Editorial Writer Hiroshi Kawase Reporters, please stand!
In a public opinion survey of Okinawans, 94% of the respondents answered that they were happy with the prefecture's return to their homeland, realized 50 years ago.
It was the return of Okinawa to its homeland that was realized 50 years ago.
The survey was conducted this spring by Kyodo News, targeting 1,500 men and women aged 18 or older. Only 5% of the respondents answered, "I don't think it was good," and 1% gave no response.
These numbers are astounding in the face of so many negative reports about his return.
However, the joint article focused on another survey item, 55% of the respondents were "not satisfied" with their progress after returning, and it obscured the significance of 94%.
Over 90% Wary of China
Under U.S. military rule for 27 years after the war, Okinawa is often thought to have a solid anti-government climate.
However, the survey reveals a very different attitude among the Okinawan people.
When asked if they feel a strong affinity with the U.S., 18% said "yes," and 58% said "somewhat," indicating that the majority are pro-U.S.
On the other hand, 1% of respondents "feel" familiarity with current China, and 8% "somewhat" or "somewhat feel" with China.
Concerning the Senkaku Islands issue, which is part of the prefecture, more than 90% are wary of China's moves, with 60% saying they feel "much" threatened and 32% saying they feel "somewhat" threatened.
Of course, dissatisfaction with the vast U.S. military bases is much, with 83% of respondents including those who "somewhat agree" that the burden of the bases is "unequal" compared to other prefectures.
However, a nationwide survey conducted around the same time also found that 79% of respondents thought the burden was "unequal.
It can say that reducing the base burden in Okinawa is a homework assignment shared by all citizens.
Deterrence is also essential.
Few prefectural residents oppose the Japan-U.S. alliance, with 21% believing that the alliance "should be strengthened" and 50% saying that "it is satisfactory as it is.
As for the Self-Defense Forces, 35% "trust" them and 47% "somewhat trust" them, with more than 80% supporting them.
In short, the prefecture people feel the same way as the people of the mainland.
The Media is Negative
However, this "normal feeling" is not conveyed to the mainland.
It is a problem because some people mistakenly believe that most people in the prefecture are adamantly opposed to the base and are staunch anti-war activists.
Part of the cause lies with the media.
Too many media reports seem to focus exclusively on criticism of the government, positioning the government as the perpetrator and the prefecture as the victim.
The critical tone of the Asahi and Mainichi newspapers was particularly noticeable on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the reversion to Japan.
Let us compare the morning editions of the May 16 newspapers that reported the May 15 milestone.
The Sankei's front-page headline was "Japan and Okinawa Walking Toward the Future," and its society page was "Passing on the Spirit of Ryukyu to Future Generations.
The Yomiuri's society page looks forward to "Three Generations Light the Way with Smiles." In contrast, the Asahi's front-page headline reads, "'Island of Peace' Not Achieved," and the Mainichi's society page reads, "50 Years since Okinawa's Reversion: No Sunshine in Okinawa.
The two local newspapers were even more negative, with headlines such as "The future we hoped for is far away" (Ryukyu Shimpo) and "Raising voices about the excessive burden" (Okinawa Times).
The majority of the paper's pages were devoted to criticism of the base, with almost no mention of the Senkaku Islands issue, which 90% of the prefecture's residents are concerned about.
It is an essential responsibility of the media to point out issues related to the current situation and to take up the viewpoints of minorities.
However, the majority should not be mistaken for the minority.
When reporting on Okinawa, I often hear government officials lament that they will just be opposed to the project anyway.
On the other hand, the Okinawan side, egged on by the media, is not readily willing to compromise.
I wonder if both of them are more conscious of 5% instead of 94% who are happy to return to their homeland.
Whether it is the base issue or the economic disparity, the majority of the people want cooperation between the two prefectures.
The media does not report much on this, but...
Heterogeneous coverage area
Why is there so much negative coverage of the national government?
I found the answer at the 50th-anniversary ceremony of the return to Okinawa co-sponsored by the government and the prefecture.
At the beginning of the ceremony in Okinawa, a tenor singer sang the national anthem.
All the visitors stood up, but none of the reporters sitting in the news area at the venue's rear stood up.
It is except for the cameraman standing to take pictures and this writer.
I have never seen reporters stand up when raising the national flag or singing the national anthem, not only in Okinawa.
I don't know what kind of sense of privilege they have, but articles written with that kind of attitude will not reflect the voices of 94%.
(Hiroyuki Kawase)
The following is the article that I sent out on May 30.
It is always the case that those who do evil will reveal their true character as if they are trying to hide their heads and not their butts.
Watching watch9's biased reporting and manipulation of information on Okinawa the day before yesterday must remember that NHK repeatedly showed images from the sky over Ginowan City.
That footage was the truth about Okinawa that even watch9's biased reporting and manipulation of information could not cover-up.
When the tsunami hit my hometown of Yuriage during the Great Tohoku Earthquake, the only buildings that remained standing that had not collapsed or been washed away were all reinforced concrete structures.
The reality of Ginowan City, as shown in the aerial images of the city repeatedly broadcast by NHK, was a city of orderly rows of solid reinforced concrete buildings, more splendid than those in the mainland countryside.
The U.S. military, which has never forgotten its military strategy, knew that Okinawa was a strategic point for the defense of Japan, not to mention the fierce Battle of Okinawa.
Therefore, GHQ built U.S. military bases in Okinawa at the same time as the occupation of Japan.
At the same time, it was also mainland Japan where 127 cities were burned to the ground by indiscriminate bombing and incendiary bombs.
Furthermore, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Japan the poorest country in the world.
Compared to mainland Japan, Okinawa was prospering from particular demand for bases, and the Okinawan people welcomed the U.S. military bases and promoted coexistence and co-prosperity.
The people who control NHK's news department, truly stupid and malicious, do not report this.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Chinese and Korean proxies who have infiltrated NHK and controlled its news department are helping the Chinese and Koreans to divide Japan.
They have introduced a man who claims to be a professor at Okinawa International University.
The fact that he is a professor is appalling.
The Japanese taxpayers are paying for such people!
They had the professor's comment that the U.S. military guided his opinion and that he was speaking at the behest of the U.S. military. They repeated it repeatedly.
Indeed, the Japanese state media used the radio waves of the people to report on the Okinawa fragmentation work.
The ultimate goal was to report on the independence of Okinawa to bring it to the point where the Chinese and Koreans would be able to achieve their intentions.
When I was still a subscriber to the Japanese edition of Newsweek, a unique feature on Okinawa was published.
In it, an Okinawan resident said, "When I watch the mainland countryside on T.V., etc., I see that they are much better off. I feel sorry for the enormous subsidies being thrown at us at the expense of infrastructure development in the mainland provinces."
They are the true villains and real traitors who are nesting inside NHK.
They are the ones who watch their programs without any doubts, thinking that they are just poor people who feel sorry for Okinawa, that the government is terrible, etc. They are just uninformed people.
The people who watch T.V. think they are righteous and respectable citizens, not realizing that they are simply ill-informed people.
They are those who subscribe to Asahi, Mainichi, Tokyo, Chunichi, etc., newspapers and watch only NHK's watch9, etc.
Shame on you!
