Okinawa's Social Movement and the Power of Human Rights

The Japanese island precture Okinawa is located in the west pacific and is geographically closer to Taipeh than to Tokyo. After World War II the United States got sovereignty over the archipelago and decided to use it for building military bases in order to confront communist China. In 2017, 17% of its soil is belonging to the US military. Although the prefecture comprises just 0.6% of Japan´s territory, Okinawa hosts approximately 70% of all US troops and facilities in Japan. Since 1945, above-average accidents, crimes like rapes and murder, seriously environmental destruction and noise exposure are part of Okinawians´ everyday live. Recently many accidents of the MV 22 Osprey helicopter have occurred and especially the citizens living close to the bases are feeling more and more insecure. The burdens weigh heavily on the people. So, beginning in the 1950s, Okinawas’ citizens have triggered many waves of protest movements for decades against these bases and the widely perceived discriminatory policy by the Japanese central government. The movement has come to frame their claims around issues of anti-militarism, environmental protection and feminism. Apparently, the protest seems quite unsuccessfully. After Shinzō Abe got premiere minister in 2012, many activists and scholars see a willful silencing of the voice of Okinawa and a repression of the movement by the central state. The Japanese nationalist-conservative course supports a stronger security alliance with the US and a constitutional change of the Japanese peace constitution (Art. 9), which means a continuing US military presence on the island. Since 2014 the cases of arrests and detention of protesters in Okinawa have highly increased and freedom of opinion, assembly and the media is under big pressure. Thus, many of the social movement actors are claiming the violation of human rights by the Japanese government. New actors like scientists, journalist, local politicians and NGOs are supporting the Okinawian community in this bottom-up protest. They ground their protests in the concept of global citizenship, in order to construct a transboundary network. Through their human rights framing the actors appeal to the international human rights community to pressure from above on Japan to stop these violations. In my presentation I want to explain how the movement tries to gain support through the concept of global citizenship and in how far they have been successful. How do they use the human rights argument? How are the international community and the Japanese Government responding?