Rethinking Okinawa’s Modernization: Postcolonial Examination of The US Military Economic Development Plan and Military Base Work

抄録

This paper critically explores the US military’s economic development policies in Okinawa during the post-WWII occupation (1945 to 1972), situating Okinawa’s modernization within Cold War-era imperial ambitions. While previous studies often highlight the peak of Okinawan modernization during this period, this analysis reframes modernization by examining the colonial and imperial entanglements inherent in US economic policies. Central to this analysis is the role of military base work, promoted by the US military as a core industry alongside agriculture, to achieve a “self-sustaining economy.” By positioning military base work as essential to Okinawa’s economic and social modernization, the US military created a dependent economic structure, casting military base work as a symbol of progress. This paper highlights how US-led economic initiatives were not solely focused on reconstruction but intertwined with Cold War objectives, enlisting Okinawans into the US’s broader empire-building agenda under the guise of development. The author argues that the accelerated modernization in Okinawa was driven by the US’s strategic interests in securing influence across Asia, with the modernization policies implemented by the military integrating Okinawa into its Cold War geopolitical framework. Ultimately, this paper contributes to a postcolonial understanding of modernization, revealing how occupation-driven policies in Okinawa served both local economic ends and broader imperial objectives, thus reshaping the region’s socio-economic landscape in ways that resonate beyond the immediate postwar context.