Final article!

     Take a look back this ARW Autumn semester, I could learn lots of new things such as how to write more effective and strong essay which include strong thesis statements, using many English sources, doing 20X20 presentation and blogging. These things really helped me a lot to improve my English skills and also get used to use technology.  

     Sometimes, especially this semester, it was hard to do homework and assignments till next class because of dorm festival and ICU festival, but I’m glad that now I could overcome this hard semester!:)) Moreover, through this hard and busy semester, I very feel that our section, BG could be more wonderful section such as helping each other’s and got along with everyone more deeply.

     Lastly, Thank you very much for helping us so much with lots of energy and passion, Mark! I really appreciate you so much! See you soon on the campus!:D

ARW Autumn term with Wonderful BG and Mark!!:D

Reaction to the Shreeve!

Shreeve states that is that really appropriate to define people as a race, because as Shreeve says that race is responsible for just a small amount of genetic difference, it is now somewhat easy to distinguish one population from another and place an individual by looking at a sample of DNA.

For me, I have never thought of the word, “race”, so it was quite interesting for me to think about that is really interesting for me to think about the word "race", and also why people divide people into different kinds of race which is based on skin color and something else even though we are all same human beings. Moreover, I wonder that why we, people use/divide in the word, “race” instead of other words. I thought it was sort of critical thinking such as focusing on one thing and criticize that which is already exists and common thing in our daily life. From that reasons, I really enjoyed to read this articles and idea about race which was written by Gould.

Reaction to the Diamond!

     Diamond states that it is difficult to define people which race they belong to by their appearance such as like skin color and so on. However, people tend to judge others by their appearance and decide where these people are from and which race they belong to, but it is just visual characteristics or features, and it won’t help us to define people. Moreover, Diamond says that what the definition of the word “race” primary is.

     In my opinion, I agree with his idea and theory, but I think he needs lots of evidences which support his idea and theory. Through these texts, I recognized that I am interested in anthropology so much, because I really interested in where our ancestor came from and how their eniviorment(race) related to their behave and physical features/characteristics.

Reaction to the Gould!

     Gould actually wants to say that scientists need to recognize that their perceptions have a BIG influence on society, because even they think their perceptions are objective, actually their perceptions really influenced our society unconsciously. It is sort of biases and Blumenbach’s idea or theory of race is a good example of this danger such as big influence on society.

     In my opinion, I strongly agree with Gould’s statement that perceptions from scientists really influenced society, because, for example, nowadays in Japan, we are afraid of dangerous from radio activity. We are always concern about it, and what scientists say about it. If they say something negative statement about that, we were worried, but if they say something positive statement, we could feel safety. Moreover, we easily believe what scientists say because they are professional about their range of study, and we even don’t know about these so much. From that reasons, I think perceptions from scientists have a really big influence on society.

“Relationship Between Okinawa and U.S. Military Bases”

Blue sky, blue ocean, colorful flowers and a unique culture. OKINAWA. If you hear about Okinawa, you can easily picture it as a tropical island. In fact, that is definitely true. Okinawa is located on the south-westernmost part of Japan. It is the only prefecture of Japan that is truly sub-tropical. Okinawa is a southern paradise of Japan, with an emerald green sea and sandy beaches with colorful flowers. Its coral reefs are among the world’s finest. The rich natural environment, unique culture and history, along with its potential as a resort, attract millions of tourists from all over the world. It sounds as though Okinawa is a tropical island. However, do you know what the number 18.4% portrays? In other words, roughly a fifth. The answer is the amount of area which U.S military bases occupy on this small island, Okinawa. In addition, surprisingly about 75% of the total land area exclusively used by U.S. forces in Japan is located in Okinawa (Okinawa prefecture, Military Base Affairs Division). (See fig.1.) Unfortunately, these U.S military bases cause many problems such as noise pollution, crimes and so on in Okinawa. Due to these problems, many people in Okinawa have felt for a long time that Okinawa should immediately move U.S military bases from Okinawa to elsewhere for safety. The final straw that resulted in this opinion was caused by an incident in 1995 when a 12-year-old girl was raped by three U.S military men. After that incident, about 85,000 people in Okinawa got together and held a convention against the U.S military bases (Inoue). About 70% of people there demanded to move the bases from Okinawa immediately (Ryukyu Shimpo). I mostly agree with that opinion. However, is it really the right decision to move these immediately without thinking? At that time, I strongly said “no,” because if they move bases from Okinawa right now without thinking so much, some problems may emerge such as the fact that economy depends on them and that they are an important part of Okinawa culture after WW2 to today. A plan for the future removal of all U.S. military bases in Okinawa should be made when Okinawa develops a solution that allows it the ability to keep and maintain a steady economy without support from the U.S military bases.

