Demonstrators in canoes protest against land reclamation work for the planned relocation of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the Henoko coastal area of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, on December 14, 2021. The protest came three years after full-blown offshore landfill work for the transfer began. Photo: IC

The real threat to Okinawa, a Japanese prefecture in the Ryukyu Islands, is not China, said a Japanese observer and social media influencer who was born in Okinawa during an exclusive interview with the Global Times on Sunday. The observer criticized the Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who irresponsibly instigated internal conflicts between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan island, pushed forward the construction of US military bases and self-defense forces bases on the Ryukyu Islands, and tried to turn Okinawa into a battlefield again.

Yuzo Takayama, a political activist and also an influencer on social media, posted a video to introduce the true history of Okinawa on social media three days ago, ahead of the 50th anniversary of its reversion to Japan from US control Sunday, which attracted wide attention. 

Speaking about the intention of making the video, Takayama told the Global Times that the Japanese government is hyping the "China threat theory" in Okinawa in order to expand the US military base and the Japanese self-defense force base, making the Japanese people start to believe those groundless anti-China rumors. As social media is increasingly flooded with misinformation, he is willing to use his real name and responsibly present Okinawa's real history.

After the video was released, a smear campaign ensued, with right-wing forces in Japan accusing him of being "paid by China" and "a spy for China." At first, he would refute these one by one, but such irresponsible remarks are "endless," Takayama told the Global Times. Seeing that many Japanese people also said they "got to know the truth" through the video, Takayama began to ignore the slander and focus on making more truth-promotion videos.

He also said that the human rights of the Okinawan people have been trampled on for years, and now more and more Okinawan people are beginning to wake up, and the "Ryukyu independence" has become inevitable.

"Historically, it was not China that invaded Ryukyu (Okinawa), but Japan and the US!" he said

"I am deeply outraged by the Japanese government which has completely disregarded the lives and safety of the Okinawan people," Takayama said, noting that Okinawan people have been opposing the construction of US military bases for 50 years, but the number of bases has increased. 

"70.3 percent of US military bases in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa, which is only 0.6 percent of the total area of Japan. The Japanese government has sacrificed the interests of the Okinawan people in order to consolidate the so-called 'Japan-US alliance,'" said Takayama.

Indigenous Japanese "find it hard to empathize and treat Okinawa's plight as if they were "watching from a distance."

"It is hard for 'indigenous Japanese' to empathize with Okinawa and they usually treat Okinawa's plight as if they were watching from a distance. The Japanese government is cunning as they are aware of this and know that protests against the American bases will not spread nationwide." 

The biggest lesson locals learned during the 1945 "Battle of Okinawa," in which about a quarter of Okinawa's population died, was that "the army cannot protect people." Judging from the current Japanese government's attitude of "valuing the military over the people," this lesson still holds true today, Takayama warned.

Moreover, in order to realize its own interests, the Japanese government ignores its own history of aggression and pushes forward to build a military base on the Ryukyu Islands by claiming that it is necessary because China will attack. The Japanese government's actions were "despicable and shameless," Takayama said.

He believes Okinawa is still a military "colony" of Japan and the US until now and Okinawa is likely to be dragged into the war because of the US military base. He explained that the US military base makes Okinawa an automatic target in the event of war.

More and more local people have joined the "Ryukyu independence" movement in recent years, Takayama told the Global Times, noting that the human rights of the Okinawan people have been trampled on for years.