Educational reconstruction and the promotion of local identity: Okinawa in the American occupation 1945–1972

ABSTRACT This article examines how and why the US reconstructed Okinawa in Japan, with a focus on the theme of ‘self’ and ‘others’ in educational interaction. I argue that during the occupation of Okinawa, the US tried to detach Okinawa from Japan socio-culturally, using the historically based racial tensions between them by promoting the local ‘Ryukyuan’ identity. The US goal was to enhance its military and ideological presence in Okinawa, projecting its long-term role as a keystone in Cold War Asia. The US policy of transforming Okinawan identity is viewed in three ways: the transmission of political and socio-cultural values through foreign education reform and transfer of American models; the ideological rationales that legitimised the reform; and the political and historical context in which the reforms were enacted. The US educational intervention in Okinawa illuminates the scheme of global governance that the new ‘empire’ mapped out in the post-WWII geopolitical context.