NEWResistance and Mourning in the Place Where We Stand: Gender, Sexuality and The Issue of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa

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The issue of the bases is a problem of military violence, which includes sexual violence. Protests against such violence appear as collective clamorous resistance, and also, as public peaceful mourning for the victims of such violence, most of whom are women. How are these two (resistance and grief) related and what kinds of dilemmas emerge when we consider them as part of a movement that challenges male-centered armed forces? This event aims to look at the mourning and protests not only in Okinawa but also in the so-called “mainland,” and invites us to think, from a gender and sexuality perspective, about the ways in which the problem of the U.S. military bases and armed forces concerns everyone.

Guest Speakers:

TAKAZATO, Suzuyo (Director for the Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence)

AKIBAYASHI, Kozue (Professor, Doshisha University)

Damattera-Ren [No Silence Collective] ( ICHIMURA, Misako, KYOGOKU, Noriko, SORA)

Coordinator: HANYU, Yuki (CGS Research Institute Assistant/ PhD Student at the University of Tokyo)

Date & Time: Sunday, September 30th, 2018. From 13:00 to 17:00 (Open doors from 12:30) and includes a break.

Venue: International Christian University, Dialogue House, International Conference Room 2F.

Language: Japanese (No interpretation)

No fee, no reservation needed

Guests’ Profiles:

TAKAZATO, Suzuyo

Director for the Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, founded by her in 1955. She is also the representative of Okinawa’s center REICO (Rape, Emergency, Intervention, Counseling, Okinawa). She is the representative of Okinawa at the International Women’s Network Against Militarism. Co-leader of the All-Okinawa meeting against building the new Henoko base, and former member of the Naha city council. Author of Okinawa no onnatachi: kichi, guntai to josei no jinken [The Women of Okinawa: Military Bases, Armed Forces and Women’s Rights] (Akashi Shoten, 1996); co-author of the article “Okinawa shakai wo hiraku onnatachi” [Women developing Okinawa’s society] (Okinawa Times, 2014); contributor of the Tomisaka Christian Center’s edition: Okinawa ni miru seibōryoku to gunjishugi [Militarism and Sexual Violence Seen in Okinawa] (Ochanomizu Shobō, 2017); among others.

AKIBAYASHI, Kozue (Professor, Doshisha University)

Her research field is Gender Studies and Peace Studies. Her research relates to the organization “Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence,” and particularly, focuses on research related to the demilitarization from a gender perspective. She is the International President of WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Contributed to Ajia kara miru jenda [Gender seen from Asia] (Fukosha, 2008), edited by Tanaka Kazuko. She is also a contributor of the Tomisaka Christian Center’s edition: Okinawa ni miru seibōryoku to gunjishugi [Militarism and Sexual Violence Seen in Okinawa] (Ochanomizu Shobō, 2017), among others.

Damattera-Ren [No Silence Collective]

We are the group that performed a silent rally in Shinjuku demanding the removal of U.S. military bases, and commemorating the victim of the rape and murder by a former U.S. Marine on April, 2016, in the city of Uruma, Okinawa prefecture. We produced a zine (Damattera Zine) that includes the report on “Post-War Crimes against Women of Okinawa by U.S. Soldiers,” as well as the portraits of the standing members and their messages, among others.