About This Novel
"Notes on Okinawa" written by Kenzaburo Oe is a long essay in which the author attempts to think about the following questions: How did the modern country called "Japan" come into being? As a result of modernization, what kind of existence does it have in the world, especially in neighboring countries? Is it really powerful? Have the Japanese truly learned the tragic lessons of their defeat? Therefore, the author turned his focus to Okinawa. How did the country called Ryukyu become incorporated into Japan? The author writes about the relationship between Okinawa and the people of Okinawa Prefecture and Japan and the Japanese in the modern history of Japan, especially the Battle of Okinawa in which Okinawa, Japan's only ground battlefield, was attacked by the United States during Japan's war of aggression. He also discussed the postwar survival of Okinawa as a U. S. Military base and the residents of Okinawa Prefecture returned by the United States. In the book, the author constantly asks: "What is a Japanese? Can you turn yourself into a Japanese who is not that Japanese?" This "bleak introspection" has been criticized by the Japanese political right as a "self-abuse" view of history. "Okinawa Notes" and therefore was pushed to the court.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Rating
Community(0)
