Beachheads: War, Peace, and Tourism in Postwar Okinawa (Asia/Pacific/Perspectives)

This original and fresh book explores Okinawa's makeover as a tourist mecca in the long historical shadow and among the physical ruins of the Pacific War's most devastating land battle. Gerald Figal considers how a place burdened by a history of semicolonialism, memories of war and occupation, economic hardship, and contentious current political affairs has reshaped itself into a resort destination. He traces cultural, political, social, and economic issues of Okinawa's postwar experience to the present through the innovative frame of tourism development-both as it has been imagined and, in some cases, realized. Creatively, accessibly, and eloquently written, this compelling work highlights a set of islands that represent key issues facing contemporary Japan.