okinawa Kadenacho-cho Nakamichi Akatsuki believes that the government cannot cut off Okinawa's military food: "Then the country will only be condemned by the people. "
Okinawa currently has a population of more than 1 million, and its per capita GDP is less than half of Japan's average per capita GPD. It ranks last among the 50 prefectures in Japan and is the poorest in Japan.
Japan's economic recession in the past 20 years, and Okinawa's economy has also fallen into a downturn.
Speaking of the government's financial subsidies to Okinawa, Naomi Xie Hana, editor of the Okinawa Times, believes that this is a misunderstanding. She explained that regarding subsidies, the war was relatively high when the war ended. When Okinawa returned to Japan again in 1972 , fiscal subsidies account for about 10% of Okinawa's GDP, and now only account for 4%.
She also gave examples of the economic benefits of the base after it was returned. There is a place called the American village in Okinawa, where many commercial and entertainment facilities are built, and young people like to go there to visit. The land was forced to be requisitioned as a base at that time, and after it was returned, it had to conduct a land property investigation. It was very troublesome. During the investigation, the land was idle for 20 years before it was developed. After the development was completed, its economic benefits immediately appeared and grew rapidly.In addition, after the base was returned, not only the local economy developed, but also the residents returned, and there was communication between people in the community, "We value this more. This kind of thing is priceless."
So she said that Okinawans feel that the base not only caused economic losses to them, but also that the interactions between people were cut off, causing great losses to their relationship.
is located near the site where Henoko plans to build a new US military base. The "Opposing Base Association" co-representative of the "Opposing Bases Association" points to a sea area and says that the US military either exercises or practices there, and also reclaims a region for land. Large warships will also come in the future, and the survival of corals, fish, manatees, turtles, etc. that survive there will be affected.
"Originally there are all kinds of creatures in this sea, and these places can be dived. Compared to building a US military base, the beautiful nature here is definitely better to develop tourism," said Ancifu.
, President of Naha Branch of the joint news agency, Shiko Nakagawa, wrote in his reporter's notes that in the 70 years after the war, more people realized that Okinawa did bear the heavy burden on the base.
supports the "Hanoki Fund" civic movement against the relocation of Futenma Airport to Heanoki in April this year, raising 340 million yen in just two months after its establishment. With celebrities such as the famous Japanese cartoon director Hayao Miyazaki, the "Hano Koku Foundation" has received widespread support from all over Japan. Even outside the sea, well-known American scholar Chomsky and director Oliver Stone expressed support.
Nakagawa suggests that the Japanese Prime Minister communicate sincerely with Okinawa. "From the beginning, it was clear that the relocation of Futenma Airport to Hinoko was the only solution, which was to ignore the history and current situation of Okinawa."
Life must continue
In Okinawa, almost everyone was talking about the issue of US military bases, making the air that should be a place of relaxation and leisure seem to be solemn.
However, there are also people who are as free as a great immortal. One day, I took a taxi to the interview site and saw a three-stitch piano placed on the driver's co-pilot. The car arrived at an intersection and the car stopped at a red light. The driver picked up the Sanwei line and sang it. The tune had a unique charm.
The driver smiled and said that he liked singing very much. After waiting for a red light for a while, he couldn't bear the addiction to singing. It can be seen that his obsession is very extraordinary.
This self-satisfied veteran driver should be the representative of the cheerful and easy-going Okinawans. Even though the future of your home is uncertain, life still needs to continue.
(Editor: Liu Mengyang)