Fig. 1. The map which shows how and where U.S. military bases occupy in Okinawa. Image from Okinawa Prefecture; n.d.; Web; Oct. 2011.

At first, before presenting furthermore, here is a little bit of historic background and reasons why U.S military bases are in Okinawa. 67 years ago, Okinawa was the WW2’s final battlefield between the U.S and Japan in 1945. Through that battle, over 200,000 people, including both countries’ armies and civilians in Okinawa lost their life. After that battle, Okinawa had been placed under the control of the U.S administrations for 27 years until 1972 (Okinawa Peace Memorial Park). Geographically, “Okinawa is situated in a critical location connecting mainland Japan, mainland China, and the nations of Southeast Asia, it is anticipated that Okinawa will become a center for exchange between Japan and the various nations of East and Southeast Asia,” (Okinawa convention bureau). “As a result, Okinawa came to play a role as the ‘Cornerstone of the Pacific’ for the US Forces,” (Okinawa prefecture). Moreover, “Okinawa’s geographic location and infrastructure, capable of supporting large military operations in the Asia-Pacific region, make it vital to U.S. national interest in the region.” (U.S. Army War College). Through these, it is clear that Okinawa plays an important role for the U.S. military.

Secondly, Okinawa really depends on U.S military bases economically. There are statistics which show this claim. In 2007, total revenue from sources outside of the prefecture in 2007 was 23.741 billion yen, and about 9 percent (2.088 billion) of this revenue was found to be dependent on the revenue related to the U.S forces in Okinawa (Okinawa prefecture, 2007). (See fig.2.) This is the third-highest market share of all industries in Okinawa. For this reason, it is clear how much the government in Okinawa depends on the revenue related to the U.S forces, and also how important that is for Okinawa. In 2007, the municipality with the highest dependence rate on U.S. military bases in Okinawa Prefecture was Ginoza Village at 35.5%. This was followed by Kin Town with a percentage of 26.5%. The amount of land the U.S. military uses privately amounts to 679 billion yen and 524 billion yen was spent by the U.S. military as compensation of employees. This revenue, in addition to the land expenses incurred by the U.S. military bases (9.8 billion yen) along with the living expenses of all U.S. military personnel (69.7 billion yen), as results in 1,698 billion yen for the economy in Okinawa directly. In reality, 8,987 people work within the base, and they got salary and live with these. (Okinawa prefecture, Military Base Affairs Division)  Through these statistics, we can see how much Okinawa depends on U.S military bases in economic field. Furthermore, until Okinawa finds a good solution to stabilize its economy without bases, Okinawa should not remove the U.S. military bases immediately.

Fig. 2. The breakdown of total revenue from sources outside of the prefecture. Image from Okinawa Prefecture; 2007.; Web; Oct. 2011.

    

