For sociologists, Okinawan research began between 1971 and 1973 with the investigations of the sociology group of the Association of the Nine Learned Societies of Humanities and Social Sciences, shortly after Okinawa had been returned to Japan. That research had the goal of comprehending the characteristics of Okinawan village societies while exploring how Okinawan villages fit within the larger context of Japan. At the time, that was the predominant unit used by agricultural sociologists for researching and theorizing villages' social structures. However, this concept could not be applied to Okinawan villages, and the study of monchū left many subjects to be explored. From the Meiji era onward, unlike on mainland Japan, a system of parasitical landowners did not develop on Okinawa; and Okinawan villages were founded on a relatively high level of equality, mutual aid, and autonomy.

Subsequently, while research on monchū by Kitahara and others advanced remarkably, the interest of sociologists shifted to the subjects of land and economic self-reliance. Meanwhile, sociologists residing in Okinawa conducted research on the relationship between wēki and shikama, cooperatives, and the stagnation of Okinawan villages.

Since 2000, comparisons between Japan and the rest of Asia have revealed the characteristics of Okinawan village societies. In turn, this has led to Okinawan villages being used many times in research on subjects like the environment and local autonomy. On the other hand, research has been conducted on related fields, such as history and economics, and this research has fundamentally re-examined Okinawan village society. Sociologists must incorporate such findings in order to reexamine their images of Okinawan village society, on which they have based the motivation for so much of their research.

This paper discusses Kyoyukai as a community and Kyoyukai as an association, a topic that few researchers have focused on, through considering the process of conversion of the U.S. military-base closure in Okinawa. One of the largest shopping malls in Okinawa located in Kita-nakagusuku Village is the most recent case of conversion. This paper focuses on Kyoyukai as an association, which most landowners of U.S. military-base sites in this area have joined, and which has played an important role in the redevelopment of this area. Most studies of Kyoyukai in Okinawa have been community studies of urban migrants. Kyoyukai are the communities formed by relationships of “Shima,” which are spiritual hometowns of people in Okinawa. On the other hand, Kyoyukai as “association” refers to associations that have been organized to manage and operate the properties of Shima lands, such as the land rental fee of the U.S. military-base sites. These have also been founded by expellees who were expelled from their Shima by construction of the U.S. military bases in the 1970s. Kyoyukai as association were supposed to be created by the will of these expellees to rebuild their own homes, but the reality is far different. By analyzing the path that Kyoyukai as association has chosen to rebuild, gaps between the original philosophy and the behavior of members of Kyoyukai (as association) are identified. The following three issues are set after this analysis: first, the whereabouts of Kyoyukai as associations, second, the crisis of disappearance of ancient Shima cultures, and third, the unshakable continuation of the Shima relationship in Okinawa.

Okinawa maintains the highest birth rate in Japan since its reversion to Japanese administration. It is hailed as a “beacon of hope” for reproducing the family and, in turn, the nation in Japan, where the Japanese current birth rate reflects the fact that fertility is at its lowest level ever. However, Okinawa's postwar history regarding fertility and family deviated from the path of Japan as a nation state. The demographic transition, and particularly fertility transition in Okinawa, started under not the Japanese but the U.S. military administration. When under U.S. military control, neither was the Eugenic Protection Law promulgated nor any family planning campaign promoted as a state initiative in Okinawa. Indeed, during this period, the use of legalized abortion and contraceptive methods was restricted. Under these circumstances, Okinawan women were expected to give birth to baby boys in line with sex roles based on the strict norms of patriarchal family formation. This article situates Okinawa's fertility in its own historical context of U. S. military control as well as the social contexts of the patriarchal family formation norms, while rethinking the reasons for having the highest birth rates in Japan occurring in Okinawa. By transcending methodological nationalism, it explores the reproductive politics of a marginalized population on postwar Okinawa.

This paper focuses on the Jishukouza (Autonomous Lectures) movement initiated by Jun Ui (1932-2006), a tremendous Japanese chemist and activist; it analyzes the meanings and dynamic of their activities on Okinawa creating linkages among the residents' anti-environmental pollution movements in Japan, Okinawa, and other Asian countries. The questions in this paper are how the “Okinawa Problem” (Okinawa-mondai) is constructed among activist networks and how the people encountered Okinawa in the 1970s after its reversion to Japan.

