Join Mariko and Erica with guest speakers Maia Hibbett and Kaiya Yonamine as we begin to discuss the current situation in Henoko, Okinawa. Around 25 years ago, Henoko, a coastal village in Nago, was announced as the relocation site for the US Air Force base Futenma. We’ll learn a little bit about the history of Henoko, including Japanese and US military relations that set the foundation for the present day circumstances, who’s active in the movement protesting the base relocation, environmental racism, weave in personal stories and thoughts, and try to keep it light as we talk about a difficult and heavy topic. We acknowledge the factors at play evolve constantly, and some details may have changed since the original recording in March 2022. We wish to share these important reflections with the intention to bring more consistent and timely updates to our community and listeners in addition to our regular programming. We are also pleased to include our first Kickstarter backer interview with the lovely Momi Cummings.
Grateful to Floating Room for providing their track 'Shima' for this episode.
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Show Notes:
Interview with Momi Cummings:
Shimanchu Penpals: @shimanchupenpals
Momi’s instagram: @kuuleimomi
Conversation with Maia & Kaiya:
Maia’s great-grandparents immigration story from Okinawa to Peru to the United States: From Okinawa to the Americas: Hana Yamagawa and Her Reminiscences of a Century
Kaiya’s Website: Rise for Henoko
Maia’s Articles on Okinawa: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/japan-okinawa-henoko/ (2021) & https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/okinawa-japan-us-military/ (2019)
PFOS Levels in Okinawa Asahi Shimbun Article (2021)
Dugongs: Ryukyu Shimpo Article (2019)
Night in the American Village - Akemi Johnson
Okinawa and the U.S. Military - Masamichi S. Inoue
Guest Speakers
Maia Hibbett Twitter: https://twitter.com/maiahibbett Email: maia.hibbett@theintercept.com
The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/staff/maiahibbett/
Photo credit to Elise Swain / The Intercept Kaiya Yonamine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaiya.okinawa
Documentary: Our Island’s Treasure MUSIC CREDITS
Ippee nifee debiru (thank you very much!) to Floating Room for providing this episode's music ‘Shima’. You can find them on their website at https://floatingroom.bandcamp.com/ And as always, nifee deebiru to Brandon Ufugusuku Ing for the music for the fun fact!
Bandcamp: https://brandoning.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandoningmusic
Oki Phrase of the Day / Oki Fun Fact of the Day:
One way to make a land acknowledgement in Uchinaaguchi:
[Name of the indigenous people] + NU JII NU [Name of the land] + WUTI KURACHOOIBIINI live on [Name of the ingdegnous people]’s land called [Name of the land].
Thank you to Brandon Ing Shinshii for helping with this translation.
PRODUCTION
Huge thank you to Emma Anderson and Joseph Kamiya for audio editing and mastering.
DONATIONS
Donations to Ichariba Choodee are very much appreciated!