Resistence of the Bases and Anpo (安保)
- Alice Newberry
- Apr 18, 2015
- 3 min read
What is Japan/Okinawa post war? When did the war end? Many people may say 1944- when Japan lost Saipan to the Americans and deadly attacks on both sides revealed Japan's eminent loss. Others may say 1945, when the U.S. Tenth Army invaded Okinawa and the last Japanese organized crime reistence ended. Also in this year was Japan's "unconditional surrendor." Some say the war ended in 1972 because it is the year that Okinawa "returned" to Japan after being occupied by the U.S. military for 27 years.
I ask however are we post war yet? Is Okinawa still fighting a war against the U.S.? If not, then why have their been ongoing protests since the "end of the war?" Why have there been extreme numbers of assaults, rapes, injustices towards Okinawans on the side of the U.S. military? Why does it feel that not many people know or act upon these injustices in the U.S.?
I hope to bring forward voices from Okinawans. Because I know that when there is something so noticably wrong, something so awful and corrupt to people, there will be a hope for change. This change will come in the form of knowledge and resistence and this is how 'we' as people try and make a better place.
On September 8th, 1951 the Security Treaty Between Japan and the U.S. disarmed Japan and allowed for the U.S. military to remain in power. The treaty dismantled Japan's war machine and gave the U.S. sole possession of Japan's defenses.
In 1960 Anpo (安保) or the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States and Japan was signed. The treaty permitted the United States to continue its military presence and have the ability to handle domestic situations in Japan. In November of 1959, Prime Minister at the time, Nobusuke Kishi of the Liberal Democratic Party aided Anpo's earlier drafts without the consent and discussion of the Diet which led to mass protesting. Approximately 500 demonstrators were injured in the first month of protesting by the police.
Kishi was not affected by the protestors and in 1960 when protests began to die down implemented a new treaty and unpopular treaty called the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation. Protesting and grassroots demonstrations against these treaties continued throughout the 1960s. On June 15th, 1960 a protest at the Diet against revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty turned violent and resulted in the death of a 22-year-old Tokyo University student named Michiko Kanaba. Around 600 protestors were injured. Protests continued outside the Diet until Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi announces his resignation.
Although Kishi resigned he did see the official ratification of Anpo. Activisits were devestated. While walking back from an anpo demonstration, Rokusuke Ei came up with the lyrics to 上を向いて歩こう or "Ue o Muite Arukou" also may be known as the "Sukiyaki song." Upset by the ineffectiveness of the protests the lyrics illuminate the sadness Ei felt. The song was released in Japan in 1961 and quickly became a huge hit. The song became one of the most famous at the time and sold over 13 million copies worldwide. In the U.S. the song was released with the title "Sukiyaki" because it was easier for Westerners to remember despite the fact that sukiyaki the dish has nothing to do with the song. Ue o Muite Arukou reached the top of the Billboard Top 100 in 1963 in the states and remains to be the only Japanese song to have done so.
Here is the song with English translated subtites:
Here is a photo of Michiko Kanaba:
After photographing the June 22 general strike, Hamaya turned his lens away from the popular protests that continued at less intense levels in later months and years, returning only very briefly to the subject of student protest in the late 1960s. His final images of the Anpo struggle, however, strike an optimistic note. This photo, the concluding shot in the collection he published in Japan in August 1960, carries a caption stating that although the protests failed to prevent the new security treaty from going into effect, they succeeded in creating a deeper spirit of grassroots democracy.
Here are my sources:
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