Review by Choice Review
When the US returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972 after 27 years of isolation following WW II, Okinawans came in large numbers to urban centers such as Osaka looking for jobs. This book is about their plight. It is a rather one-sided story, and the author's deep sympathy for Okinawans apparently led him to be very negative about the rest of the Japanese people. Is their plight due to discrimination based on prejudice, or is this the typical case of immigrants moving into established urban areas and competing with old-timers themselves struggling to hold onto their livelihood? In Japan, those freshly graduated from high schools or universities take the usual lifetime jobs. Okinawans were seriously disadvantaged by being cut off from school and alumni connections in the rest of Japan for nearly a generation and a half. Rabson (emer., East Asian studies, Brown) fails to explain whether general prejudice against those in Okinawa existed among the rest of the Japanese. Perhaps the author misread the situation. Most disturbing is his lack of knowledge about Japanese history; he often casually states some outrageously false "facts" as if they are valid, e.g., the origin of discrimination against buraku-min (or eta). Summing Up: Optional. Specialists only. M. Y. Rynn emerita, University of Scranton
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
