Research On The Okinawa Revitalization Plan Of The Japanese Government

At the beginning of Okinawa’s return to Japan,there was a huge gap between the level of economic and social development and that of Japan.Okinawa was severely devastated by the war at the end of World War II and was managed by the United States for 27 years.With the heart of compensation for the people of Okinawa,Japan implemented The Okinawa revitalization plan provides large-scale assistance to Okinawa,with a view to eliminating the huge gap between Okinawa and the Japanese mainland and building the Okinawa economy from a dependent economy to an independent economy dominated by the private sector.From 1972 to 2021,Japan has implemented five Okinawa Revitalization Plans in a period of ten years,investing a total of 13.8trillion yen to focus on improving Okinawa’s roads,schools and other infrastructure,and at the same time improving the local infrastructure.The industry has been cultivated and supported.After half a century of development,Okinawa’s infrastructure has gradually improved,and people’s living standards have improved significantly.However,the per capita income in Okinawa is only about 70% of Japan’s average level,and social problems such as unemployment and child poverty are much more serious than in Japan;Okinawa’s economy is still a dependent economic structure,but it has changed from the dependent base before the reunification to today’s public investment by the central government.In addition,because the anti-base movement of the Okinawa people threatened the stability of the Japan-US alliance,after 1995 the Okinawa revitalization budget was increasingly linked to the US military bases,and gradually evolved into a government manipulative budget.On the other hand,the implementation of the Okinawa revitalization plan for many years has brought not only the improvement of living facilities and the increase of income to Okinawa,but also many deep-rooted problems,such as insufficient internal economic power,deformed economic structure,and solidified US military bases.Therefore,the Okinawa revitalization plan cannot be regarded as a success purely in terms of results,or even a failure.The Okinawa revitalization plan has never been able to achieve its intended purpose.Apart from its own unfavorable geographical conditions,the main reason is the restraint of the US military base and the rigidity of the revitalization policy.If the Japanese government cannot properly resolve the heavy base burden in Okinawa and adjust the previous revitalization model,the new round of Okinawa revitalization plan to be implemented in2022 is likely to have the same ending as the previous five.