If Okinawa wants to remove the U.S. military bases, Okinawa needs to solve these problems such as economic dependency on the U.S. military bases. To solve these problems, it would be best to promote Okinawa as a tourist destination for Japanese and other foreigners alike. From the statistics, total revenue from sources outside of the prefecture in 2007 was 23.741 billion yen, and 18.1 percent (4.281 billion) of this revenue was found to be tourism revenue (Okinawa prefecture, Tourism Planning Division of Okinawa, 2007). (See fig.1.)This is the second-highest market share of all industries in Okinawa, and one can expect that it will be become much higher each year. (See fig. 2.) In reality, the total number of tourists who visit Okinawa is getting higher each year; however, the number of tourists from foreign countries is still low. (See fig. 3.) To solve this issue, Okinawa needs to expand the number of airline routes from foreign countries and invite and attract more passenger ship cruises. For example, Okinawa should appeal to foreign airlines, shipping companies, and governments to explore new airline routes and direct routes from their countries, and also for cruises, because nowadays cruises from Asian countries are also increasing. This is because Okinawa is located at the center of Asian and is a very good place for tourists to stay and rest. (Okinawa Convention Bureau, 2010)  Otherwise, it will be difficult for foreign tourists to visit Okinawa, because it costs a great deal when they need to switch airplanes somewhere to visit Okinawa. So, if there were new airline routes in many foreign countries, we could expect more foreign tourists to visit Okinawa. As such, it would be great to expand the appeal of Okinawa to people from all over the world and to increase the number of tourists from Japan and foreign countries. The increase in tourists would allow Okinawa to bring forth a new culture. Also, as a result, Okinawa would be able to maintain and develop an even more foreign atmosphere from tourists all over the world. For these reasons, it is clear how much revenue the Okinawan government can earn from the tourism industry and also how important the tourism industry is to Okinawa. If it were become true, Okinawa government doesn’t need to depend on U.S military bases anymore, and becomes independent to steady their economy.

Fig. 3. The number of tourists who visited Okinawa. Image from Okinawa Convention Bureau; 2010; Web; Oct. 2011.

In conclusion, Okinawa should not remove the U.S military bases immediately to somewhere else for safety, because the government in Okinawa really depends on U.S military bases economically such as the amount of revenue it receives from them. Furthermore, the most serious problem is that Okinawa has no plan to compensate for these losses in the problem the U.S. military bases really were removed. For these reasons, Okinawa should not move the U.S military bases to somewhere else immediately since they have no idea about the problems that may arise. So, as for solutions, Okinawa needs to solve problems such as economic dependency on the U.S. military bases through developing its tourism industry such as increasing the amount of tourists from all over the world that come to visit Okinawa. Through this, Okinawa would stabilize its economy, and there would be no need to depend on bases. One day, Okinawa will solve these problems, and I hope the Japanese government takes action to move the bases from Okinawa for our safety. We, the people in Okinawa, dream of a day in which U.S military bases don’t exist in Okinawa and are able to live in peace and safe. No U.S. military bases in Okinawa!

Reaction to the 20x20!

It was not so difficult for me to make PowerPoint because I was used to make it when I was in high school. However, I’ve never done the presentation as one slide in 20 seconds, so it was quite difficult to do one slide in 20 seconds. I think I did well for most of slides, but some slides contain so much words and difficult to read and present in 20 seconds. Moreover, some section mates also mentioned about that, so in the future I would like to make presentation, I mean each slide more easily to see and understand. Anyway, 20x20 presentation was really helpful for me to get used to present my thinking and idea about the essay in front of many people, and it will also helpful in the future when I do presentation at the company or somewhere else!:))) Thank you.

Essay Draft!

     Blue sky, blue ocean, colorful flowers and a unique culture. OKINAWA. If you hear about Okinawa, you can easily picture it as a tropical island. In fact, that is definitely true. Okinawa is located on the south-westernmost part of Japan. It is the only prefecture of Japan that is truly sub-tropical. Okinawa is a southern paradise of Japan, with an emerald green sea and sandy beaches with colorful flowers. Its coral reefs are among the world’s finest. The rich natural environment, unique culture and history, along with its potential as a resort, attract millions of tourists from all over the world. It sounds as though Okinawa is a tropical island. However, do you know what the number 18.4% portrays? In other words, roughly a fifth. The answer is the amount of area which U.S military bases occupy on this small island, Okinawa. In addition, surprisingly about 75% of the total land area exclusively used by U.S. forces in Japan is located in Okinawa. Unfortunately, these U.S military bases cause many problems such as noise pollution, crimes and so on in Okinawa. Due to these problems, many people in Okinawa have felt for a long time that Okinawa should immediately move U.S military bases from Okinawa to elsewhere for safety. The final straw that resulted in this opinion was caused by an incident in 1995 when a 12-year-old girl was raped by three U.S military man. After that incident, about 85,000 people in Okinawa got together and held a convention against the U.S military bases. About 70% of people there demanded to move the bases from Okinawa immediately (Ryukyu Shimpo). I mostly agree with that opinion. However, is it really the right decision to move these immediately without thinking? At that time, I said “no,” because if they move bases from Okinawa right now without thinking so much, some problems may emerge such as the fact that economy depends on them and that they are an important part of Okinawa culture after WW2 to today. A plan for the future removal of all U.S. military bases in/on? Okinawa should be made when Okinawa develops a solution that allows it the ability to keep and maintain a steady economy without support from the U.S military bases.

