VOX POPULI: Japan stares blankly at Okinawa's troubles

Hedomisaki, or Cape Hedo, forms the northernmost tip of Okinawa's main island, the largest in the Okinawan archipelago. Gisho Funakoshi, a local author who died in 2007, wrote a poem titled "Hedomisaki Nite" (On Cape Hedo) 54 years ago.

Okinawa was under U.S. military occupation back then, and the entire Okinawan population was said to be involved in anti-base activities.

But the people's voices were not heard by the Japanese government. Funakoshi's poem goes: "The island of Nippon (Japan) lies so close, I feel I can even touch it if I stretch my arm/ But the island is unreachably distant and wears a blank expression/ Is there an undersea fault that marks the sharp border that separates us from Nippon?/ Okinawa eyes with envy/ The freedom with which the winds and the clouds can cross the 28th parallel north."

In 1956, the Japanese government declared in its annual white paper on the economy that the nation was "no longer in the postwar period."

The Japanese mainland was enjoying a period of peace, secure under its war-renouncing Constitution. But a different "postwar period" continued in Okinawa. Funakoshi's poem gave expression to the frustration of the people of Okinawa, whose cries were not heard by Nippon.

It is a long poem. Every word and phrase underscores the "blank expression" the rest of Japan still wears half a century later today.

Is the U.S. military forcing its bases on the people of Okinawa, or is it the doing of the Japanese government? Or perhaps all of us non-Okinawans are to blame? It should not just be Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama who is agonizing over these questions.

The month of May has now arrived for Hatoyama. He promised to settle the Futenma issue by the end of the month with a clarity that would remind everyone of perfect May weather. But in haiku poetry, satsuki-yami (May darkness) is also a seasonal expression describing the pitch-black nights during the tsuyu rainy season--May according to the old lunar calendar--when the moon and the stars are hidden by heavy clouds.

I vividly recall meeting Funakoshi about 10 years ago. He said, "When I wrote that poem, the thing I envied Japan most for was its pacifist Constitution." And he lamented, "But we Okinawans are still being kept in the dark."

Hatoyama is to visit Okinawa on Tuesday. How will he respond to the intense, long-cherished dream of the people of Okinawa? One thing is certain: There is no magic wand he can wave.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 3

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.