Clip 2

Though the Koza Incident occurs on 20 December 1970, the groundwork is laid in the aftermath of the Battle of Okinawa (01 April to 22 June 1945). The United States’ victory over Japan enabled an establishment of United States military forces on the island from 22 June 1945 to the present. Initially seen as a staging point for further actions against Kyushu during World War II, Okinawa emerged as a key location in the United States’ Cold War against the Soviet Union beginning in the late-1940s. Thus, the Okinawan people began a seventy-five-year long relationship with the United States military.

Chalmers Johnson, ed. Okinawa: Cold War Island. Cardiff, California: Japan Policy Research Institute, 1999.