Friday Talk - Dr. Masamichi Inoue Friday Talk - Dr. Masamichi Inoue The Community of Nuchi Du Takara ("Life Is the Ultimate Treasure") in Postwar Okinawa: Local Subjectivity within and against Empire
You are welcome to join an upcoming book talk at the Patterson School on Mar 7 (next Friday) 11am-noon, by Dr. Masamichi Inoue on his new book about postwar Okinawa, an important topic in contemporary Japan and US-Japan relations. Please see the attached poster and the event information below. Thank you!
Speaker: Dr Masamichi Inoue (University of Kentucky)
Time: 11AM-noon, March 7, 2025 (Friday)
Location: POT 420 Van Room & on Zoom (https://bit.ly/41eBctQ)
Title: The Community of Nuchi Du Takara ("Life Is the Ultimate Treasure") in Postwar Okinawa: Local Subjectivity within and against Empire
Biography: Trained in cultural anthropology and area studies, Dr. Masamichi Inoue has been on the faculty of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures & Cultures at the University of Kentucky since Fall 1999. Among other topics, Dr. Inoue has been exploring U.S. military base issues in Okinawa (Japan's southernmost prefecture) over the years. He has taught a wide range of courses, including Japanese language courses, Japanese cultural studies courses, fieldwork-based ethnographic writing courses, and a connected course for the International Village Living Learning Program of which he has been serving as faculty director since Fall 2020.
Abstract: This will be a talk about Dr. Inoue’s recent book published by the University of Michigan Press (https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12473365). Against the background of the prolonged US military presence in post–World War II Okinawa, Dr. Inoue’s book (of which title is used as the title of the talk) explores the conflict between Okinawa and the US-Japan alliance. Developing the local notion of nuchi du takara into an analytical concept, Dr. Inoue examines how Okinawan activists, artists, writers, and other social actors have resisted US military presence, particularly the planned construction of a new military facility in northern Okinawa. The concept of nuchi du takara also helps him explore complex negotiations Okinawa has had with Washington and Tokyo beyond resistance and protest, a process that involves developing a local communal capacity to embrace diverse and often contradictory attitudes toward the US military. Dr. Inoue’s grounded investigation underscores the possibility of small yet significant, incremental social changes from below, a possibility that ultimately points toward the World Republic—an international politics built upon peace, democracy, and shared affluence—against the sovereignty of global capitalism.