Myth, Protest and Struggle in Okinawa

176 Myth, protest and struggle in Okinawa
Conclusion
The 21 October protest in 1995 marked the third peak of the postwar mass protest
in Okinawa, preceded by the 1956 all-island struggle, and mass rallies in the 1960s
(Arasaki 2000). ‘New social movements’, developed in Okinawa since the Kin Bay
struggle, have continued to play a key role in the ‘third wave’ and recent antiheliport
struggle. Emphasis on the individual ‘citizen’ as the subject of action, and
a greater number of female participants, have been seen in the Okinawan community
of protest at least since the 1970s. However, the emergence of the ‘gender’ framing
and the ‘unai’ method of the OWAAMV and the multiple, new women-only
groups significantly changed the internal dynamics in the protest community. The
traditional ways of doing protest have been challenged by the presence and
performance of the women’s network.
On the other hand, this chapter has observed important continuity in these ‘new
social movements’, including the women’s group’s activities and the ‘local’ groups
from the past ‘Okinawan Struggle’. The historical narrative of marginalization –
past war experience and the victimized image of ‘Okinawa’ – are resurrected in
today’s anti-base protest. In this sense, the myth of an ‘Okinawan struggle’ is as
alive as ever. Today, however, different actors exploit it for different agendas using
different techniques. It is an idea that is compatible with many definitions of who
‘we’ are and what is at stake for varying constituencies within the community of
protest.