5 Mobilizing places Beyond the politics of essentialism in the Okinawa anti-base struggle Shinnosuke Takahashi This article examines the various ways in which “locality” is articulated, repre- sented and practiced in the Okinawan anti-base movement by reflecting upon the recent political development of Okinawa’s base problems. Like its antonym, globality, locality is an elusive term, defined by many people in different ways, depending on their respective contexts and positions. However, locality is not only a context-dependent term but also an important determinant to contextual- ize and narrativize nature, culture and humans. Therefore, the meaning of the term is not free from the political process of exclusion and inclusion by marking “inside” and “outside” of the boundaries. While the exclusive nature of identity politics has been criticized at least for the last several decades, we witness its resur- gence in many parts of the globe from both ends of the political spectrum. In it locality is articulated to give a legitimate voice for those who are socially margin- alized. Japan’s Southern-most island prefecture, Okinawa, is no exception. While examining the recent surge of politics over local identity, I seek to raise the limits and possibilities of locality in enacting political identity. I argue that the shift of our focus from identity politics to the identity-making process enables us to understand that the so-called Okinawa identity is not self-evident but created and developed by various manifestations of locality. In September 2014, Takeshi Onaga, the former mayor of Okinawa’s capital, Naha, was seated in front of cameras and TV crews waiting for this seasoned politician to announce his candidacy in the upcoming governor election. His rival was then Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who represented the local conserva- tive groups with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (hereaf- ter LDP) in Tokyo. Onaga’s candidacy was initially received with surprise both within and outside Okinawa, particularly because he declared that his decision to run in the election against his former colleague was based upon one of the most conflictive issues in Okinawa and the rest of Japan: that is, the U.S. military bases. Until this election, Onaga had been known as one of the most high-profile con- servative politicians in Okinawa, whose stance towards the so-called base politics was very far from the local progressive camps, which demand the withdrawal of the military facility from their land. In fact, Onaga acted as a political advisor of Nakaima for many years. However, he ended the relationship with his former ally, stating that the goal of his administration, if he won the election, would be Cultural and Social Division in Contemporary Japan : Rethinking Discourses of Inclusion and Exclusion, edited by Yoshikazu Shiobara, et al., Taylor & Francis Group, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vuw/detail.action?docID=5842297. Created from vuw on 2025-03-21 20:05:50. Copyright © 2019. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.