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CAMP FOSTER, Japan - Anyone that has never been away from the United States is bound to have many misconceptions about the island.
I fall into this category and will openly admit that I did not know what to expect from Okinawa. I had ideas about the island that have so far been proven wrong and others that have been proven right.
Coming from a military family in South Dakota, I had traveled all over the western United States and the Great Plains. I read many books on World War II in high school and college and the war in the Pacific is what stood out. Admittedly, the European theater had larger land battles but my original interest lay in the use of air power, which eventually evolved into an interest into amphibious operations and the air campaign against the Japanese.
In my readings, I found that I was curious about what made the Japanese perform acts of suicide and brutality instead of surrender.
The fact that they had such a stigma against it seemed highly outrageous. This notion influenced my preconceptions about Okinawa and Japan in general.
I found that many of the racial stereotypes that I encountered while reading to be an interesting insight into how Americans thought, but I know many were false and would not hold up in real life. The most common misconception I think most Americans have when coming to Okinawa for the first time is that most, if not all Okinawans, hate the United States military. While this may be true for some people, I have not seen evidence that everyone hates us. What indications I have seen are that most people are indifferent to the United States military being here.
The second largest misconception is that Japan is the land of technology and that everything is automated. While that may be true in some of the larger cities, I have not experienced of any technological automation while on Okinawa. Automation from a technical standpoint was my main misconception about Japan. It came as a shock to find that apart from everything being in Japanese, it is a regular place. Different towns may have different levels of technology but nothing that indicates that robots will be among us in the near future.
I have seen normal people going about their lives on a day-to-day basis that would remind any American of their hometown.
The parts of Okinawa that surprised me so far have been how nice the people have been, the geography and the weather. The people of Okinawa have surprised me. I had heard that they were nice people, but they are even nicer than I expected. From everything I have seen, which is not a lot, they are all decent human beings.
The ocean is something that I never spent time around. I had only been to the Pacific Ocean twice before coming to Okinawa and both of those times were brief and did not leave a lasting impression on me. Arriving on Okinawa changed my opinion of the ocean. I may not be into water sports but the sheer beauty of the ocean and its power is amazing. A few sunsets and some time spent at a marina has convinced me that spending my time and living on an island may not be so bad.
The weather is something that I have not quite grasped yet. I have not experienced typhoon season, but eventually I will. So far, it hasn’t impressed me but I will give the weather of Okinawa a chance. It should not be a deal breaker but then again I could be horribly mistaken.
From thinking that everything would be automated to being stunned by the ocean, I have come to appreciate Okinawa as it is. I may still have some ideas that have not been proven or disproven but I will wait for Okinawa to surprise me.
| Date Taken: | 12.21.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2012 22:13 |
| Story ID: | 82169 |
| Location: | CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 291 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Misconceptions of Okinawa: truth or fiction?, by Sgt Nicholas Ranum, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
