Amami reversion movement
The Amami reversion movement was a sociopolitical movement that called for the return of the Amami Islands from the U.S. military occupation to Japanese administration. It was mainly led by two groups: the Fukkyō, or Amami Ōshima Nihon Fukki Kyōgikai in the Amami Islands, and the Tokyo-based Amami Rengō, or Zenkoku Amami Rengō Sōhonbu.
The reversion movement started in response to the so-called 2/2 Proclamation on February 2, 1946 in which the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers showed its intention to remove the Amami Islands from Japanese control and to annex them to what it called the Ryukyus. The movement reached its first peak before the conclusion of the Treaty of San Francisco on September 8, 1951, demonstrating that 99.8% of the islanders wanted an immediate return to Japan. The peace treaty, however, trampled on the islanders' desire as Article 3 of the treaty had the Amami Islands separated from Japan and potentially to be placed under trusteeship.
The reversion movement stayed active although the treaty triggered a heated debate on whether to call for the abrogation of Article 3 or to call for a reversion within the framework of Article 3. Nevertheless, American historian shows that the reversion movement had a significant impact not only on the Japanese government but also on the decision-making process of the U.S. government. On December 25, 1953, the Amami Islands were finally returned to Japan.
Background
Amami has a complex relationship with its southern neighbor, Okinawa. Ethnolinguistically, the languages of Amami are closer to the languages of Okinawa than to the languages of Kyushu. Politically, however, Amami shares a much longer history with mainland Japan than with Okinawa. Fragmentary sources such as a Kamakura-period map of Japan and a set of documents created by Chikama Tokiie in 1306 suggest that Amami was within the sphere of influence of the Kamakura shogunate before the Okinawa-based Ryukyu Kingdom invaded Amami in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1609, the Satsuma Domain conquered the Ryukyu Kingdom and put Amami under its direct control. After the abolition of the Satsuma Domain in 1871, Amami was transferred to the newly established Kagoshima Prefecture, whereas the Ryukyu Kingdom was eventually replaced by Okinawa Prefecture in 1879. The Amami Islands, the Tokara Islands, and the Upper Three Islands constituted Ōshima District and were politically and economically integrated into Kagoshima Prefecture. Amami's two key industries, the industry and the sugar industry, targeted the mainland Japanese market.During World War II, the 32nd Army of the Imperial Japanese Army was in charge of defending the islands south of 30º10' north latitude. Specifically, the 64th Independent Mixed Brigade defended the Amami Islands under the command of Major General Toshisada Takada. The Amami Islands were subject to U.S. aerial bombardments and submarine attacks but did not experience ground fighting. Since the headquarter of the 32nd Army on Okinawa Island was annihilated during the Battle of Okinawa, Takada's brigade was transferred to another army responsible for the defense of Kyushu. However, the U.S. Army superseded the Japanese military operation areas with its own operation/occupation areas: the 10th Army was in charge of islands south of 30º north latitude while the 6th Army controlled north of that line, even though the 30th parallel north was by no means a natural boundary but crossed Kuchinoshima, the northernmost of the Tokara Islands.
Harboring doubts about the U.S. occupation policy, the commanding officer, Major General Toshisada Takada, used his first opportunity to contact Joseph W. Stilwell, the commander of the 10th Army, to stress Amami's position within Japan. In his letter to Stilwell, dated September 3, 1945, he requested:
In the process of disarmament, Takada made an objection every time the U.S. Army "incorrectly" referred to the Amami Islands as the northern Ryukyus. He insisted that the Amami Islands were not the northern Ryukyus but belonged to Kyushu and Kagoshima Prefecture. He successfully made the U.S. change the term to "north of Okinawa to 30º north latitude", "Oshima Gun", etc., although he was unable to correct the instrument of surrender he signed on Okinawa earlier on September 7, in which Amami was covered by the phrase "the islands in the Ryukyus". This episode is well known in Amami, and Toshisada Takada is still seen as Amami's local hero. Takada had his roots in Satsuma. His grandfather, Toshikane Takada, was stationed on Okinoerabu Island as an officer of the Satsuma Domain and had children with a local wife. Takada's relatives on Okinoerabu later led the reversion movement there.
