[ad_1]
TOKYO – The Okinawa celebration crowd chanted the unusual name of the new Governor of South Japan, shouting, "Denny! Denny! Denny! The scene brought to light one of Denny Tamaki's first and most important questions: How will he attack the US military presence in Okinawa as a semi-American?
Tamaki, 58, the first person with an American parent to run Okinawa, beat a pro-US backed candidate. party in power in Sunday's election by a comfortable margin of 80,000 votes.
The project, which lasted for decades, included the construction of a new US air base at Henoko, on the Okinawa coast.
Tamaki said he would talk to the United States about how the people of Okinawa have rejected the new airbase.
"We are all family members on the land," he told reporters. "How we can coexist in understanding and peace should be our starting point."
Tamaki is also becoming a new type of leader, representing tolerance and diversity, in a country long recognized for its uniformity and compliance.
His father is an American navy he has never met. His mother is Okinawa. Little is known about the father who left Japan before Tamaki was born. Dual citizenship is technically illegal for Japanese adults, especially for politicians.
Although Tamaki rarely speaks in detail about his parenting roots, he always said that he embodied the plight of Okinawa.
His body language after his election victory was revealing. He shouted "Banzai!" At a traditional Japanese election ceremony. He then danced while swinging his arms in the manner of Okinawa, along with his supporters, recognizing that he simply could not stop it.
Tamaki's political career began in local politics in 2002 and he was elected to Parliament in 2009. Married, with two sons and two daughters, Tamaki was also a radio host and musician. He has sung in a rock band since college and has written the lyrics of some of Okinawa's biggest bands, including the Rinken Band.
He always gets up on stage with a guitar to sing in English, although his English is limited, like most Japanese. He quotes Robin Williams and Tom Hanks as his favorite actors and Eric Clapton as his musical inspiration.
"He is super popular. Regardless, he's half-American, "said Noritaka Yagi, who runs a taco stand in Uruma, Okinawa. "It appeals to people's emotions."
Tamaki said his electoral victory was a matter of change, putting "identity on ideology".
"Let's go ahead in a new Okinawa," he said in a tweet after his victory over Atsushi Sakima, a mayor who had claimed that Okinawa should work with the national government to solve the problem .
Yet, Tamaki still faces enormous challenges.
The effort to reduce Okinawa's burden of hosting US forces would imply a confrontation with Japan's national defense policy, which is based on a bilateral security treaty that followed the Second World War. Japan regards the United States as its most important ally and remains highly dependent on US defense.
Okinawa is home to about half of the 54,000 US troops stationed in Japan and occupies 64% of the land area used by US bases in the country. Okinawa represents less than 1% of Japan's area.
The story adds to the complexity. Okinawa was occupied by the United States after the rest of Japan regained sovereignty in 1952 and was not officially returned to Japan until 1972.
Okinawa was also the scene of one of the bloodiest land battles of the Second World War. The tragic story is well known to Himeyuri students and teachers, who served as front-line nurses for the Japanese imperialist army and committed suicide to avoid surrender.
Even after the war, crimes committed by members of the US military, including attacks and rapes, outraged the people of Okinawa. The preparations for Henoko date back to 1995, when raping a schoolgirl in which three US servicemen were sentenced. They are also dissatisfied with noise and the dangers of aircraft accidents.
"It's so symbolic that an American man will lead the movement against US bases," said Masaaki Gabe, a professor of international politics at Ryukyu University in Okinawa.
Reflecting widespread opinion, Gabe believes that Japan will likely attempt to destroy Henoko's construction. Many in Okinawa have given up and feel that the rest of Japan does not care, he added.
"Denny Tamaki has indeed drawn attention to this extremely complex problem," he said. "In that sense, he gave us hope."
___
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yurikageyama/?hl=en
His work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]Source link
