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Undergraduate Research at UMass Dartmouth
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There are five times as many American bases in
Japan than in Afghanistan and 75% of those bases
are located in just 0.6% of Japan’s landmass, on the
island of Okinawa. This over-saturation of American
military on a very small landmass has affected the
area in many tangible ways—both positive and
negative. Okinawa’s economy, culture, and history
have been strongly influenced by America; conversely,
thousands of Americans have been shaped by the
Okinawan culture and society.
important moments and locations and I “framed”
these moments and locations in meaningful ways.
Even though the final product—an illustrated
book—ended up being not too long, it definitely
proved to be very challenging. The recent history of
Okinawa is incredibly complicated. It includes 70
years of injustice and Okinawan bitterness at both
the Japanese and the American central governments.
At the macro level, there are fierce political
debates about how necessary the bases in Okinawa
are, whether the Okinawan people have been subjugated
by American and Japanese superpowers,
and whether the bases do more harm than good.
But there is also a less polarized micro reality. Most
Americans are just doing their jobs. They were given
relatively no choice to be stationed in Okinawa and
are just fulfilling their duty as honorably as possible.
Simultaneously, most Okinawans are just living their
daily lives as best as they can, and as harmoniously
American soldier shares rations with Okinawan children in 1945
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In my recent travel, I did my best to tell the story of
the American military presence in Okinawa through
both texts and images. I took notes as I explored
different places. I interviewed both Americans and
Okinawans. I did research on my own and I captured
the culture, utilizing the elegance of the frozen
moment that only photographs can provide. It is
important to note that my photographs are not just
representations of reality; they are mediated images
with deep meanings. Indeed, I did my best to capture
Santoro’s photograph of a neighborhood near the American
base, 2016. American iconography and English Signage are fairly
common throughout Okinawa, but they are especially prevalent
near the bases