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Two maps circulating the internet credited to "Base Nation" contain harmful and misleading information about Luchu (Okinawa), and are being heavily criticized by Luchuans (Uchinanchu / Okinawans).  The above map makes it appear that Japan contains many more U.S. military bases and personnel than Okinawa. However, the opposite is true. Okinawa makes up less than 1% of Japan's land area, yet contains over 70% of Japan's military presence. Okinawa has around 30,000 U.S. soldiers, while Japan has around 20,000. Perpetuating the false narrative that Okinawa has a much smaller U.S. military presence than Japan is supporting U.S. and Japanese propaganda, racism, and genocide towards Uchinanchu.  This second map is even more problematic, having entirely erased Uchinaa (Okinawa) and all of the Luchu Islands! This is literal erasure and propagates the genocide and human rights abuses being committed by the U.S. and Japan against Luchuans / Uchinanchu.
2 Comments
9/28/2021 04:26:37 pm
I am very sorry for any confusion or offense caused by the 2nd map here, which appeared in my book "Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World" (Metropolitan Books, 2015). Given the global scale of the map and the number of bases, it was very difficult to show the Luchu Islands. If you zoom in on the map, I believe the islands are still visible, although I should not have placed the symbol of the navy vessel where it could obscure the islands. My website www.basenation.us has additional maps that depict the Luchu Islands including a map of bases on Uchinaa (Okinawa) as well as displacement and anti-base protest in Luchu. I'm sorry to say that a new 2020 version of the global bases map, in my book "The United States of War," has the same problem as the 2015 map. It and other maps are available at https://www.davidvine.net/unitedstatesofwar.html. 9/28/2021 04:29:22 pm
P.S. I did not design the first map, although it uses my data. Leave a Reply. |
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