1946–1950
On January 29, 1946, the SCAP issued a directive to the Japanese government that administratively separated the Amami Islands from Japan and placed them under the Okinawa-based U.S. military command. Because the SCAP directive was announced over the radio on February 2, it is known as the "2/2 Proclamation". Two days later, the U.S. military cut out interaction between Amami and mainland Japan. American anthropologist Douglas G. Haring, who conducted field research on the Amami Islands in the early 1950s, used an analogy to explain a great shock to the people of Amami:On March 14, 1946, the United States Navy Government of the Northern Ryukyu Islands was formed in Naze, the politico-economic center of the Amami Islands. The military government was transferred from the navy to the army in June. While the people of Amami had no power to prevent the occupier from imposing the label "Northern Ryukyu", they expressed resistance by translating the much-hated term as Hokubu Nansei Shotō in Japanese. The U.S. military government, for example, was translated as Hokubu Nansei Shotō Beikoku Kaigun Gunsei Honbu. On October 3, the military governor renamed Ōshima Subprefecture to the, which was again translated as Rinji Hokubu Nansei Shotō Seichō in Japanese. In addition to the use of the term Nansei Islands, the fact that "provisional" and "government" were separated and placed at the opposite ends of the long phrase was seen as a sign of disaffectedness. The Provisional Government was renamed the Amami Gunto Government on November 25, 1950.
When movements toward a peace treaty started in 1947, people of the Amami Islands began to voice their ardent desire to return to Japan despite increasing oppression by the U.S. military government. On September 10, the unofficial Council of the Heads of the Cities, Towns and Villages unanimously adopted a resolution that clearly stated the collective will of the people of Amami for return to Japan. Military Governor Major Fred M. Labree, however, cracked down on the reversion movement by issuing Proclamation No. 13, which abolished Proclamation No. 5, which had guaranteed the rights of free assembly, speech, publishing, beliefs, peaceful association, and labor unions. His successor, Lieutenant Colonel Henry B. Joseph, even declared on October 4:
Although Joseph replaced Proclamation No. 13 with Proclamation No. 15, which clarified certain rights and liberties, he effectively banned gatherings, public statements and written materials critical of the military occupation. Because these basic rights were secured in mainland Japan by the new Constitution of Japan enacted on May 3, the oppression fueled the people's desperate desire to return to Japan.
The U.S. military occupation was a fatal blow to Amami's economy. The U.S. destroyed Amami's well-functioning politico-economic connections to Kagoshima City and severed access to the mainland market on which Amami's key industries depended. Moreover, the U.S. did not incur substantial costs to rebuild Amami's economy but focused its limited resources to construct military bases on Okinawa island. Leftist journalist Kōzō Nagata speculates that the U.S. intentionally destroyed Amami's economy to create a cheap labor pool for construction work on Okinawan military bases. American historian Robert D. Eldridge, however, attributes the catastrophe to gross incompetence and negligence at the U.S. military. Using declassified documents, he shows that in 1946, the U.S. naval military government on Okinawa correctly anticipated the politico-economic chaos the separation of the Amami Islands from Kagoshima Prefecture would lead to. Similarly, the G1 and Government Sections of the SCAP in Tokyo opposed the separation, citing a large burden and the lack of qualified personnel. Despite all of these warnings within the U.S. military, the separation was enforced, causing chaos to the Amami Islands as anticipated.
The food price crisis sparked public anger against the military occupation. On April 29, 1949, the military government directed a life-threatening threefold rise in prices for food distributed by it. It responded bureaucratically to the islands-wide protest, claiming that it had no power to change a directive coming from above in Okinawa. The provisional government sent a delegation to Okinawa in May, only to find the Okinawa-based military government's apathy toward Amami. The Zen Ōshima Seikatsu Yōgo Kyōgikai was formed on July 5, when a blank refusal of price reduction came from Okinawa, but it was banned on August 5. The U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps expanded a spy network on Amami Ōshima to counter the protest. Municipal governments continued to distribute goods at the old prices, but this got found out by the Okinawa-based military government in January, 1950. The Okinawa-based military government mercilessly forced the provisional government to pay for the loss in revenue. On January 24, the military governor finally announced a drastic reduction of food prices, but Amami's purchasing power was not recovered. The food price crisis marked the beginning of the mass mobilization of ordinary people, which soon turned into a full-scale reversion movement.