Okinawan society after the reversion had specific characteristics, such as accelerating development through the Plan for Promotion and Development of Okinawa by the Japanese government, evading military-base issues in national politics, and decreasing public interest in Okinawa. However, anti-environmental pollution movements on the mainland of Japan had continued their activities on Okinawa, especially the Kin Bay Struggle, and made important criticisms of development programs led by the Japanese government and capitalism. Development programs came in for severe criticism based on the historical experiences of pollution (kougai) on the Japanese mainland between the 1950s and 1960s. Activists of Jishukouza tried to understand the “Okinawa Problem” in terms of socio-economic pain and oppression involving development in both Japan and Okinawa instead of placing them in a dichotomous framework. This paper proves that the network of social movements in 1970s created a new way of understanding about Okinawa.

This study specifies what politics about the U.S. military bases brings to Okinawa Prefecture by investigating the Futenma Air Station relocation issue.

The principle of subsidiarity is the theoretical background of the Local Autonomy Act Article 1 bis, which defines foreign diplomacy and national defense as a task concerning the nation's existence. The Japanese government has proceeded with the plan to construct Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF) in Henoko district, Nago City without consideration of the strong objections from the Okinawa Prefecture.

For the residents of Henoko district, it is difficult to offer objections to the U.S. military bases because of their deep relationship to these sites. Further, it is difficult to stop construction of FRF as Okinawa Prefecture does not have rights over the U. S. military bases. Therefore, Henoko district has decided to accept FRF as long as the conditions are fair and reasonable, and this has been propelling negotiations with the Japanese government forward. Owing to the lack of rights Okinawa has over the U.S. military bases, such actions in Henoko district represents Okinawa's conditions.

To describe how Okinawan people experience the issues to do with U.S. military bases in such a political context, to grasp the meaning of what politics brings to Okinawan society, and to investigate a problem in politics—these are tasks for sociology.

In this paper, we will be focusing on a community called Kin-cho, a town located on the mid-north part of Okinawa. Kin-cho is the place of origin of overseas migration in Okinawa. Furthermore, Kin-cho has an American military base named Camp Hansen which is known as one of the most dangerous American military bases on Okinawa. Therefore, Kin-cho is also known as “Kin Town: A town of the military base.”

How did Kin become a “village launching overseas migration in the early 20^th century?” Moreover, how did it become “Kin Town after the second world war?” In this paper, we will be illustrating the life history of a Hawai'i KIBEI NISEI, who lived in Kin Village before the Second World War, and an Amerasian young woman who grew up in modern Kin-cho. Not only have they both experienced moving overseas but they have also acquired and learned multiple languages and cultures. This paper will examine which penetrates through the different ages of their histories. We will discover the origin of Kin's local identity. We will discover the process of how Okinawa has become Okinawa in the borderline of dynamism.

This paper is about change in the narrative of Okinawa. Specifically, it is a local history of city A on Okinawa Island. The local history of Okinawa Island is the official “story” issued by the government. It has the power to regulate the way people talk about Okinawa Island. The function of local history in Okinawa Island has been to convey the original, authentic Okinawan culture that existed before World War II. However, the local history of city A comprises statements about 70 villages in the city. First, it is written that ancient villages convey Okinawan traditional culture and customs. In addition, new towns, such as those on reclaimed land and housing complexes, are included. This is an epoch-making attempt for local history in Okinawa Island. The local history of city A is trying to change the way we talk about Okinawa Island. Through interviews in city A, this thesis considers how the way we talk about Okinawa Island is changing, what happens when the way we talk changes, and how that is made possible.

Okinawa, a prefecture located in the far southeast of Japan, presents two remarkable features for sociological community studies, without which this study would be superficial. The first is the fact that Okinawa was an independent country until 1889, and many residents still harbor political distrust of mainland Japan. This feeling, shared by local community members, may be connected with the recent anti-U.S. military base movement.

The second is the phenomenon of the extensive literature on the culture of this southern island, particularly by the famous folklorist, Kunio Yanagita. This strand of folklore studies considers Okinawa to be the original cultural homeland of Japan, supported by extensive field research into its music, dancing, beliefs, and folktales. Such research never considers the historico-political issues, such as the fact that Okinawa was an independent country and governed by the United States after the Second World War.

Critically, this narrow scholarly focus indicates the tendency of sociologists of Okinawan community studies to avoid tackling these two features, and instead to conduct research aligned with the current sociological topics of concern. The result is a narrowing of scholarly possibility and creativity, and a loss of perspective on the lived reality of locals, which leads Okinawans to believe that sociology is useless. However, recently, we have begun to find evidence of young sociologists trying to empathize with the locals and to discover the Okinawan community issues by incorporating a consideration of local political and cultural histories.