Overview of Activities
Destination: Okinawa Prefecture
Theme: “Futenma Airbase and the Lives of Local Residents”
Participants: 10 students
Period: February 16, 2025 (Sunday) to February 19, 2025 (Wednesday)
Activity Report
In this Study tour program, participants deepened their understanding of the U.S. military bases in Okinawa, focusing on Futenma Airbase, through the lens of the people living in Okinawa. The central question was: “How should people living outside Okinawa understand and engage with the feelings of the residents around Futenma Airbase?”
Participants visited historical sites related to the Battle of Okinawa, as well as areas around Futenma Airbase and the new Henoko base. They also attended talks from both private and government officials. Those helped them better understand the history of base construction, its effects, and the challenges faced by local residents. Additionally, through interactions with students from Okinawa International University (members of the SmiLife student group who volunteer as history guides), the participants had the opportunity to hear the perspectives of their peers, gaining valuable new insights and perspectives.
On the final day, each group presented their thoughts in response to the central question of the program in front of Professor Kiyoshi Fujinami, the coordinator of the program, and members of SmiLife. Based on their experiences and learnings from the program, the participants gave thoughtful and well-considered presentations, showing deep reflection on how they should engage with the issues from the perspective of the local residents in Okinawa.
Experience Report from participants
With this Okinawa Study Tour being our first trip that we went on from WISH, we were thoroughly excited for it and it certainly proved to be enriching in multiple aspects. This Study Tour revolved around the issue of the implications and problems caused by the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan City, Okinawa, and to be quite frank, before participating in this training, we had only a vague understanding of such an issue, nor did we ever have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the learning process of this problem. Therefore, this trip was an invaluable experience to strengthen our knowledge on this issue, beginning with an acquaintance with the historical background on the situation with the premise set by The Battle of Okinawa and the role of both American and Japanese military. Thereafter, our fellow dorm-mates and we were guided by Professor Fujinami, the coordinator for this trip, and his students from the circle SMILIFE, who were all very welcoming and friendly, around the city of Ginowan to visit actual sites where accidents from the Air Base occurred. This allowed us to gain access to the implications of the Base first-hand, which is of course a very rare and hence invaluable experience.
This academic aspect of this Study Tour was thoroughly enriching and consequently allowed us to realise the grave implicationsーof course, taking into consideration certain positive consequences of the Air Baseーof issues that reside outside of our bubble of a world, and the importance of acknowledging that the world is bigger than what is familiar to us in daily life and actively pursuing knowledge and awareness on these issues. We believe that this base issue is not a simple issue which can be solved by changing one small thing, but rather, it is a complex problem which is caused with various problems. It is important for each of us to ask ourselves how we would feel if we were in the same situation as people in Okinawa who have been suffering due to this issue.
Moreover, this Study Tour was extremely beneficial to us on personal levels as well, wherein, by spending time and bonding in the span of three nights and four days, we were able to become close with our fellow dorm-mates who we have not had the chance of getting to know prior to this trip! Socialising and interacting with everyone whom we met on this trip was truly invaluable and heartwarming to us. Collectively putting our minds and hearts together for the pursuit of knowledge and new experiences was truly enriching; we’re grateful for Waseda and WISH for this opportunity and experience.
Rino Takeuchi
Natsuki Hamazoe
