Japan's top court orders Okinawa to allow a divisive government plan to build US military runways (apnews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by NightOwl@lemm.ee to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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[-] freagle@lemmygrad.ml 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Just so it's not lost on everyone, A) Okinawa was a sovereign country that Japan occupied and annexed, B) the Supreme Court of Japan is using structural power over Okinawa to forcibly maintain and advance the interests of the USA, who nuked it twice, on the island of Okinawa, C) the USA is continuing to impose itself on the Pacific region through imperialism and it so dominates Japan that Japan's highest court is oppressing its own colonial holdings in favor of the global hegemon.

[-] spauldo@lemmy.ml 23 points 1 year ago

A few points you missed.

Yes, the Rykuyu islands were a sovereign country... In the 16th century. It's been run by Japan - save for a brief period between 1945 and 1978 - ever since. There's a small and insignificant independence movement that pretty much everyone ignores. I remember them throwing bread rolls at our gate guards.

The US didn't nuke Okinawa. I don't think it was intentional, but your wording implied that it did.

Okinawans are split over the military issue. Some people want the US out. Others make tons of money off the Americans being there. It's not a clear cut situation as you seem to imply.

The US is responsible for Japan's defense ever since the end of WWII, just like it was for west Germany. Given that Japan didn't make many friends during their little adventure across east Asia, having the world's largest military protect them is a favorable arrangement for them.

It's been several generations since WWII. Japan is one of the US' closest allies. If they wanted to transform their self-defense force into a full-blown military and take over responsibility for their own defense, I'm sure they could do so. So far, no one has generated the political will to do that. Your buddy Kim isn't helping things by sending missiles over Japan.

And lastly, WWII wasn't a war of conquest for the US. Blame the US for interfering in Korea and Vietnam and the middle east all you like, but Japan was a different story. Calling the US' actions in Japan "Imperialism" destroys any credibility you may have otherwise had.