Changes

As early as 1951, as the Treaty of San Francisco was being negotiated, Okinawan groups pushed for a variety of different ends. Several major political parties pushed for immediate reversion to Japanese sovereignty, something supported by nearly 200,000 signatures on an appeal, accounting for over 70% of the eligible voters in Okinawa. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party in Okinawa pushed for Okinawa to become a trustee under the United States, while the Republican Party in Okinawa angled for full independence.<ref name=siddle135/>

As early as 1951, as the Treaty of San Francisco was being negotiated, Okinawan groups pushed for a variety of different ends. Several major political parties pushed for immediate reversion to Japanese sovereignty, something supported by nearly 200,000 signatures on an appeal, accounting for over 70% of the eligible voters in Okinawa. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party in Okinawa pushed for Okinawa to become a trustee under the United States, while the Republican Party in Okinawa angled for full independence.<ref name=siddle135/>

In 1952, mainland Japan was restored to Japanese sovereignty. However, under Article 3 of Chapter 2 (Territory) of the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan was obliged to agree to any proposal the US made to place any portion of the Ryûkyû Islands and/or the [[Ogasawara Islands]] under trusteeship; further, until such a proposal was made, the United States was to continue to "exercise all and any powers of administration, legislation, and jurisdiction over the territory and inhabitants of these islands, including their territorial waters."<ref>"[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_of_San_Francisco#Article_3 Treaty of San Francisco]," Wikisource.</ref> Thus, the Allied military Occupation, and martial law, continued for another twenty years in Okinawa, under USCAR - the United States Civil Administration of Ryukyu. At that time, the occupation of Ryukyu had no set end-date, and the 1950s-1960s saw considerable protest and agitation. The US military removed people from their land by force in order to build or expand military bases, in a move known as "bayonets and bulldozers," and offered monetary compensation as a means of resolving all land problems. After the majority of landowners refused in 1952 to lease their land to the US authorities, USCAR changed the rules, forcing them to lease the land, and though rental rates were initially negotiable, in the end, the US military obliged landowners to accept extremely low rent payments. In 1955, a US government report known as the Price Report officially stated that such exploitative land rental policies were justified, indeed required, due to Okinawa's uniquely vital strategic location. This spurred further protest. Some 300,000 people participated in rallies and community meetings in 1956, discussing and establishing principles of resistance, and declaring their opposition to the Price Report, land seizures, and the stationing or storing of B-52s, nuclear weapons, and chemical weapons such as Agent Orange in Okinawa. Demonstrations calling for reversion, the end of US "colonial" rule, and the removal of all nuclear weapons from Okinawa continued through the next decade. In 1957, the Occupation authorities declared the High Commissioner to be the supreme authority in the islands; that same year, nuclear weapons were brought to Okinawa for the first time.

In 1952, mainland Japan was restored to Japanese sovereignty. However, under Article 3 of Chapter 2 (Territory) of the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan was obliged to agree to any proposal the US made to place any portion of the Ryûkyû Islands and/or the [[Ogasawara Islands]] under trusteeship; further, until such a proposal was made, the United States was to continue to "exercise all and any powers of administration, legislation, and jurisdiction over the territory and inhabitants of these islands, including their territorial waters."<ref>"[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_of_San_Francisco#Article_3 Treaty of San Francisco]," Wikisource.</ref> Thus, the Allied military Occupation, and martial law, continued for another twenty years in Okinawa, under USCAR - the United States Civil Administration of Ryukyu. At that time, the occupation of Ryukyu had no set end-date, and the 1950s-1960s saw considerable protest and agitation. The US military removed people from their land by force in order to build or expand military bases, in a move known as "bayonets and bulldozers," and offered monetary compensation as a means of resolving all land problems. After the majority of landowners refused in 1952 to lease their land to the US authorities, USCAR changed the rules, forcing them to lease the land, and though rental rates were initially negotiable, in the end, the US military obliged landowners to accept extremely low rent payments. In 1955, a US government report known as the Price Report officially stated that such exploitative land rental policies were justified, indeed required, due to Okinawa's uniquely vital strategic location. This spurred further protest. Some 300,000 people participated in rallies and community meetings in 1956, discussing and establishing principles of resistance, and declaring their opposition to the Price Report, land seizures, and the stationing or storing of B-52s, nuclear weapons, and chemical weapons such as Agent Orange in Okinawa. For seven months, from July 1955 into February 1956, people displaced from their land, including many people dispossessed from farming and left with no way of making a living, marched from northern Okinawa to the government offices in Naha, in what came to be known as the "Beggars' March" (乞食行進, ''kojiki kôshin'').<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1294064953&feature=iv&list=PLyheH-sHmeaMO4mv4ioM32vNH62Nga5rw&src_vid=eBlT-KdsmpY&v=zZZ1VRTiZs4#t=6.526958 「戦い続ける者」], "Okinawa 2015," episode 5, VICE News Japan, 2015.</ref> Demonstrations calling for reversion, the end of US "colonial" rule, and the removal of all nuclear weapons from Okinawa continued through the next decade. In 1957, the Occupation authorities declared the High Commissioner to be the supreme authority in the islands; that same year, nuclear weapons were brought to Okinawa for the first time.

Though the [[Amami Islands]] and Ogasawara Islands were initially included alongside the Ryukyus as areas not reverted to Japanese control in 1952, hunger strikes and protests led to the Amamis being returned the following year. As a result, the Amamis, already separated from the Ryûkyû Kingdom and placed under somewhat more direct Japanese (samurai) control since the 1610s, were to continue along a rather different historical, and therefore cultural, trajectory from the rest of the Ryûkyû Islands.<ref name=mabuni/>

Though the [[Amami Islands]] and Ogasawara Islands were initially included alongside the Ryukyus as areas not reverted to Japanese control in 1952, hunger strikes and protests led to the Amamis being returned the following year. As a result, the Amamis, already separated from the Ryûkyû Kingdom and placed under somewhat more direct Japanese (samurai) control since the 1610s, were to continue along a rather different historical, and therefore cultural, trajectory from the rest of the Ryûkyû Islands.<ref name=mabuni/>