Okinawan Jazz and the Reversion Movement

Abstract This paper explores the differences between the historical trajectory of jazz in mainland Japan and in Okinawa, where a stronger presence of American military bases monopolized employment for jazz musicians. In the turn of the 70s, while the leftist youth of mainland Japan embraced avant-garde free jazz for its anti-war messages, the economic dependency of Okinawan jazz musicians on American bases divorced the genre from involvement in protests for reversion. Through oral accounts and written records, this essay examines the politics of “Okinawan jazz” and the place of its musicians in the realm of reversion protests.