fighting tradition. a history of ferocious resistance. but it s nothing like what you might think. not at all. i took a walk through this beautiful world felt the cool rain on my shoulder found something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder sha la la la la sha la la la la la sha la la la la sha la la la la la la anthony: this is okinawa, just south of mainland japan. for all the relative rigidity of the mainland, okinawa answers in its own unique way. don t eat the same thing each day. that s boring. there s even an okinawan term for it. chanpuru, something mixed. bits borrowed from all over served up for anyone to eat. but maybe you re more familiar with the name okinawa from this. as the setting for some of the most horrifyingly bloody battles of the second world war. how horrifying? for the allies there were more than 50,000 casualties with around 12,000 killed, or missing in action, over nearly three months of fighting.
anthony: what does it mean to be strong? it implies hardness, inflexibility. okinawa is a place with a fighting tradition. a history of ferocious resistance. but it s nothing like what you might think. not at all. i took a walk through this beautiful world felt the cool rain on my shoulder found something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder sha la la la la sha la la la la la sha la la la la sha la la la la la la anthony: this is okinawa, just south of mainland japan. for all the relative rigidity of the mainland, okinawa answers in its own unique way. don t eat the same thing each day. that s boring. there s even an okinawan term for it. chanpuru, something mixed. bits borrowed from all over served up for anyone to eat. but maybe you re more familiar with the name okinawa from this. as the setting for some of the most horrifyingly bloody battles of the second world war. how horrifying? for the allies there were more than
okinawa s arable land suitable for farming. on an island whose whole traditional identity was built around farming, is eaten up by military bases. the military base issue. is this more important for older people or younger people? keiji: oh, it s for the older people. anthony: it s for the older people. keiji: yes. so when you actually go to a place where they have a, like, a protest going on. i would say over 80% of the people are, uh, all retired person. anthony: why do you think that is? keiji: um, this is only my opinion. but, uh, japanese imperial army did a lot of brutal stuff on this island and war never ended for some people. and the feelings that they got
and even though it s one of the smallest japanese prefectures in terms of livable area, they accommodate more than half of the foreign military presence. even more problematic, much of okinawa s arable land suitable for farming. on an island whose whole traditional identity was built around farming, is eaten up by military bases. the military base issue. is this more important for older people or younger people? keiji: oh, it s for the older people. anthony: it s for the older people. keiji: yes. so when you actually go to a place where they have a, like, a protest going on. i would say over 80% of the people are, uh, all retired person. anthony: why do you think that is? keiji: um, this is only my opinion. but, uh, japanese imperial army did a lot of brutal stuff on this island and war never ended for some people.
laid back, but the island is also a relative hot bed of political activism. largely inspired or provoked by what okinawans see as high handed treatment from a central government with different cultural and historical traditions. who don t consider their needs or priorities. and their hugely disproportionate shouldering of the u.s. military presence for the entire country. currently there are close to thirty military installations on okinawa. and even though it s one of the smallest japanese prefectures in terms of livable area, they accommodate more than half of the foreign military presence. even more problematic, much of okinawa s arable land suitable for farming. on an island whose whole traditional identity was built around farming, is eaten up by military bases. the military base issue. is this more important for older