Question: How do you think the trauma that Okinawan women experienced during the Battle of Okinawa impacted their responses to the military base construction that the US military Occupation authorities enacted during the early 1950s that we see in the Isahama struggle? What traumas have to be dissociated from the Battle of Okinawa and understood as new to the time of US military occupation?
Although war might have been fought with men, women during war times are generally the greatest recipient of psychological damage and trauma. The mystery of not knowing whether their family members were alive or not everyday were a simple cause for resentment to the US. Although the constant reminder of those memories through the building of US military outposts alone would be a deterring factor for those who have endured it, the meaning of the land to the locals were also a major factor for their opinions. The land which was being built upon apart from being ancient burial grounds and fields were places of comfort and peace for them, a reminder when life was happier and simpler. The removal of these places in replacement with military buildings would completely destroy their mental wellbeing, and therefore warranted their reaction.
I feel like the traumas that are associated with the war tend to me emotional and psychological ones, whereas trauma post war that is completely dissociated would mostly come from lost of power or the attempt to regain or maintain power. In the cases of Okinawan women, their power struggle came from their need to regain their normal lives post war. Their fight to own and inherit land not only for their livelihood but also their mental wellbeing is needed, as it would be a step Okinawan women would need to take in order to resume their normal lifestyle. In addition, another trauma that could originate from the post war occupation of Japan would be the idea of individuality as a Nation. After being annexed by the Japanese, the Ryukyu Kingdom’s strive to rule themselves would yet again be denied by the US. This fight for freedom could also be the spark to their demand for negotiations to US military occupation.
