Mainland ignorance: Okinawa and Japanese colonial unknowing

Abstract

Drawing from Charles Mills’ concept of “white ignorance,” this paper aims to conceptualise and analyse what may be called “mainland ignorance,” which continues to underpin contemporary imperial geopolitical structures. Islands across the world remain colonised and used for political and military interests of metropolitan states.Yet, mainland narratives often ignore such hierarchical and unequal relations and refuse to acknowledge islands’ colonial histories. Departing from existing accounts on the politics of ignorance concerning islands, the paper explores the production of ignorance about Okinawa in Japanese historical narratives. It focuses on the construction of colonial amnesia concerning the so-called Okinawan “mass suicides.” As the Ministry of Education’s censorship of relevant passages in school textbooks in 2007 illustrates, the government officials attempt to conceal the role of the Japanese military, and thus, the state’s complicity in the Okinawan civilian deaths. The analysis extends to how this form of colonial unknowing is rationalised in the face of criticism. Mainland officials do not necessarily deny the occurrences of these events, which would allow for counter-facts. Instead, they rely on uncertainty, which appears to be more effective in imposing ignorance. The article then proceeds to discuss how ignoring the historical event is closely tied to the broader colonial unknowing of Okinawan collective suffering that continues to this day. Main materials to be analysed are debates and discussions at the Diet as well as political statements against the censorship by Okinawan activists and scholars. The article suggests that for understanding the operation of mainland ignorance, and ultimately decolonising it, it is important not only to identify where ignorance concerning colonial islands is made but also to unpack know how ignorance claims are enacted and maintained and implications of ignoring the colonial past to the present. It is hoped that the present study promotes further critical examination of mainland ignorance across different island settings.