Miho Ishikawa & Koki Kinjo
Abstract: This interview serves as a dialogue among two student investigators at Okinawa Christian University who are interested understanding U.S. military base issues and how they affect local citizens living and working in close proximity to the bases. The interviewee agreed to discuss openly her experiences and thoughts about working part-time as a university student to pay for her tuition at a local university.
Miho Ishikawa: You work on the Kadena Air Base as a one of the Okinawan. But most Okinawan against the bases. As a citizen in Okinawa and a worker on the base, are you for or against the U.S. military bases in Okinawa?
Misaki Ishikawa: I cannot sweepingly say that I am for the U.S. military bases in Okinawa or I am against the U.S. military bases in Okinawa. I am for the bases when I see the issue from only one side, but I am against the bases when I examine the issue from the opposite side. So, I cannot say I am for the bases or I am against the bases, and I cannot say I hope the bases will disappear, neither.
Miho Ishikawa: Do you feel affected by the pollution coming from the military bases? Are you even aware of the pollution and how it affects your your daily life?
Misaki Ishikawa: There are many car accident, and incident caused by the U.S. military troops, I think. There are many people who drive car dangerously. I saw some people who do that, and their license plate ware mostly “Y” number. Of course, I also feel the noise pollution, too. I hear it but also feel it. The noise is the biggest pollution, I think.
Miho Ishikawa: What negative influence do you think that kind of pollution has on you?
Misaki Ishikawa: The noise of aircraft is extremely annoying, unsetting. I have experienced some negative impacts in my daily life. For example, when I was a high school student, the aircraft from the military bases often flew right over my school during classes, so our classes were routinely interrupted because of the noise. This is a common everyday occurrence. And it is happening even today. Nonetheless, I have not experienced any impact from accidents or incidents, such as in Futenma at Daini.
Miho Ishikawa: I have no experiences of working on bases, so I want to ask the question. What are your feeling about working on base? Do you feel conflicted?
Misaki Ishikawa: I think there are certainly cultural differences, both positive and negative, that appear attitudes toward people’s work and customs such as giving a tip for good service. Japanese people who work on base, including me, sometimes feel that American people who work at Chili’s, for example, do not appear to care so much about the finer details of their work. I think, in this regard, Japanese people might be better observers of details than their American counterparts. This is a negative point, of course, but one positive is the custom of tipping. This is a positive for workers like me, since our basic pay is so incredibly low. I often receive tips from customers when they feel my service is good. Because of that, I can feel more motivation to work harder. Japan does not have such a system, so I think Japan might consider adopting this system.
Miho Ishikawa: For many decades, Okinawans are against or resist the military bases. Especially in Henoko, there are many opponents. They sit-down strike, and protest in front of the gate of the Henoko New Base. I have visited there once, and I saw the present situation of Henoko, and the people who protest in there. What do you think the protest campaign against the bases? Do you agree with it? Or disagree with it?
Misaki Ishikawa: I understanding the reasons why the movement against the U.S. military bases started in Okinawa, but I don’t think all the way of the movement are good. For example, sometimes the opponents are very loud in front of base’s gate, and the neighbors distressed by noise of the campaign. That makes no sense. There is no meaning if they complain of the noise pollution of the U.S. military bases, but they do same things to the neighbors. Furthermore, there are a few people who give hate speech. I think this is not a good way. I have never visit Henoko, so I don’t know what the truth is, but I know some of them do that.
Miho Ishikawa: I often hear the bad stories about U.S. military bases. What are the advantages and disadvantages of U.S. military bases do you think?
Misaki Ishikawa: I think there are some advantages of U.S. military bases. First, it is easy to learn English because there are a lot of American people close to us. Also, people can learn English by working on the bases like me. Second, we can learn about different culture. By touching upon foreign cultures during daily life, we are able to accept foreign cultures easily. This contact can lead to eliminate discrimination and prejudice. However, there are some disadvantages of U.S. military bases too. First, as mentioned above, the noise of aircraft is terrible. Also, we are threatened everyday by the potential dangers of the crash. Second, military men often cause an incident such as a forcible entry into a house and sexual violence. “A woman was raped on her way home at night by a military man.” Such cases have occurred many times so far. Okinawan people might think these disadvantages have more influence than advantages. It may be a reason why there are so many dissenting opinions about the U.S. military bases.
Miho Ishikawa: As you said, there are many positive effects of the U.S. military bases, but the same time, there are a lot of negative effects of that. What do you think the U.S. military bases will go away from Okinawa in the future? Or they will keep staying in here the same as always?
Misaki Ishikawa: I think the U.S. military bases won’t go away from this land. I don’t understand exactly when is the ”future” as you mean, but I think if that happens, maybe it will be in far-distant future. Or it may never happen.
Miho Ishikawa: Do you want the bases to go away from Okinawa? Or do you want them to stay in Okinawa?
Misaki Ishikawa: I have never wanted the bases to stay in Okinawa. If anything, I think it is better that the bases go away from Okinawa. As I said, there are some positive effects, but the positive effects like “we can learn different culture” are more easily than in the past. So, we have other ways of knowing different cultures. Comparing the positive effects and the negative effects, there are more negative effects than positive ones. We can re-use the land where the bases are standing now. We can use the land as we want to because the land is ours.
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