This lecture (in English) will be held Tuesday, March 19 at 7:00 at Lakeland University in Shinjuku.



"Kingdom, Colony, Ken, or Country? Okinawan History and the Politics of Difference",

Presented by Carl Gabrielson




The seemingly obvious statement that Okinawa is part of Japan actually comes with serious political stakes. In fact, from the Satsuma Clan of premodern Kyushu to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 2014, powerful actors inside and outside of Okinawa have weighed in on the question of whether or not Okinawans are Japanese. As a result, ideas about Okinawan identity and culture have become deeply political as they have been linked to everything from American military strategy and Japanese national security, to the global struggle for indigenous rights and a nascent Okinawan independence movement

From: Roger Grabowski <grabowski@japan.lakeland.edu>
Date: 2019/03/06