Transnational Identities, Communities, and the Experiences of Okinawan Internees and Prisoners of War

Date

2014

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University of Hawaiʻi Press

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44

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148

Ending Page

172

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Abstract

Okinawans, people from Japan’s poorest and last to be incorporated prefecture, faced unique challenges during World War II. Regarded as racially and culturally “different” from the rest of the Japanese population, but officially categorized as “Japanese” by Americans, Okinawans in Hawai'i inhabited a social space of shifting transnational identities and experiences. Depending upon the parsing, at least two broad and different subgroups of Okinawans experienced detention and imprisonment in Hawai'i. In the first group were local Okinawans, either Issei (first generation immigrants carrying Japanese passports) or Kibei (American-born offspring of the Okinawan immigrants who had been raised in Okinawa or on the main islands of Japan); in the second group were prisoners of war (POWs or PWs) taken in the Pacific Theater or as a result of the Battle of Okinawa. Since Okinawan experiences varied noticeably from other Japanese internees and other POWs, this article explores some of the factors contributing to their detention and eventual imprisonment, and the responses of the local Okinawan community.

Description

Modified from original accepted manuscript version to conform to ADA standards.

Keywords

Honouliuli Internment and POW Camp

Citation

Chinen, J. (2014) Transnational Identities, Communities, and the Experiences of Okinawan Internees and Prisoners of War. In S. Falgout and L. Nishigaya (Eds.), Breaking the Silence: Lessons of Democracy and Social Justice from the World War II Honouliuli Internment and POW Camp in Hawai‘i, vol. 44, (148-172).

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26 pages

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This book chapter is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

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