Since the “return” of Okinawa (Ryukyu) to Japan in 1972, the U.S. military has maintained its bases in Okinawa with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces also deployed. Thus, Okinawa has continued to be militarized even under the pacifism of the Japanese Constitution. The uneven distribution of U.S. military bases in Japan under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which is supported by the Japanese majority, has resulted in the concentration of assaults around the bases, also known as the “Okinawa Problem.” However, the damages are difficult to perceive in mainland Japan. The root of the “discrimination,” as the Japanese Government and mainland residents continue to push the problems arising from the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty to Okinawa, is based on colonialism.

In connection with the discrimination against Okinawa, is based on colonialism. In connection with the discrimination against Okinawa, this paper describes the “structural discrimination toward Okinawa” as an accumulation of contradictions between the Constitution of Japan and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty system. The paper indicates that the deployment and strengthening of the Self-Defense Forces in the Ryukyu Islands to the south of Amami constitute the new Suteishi Sakusen (“Sacrifice Operation”).

Additionally, this paper examines the discrimination against Okinawa within the following forms: discrimination against Okinawa based on colonialism, hatred against Okinawa, the non-application of the Constitution toward Okinawa, the non-application of the Constitution toward the colonies under the Meiji Constitution, and the problem of colonial awareness inherent in the people of Okinawa.

This paper focuses on colonialism that underlies the discrimination through a multifaceted examination of the discrimination against Okinawa. The author believes that understanding the current situation in Okinawa and thinking about colonialism will lead to Japan recognizing and liquidating colonialism and becoming independent.

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Previous studies of Okinawa's restoration to Japan have explored Japan-U.S. relations while paying little attention to relations between Japan and Okinawa. However, this approach assumes that Okinawa was simply an object in the negotiating process for its reversion to Japan, and not a subjective actor. Accordingly, this paper is concerned with negotiations between Japan and Okinawa in order to clarify the part played by the latter. I shall focus on visits to Tokyo made by Chobyo Yara, Executive Chief of the Ryukyu Government, to meet with Japanese Government officials including Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and Foreign Minister Kiichi Aichi. In particular, this paper deals with “homeland level status”, a term used in their discussions to define the conditions for Okinawa's reversion.
Japanese officials made frequent mention of their expectation that U.S. military bases would be reduced and consolidated after Okinawa's reversion, just as they had seen the removal of military bases after Japan's independence in 1952. This reveals an evident analogy between the restoration of Japanese sovereignty and the restoration of Okinawan administrative rights. However, the reality that several U.S. military bases were moved from Japan to Okinawa, which came under U.S. direct control, was ignored: a fact which reveals a significant flaw in the Japanese Government's logic.
Throughout their negotiations, the Ryukyu Government made persistent claims for “immediate, unconditional and total” reversion, to which the Japanese Government repeatedly answered that reversion would bring Okinawa to “homeland level status”. These negotiations offered no room for manoeuvre to the Ryukyu Government, who was powerless in decisions regarding the restoration of administrative rights to Okinawa. Yara therefore sought to justify Okinawan peoples' demand for “immediate, unconditional and total” reversion using three key arguments: that politically, as Executive Chief, Yara represented the consensus of Okinawan opinion; that nationally, Okinawa should be reunited with Japan; and, that Okinawa's aspiration for peace would be secured by the “democratic and peaceful” Japanese Constitution.
On the Okinawan side, the reversion movement is said to have developed from resistance to military occupation and its aim was the complete removal of military bases. However, Okinawa had already been positioned as a keystone of the U.S. military within the U.S.-Japan security treaty structure even before its reversion. In this sense, it is logically doubtful that Okinawa's reversion to Japan could have led to the clearance of military bases. Hence, such expectations held by Yara and pro-reversion supporters may be considered contradictory.
To understand the “Okinawan Problem” as it exists today, it is necessary to consider the history of both Japan-U.S. and Japan-Okinawa relations. To that end, it is critical to problematise Japan and Okinawa's historical relationship.

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