     At first, before presenting furthermore, here is a little bit of historic background and reasons why U.S military bases are in Okinawa. 67 years ago, Okinawa was the WW2’s final battlefield between the U.S and Japan in 1945. Through that battle, over 200,000 people, including both countries’ armies and civilians in Okinawa lost their life. After that battle, Okinawa had been placed under the control of the U.S administrations for 27 years until 1972. Geographically, “Okinawa is situated in a critical location connecting mainland Japan, mainland China, and the nations of Southeast Asia, it is anticipated that Okinawa will become a center for exchange between Japan and the various nations of East and Southeast Asia,” (Okinawa convention bureau). “As a result, Okinawa came to play a role as the ‘Cornerstone of the Pacific’ for the US Forces,” (Okinawa prefecture).

     Secondly, Okinawa really depends on U.S military bases economically. There are statistics which show this claim. In 2007, total revenue from sources outside of the prefecture in 2007 was 23.741 billion yen, and about 9 percent (2.088 billion) of this revenue was found to be dependent on the revenue related to the U.S forces in Okinawa (Okinawa prefecture, 2007). This is the third-highest market share of all industries in Okinawa. For this reason, it is clear how much the government in Okinawa depends on the revenue related to the U.S forces, and also how important that is for Okinawa.　“In 2007, the municipality with the highest dependence rate on U.S. military bases in Okinawa Prefecture was Ginoza Village at 35.5%. This was followed by Kin Town with a percentage of 26.5%. The amount of land the U.S. military uses privately amounts to 679 billion yen and 524 billion yen was spent by the U.S. military as compensation of employees. This revenue, in addition to the land expenses incurred by the U.S. military bases (9.8 billion yen) along with the living expenses of all U.S. military personnel (69.7 billion yen), as results in 1,698 billion yen for the economy in Okinawa. In reality, 8,987 people work within the base, and they got salary and live with these.” (Okinawa prefecture, Military Base Affairs Division)  Thorough these statistics, we can see that how much Okinawa depends on U.S military bases in economic field.

     To solve these problems, it would be best to promote Okinawa as a tourist destination for Japanese and other foreigners alike. From the statistics, total revenue from sources outside of the prefecture in 2007 was 23.741 billion yen, and 18.1 percent (4.281 billion) of this revenue was found to be tourism revenue (Tourism Planning Division of Okinawa, 2007). This is the second-highest market share of all industries in Okinawa, and one can expect that it will be become much higher each year. In reality, the total number of tourists who visit Okinawa is getting higher each year; however, the number of tourists from foreign countries is still low. As such, it would be great to expand the appeal of Okinawa to people from all over the world and to increase the number of tourists from Japan and foreign countries. The increase in tourists would allow Okinawa to bring forth a new culture. Also, as a result, Okinawa would be able to maintain and develop an even more foreign atmosphere from tourists all over the world. For these reasons, it is clear how much revenue the Okinawan government can earn from the tourism industry and also how important the tourism industry is to Okinawa. If it were become true, Okinawa government doesn’t need to depend on U.S military bases anymore, and becomes independent to steady their economy.

     In conclusion, Okinawa should not remove the U.S military bases immediately to somewhere else for safety, because the government in Okinawa really depends on U.S military bases economically such as the amount of revenue it receives from them. Moreover, to move the U.S military bases immediately would mean to lose a part of American culture which is very important part to Okinawa, because after WW2, the culture of Okinawa was really influenced by American culture through the U.S military bases. Furthermore, the most serious problem is that Okinawa has no plan to compensate for these losses in the problem the U.S. military bases really were removed. For these reasons, Okinawa should not move U.S military bases to somewhere else immediately since they have no idea about the problems that may arise. However, one day, Okinawa will find good solutions to solve these problems. I hope the Japanese government takes action to move the bases from Okinawa for our safety. We, the people in Okinawa, dream of a day in which U.S military bases don’t exist in Okinawa and are able to live in peace.

I'm so sorry for my late update!:(((