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
or the way of martial arts. he acts as translator for most of the karate sensei on the island. earlier i met james and hokama sensei in makishi public market in okinawa s largest city, naha. james: that s the tasty one, right, we ll take that one. anthony: and what are these? james: so these are puffer fish. so, we got some they re gonna do some deep-fried fish for us. anthony: gurukun, the unofficial national fish of okinawa. and porcupine fish, both battered and deep-fried. james: we re gonna do sashimi. anthony: okinawans eat just about any kind of fish sashimi style. for us, snapper and parrotfish. james: and lobster. anthony: because one must. served raw and still twitching in the shell. james: and we re gonna get some sea grapes as well. anthony: oh good, good, that s, uh, super traditional. sea grapes, the classic regional side dish dressed in rice vinegar. what you buy downstairs from
swordfish wrapped in seaweed and simmered in stock in fermented sake. dried sea snake wrapped in kombu and slow simmered. burdock root wrapped in pork loin and slow cooked in katsuo stock. okinawan taro flash fried then dressed with sugar and soy. and pork shoulder, dredged in black sesame, then steamed. you have described, uh, that, uh, you were shocked and surprised to see the the japanese soldiers, their treatment of okinawans was not good during the, uh, the battle.
different languages, and culturally, culinary, and in many other ways, looked in different directions. yet, okinawans were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, and they did. that s not just ancient history. it informs the present still. okinawa is the largest of over 100 islands making up the ryukyu island chain. it s just over 300 miles from the mainland but worlds apart. okinawa is different. it s tropical. clear waters, some of the best beaches in asia, to the decidedly more laidback, less frenetic, self-serious attitude than the mainland. you can feel it. you can see it. it s just different here.
masahide: and, if you use the okinawan language, you will be killed as a spy, you know? anthony: right. masahide: but the okinawan people could not understand standard language, you know? so, the japanese forces killed lots of local people, you know? anthony: particularly given, uh, the experience of the war, how japanese do you think most people feel here? masahide: there s a fundamental difference between japanese culture and okinawan culture. japanese culture is warrior culture. but okinawan culture is absence of militarism. okinawan people are happy-go-lucky people. anthony: do you think that easy going, um, that reputation, that tradition of, uh, being happy-go-lucky. do you think that this has led to okinawans being taken advantage of?