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Should US Military Bases in Okinawa be Named After Men Who Killed Japanese Soldiers?

Last Wednesday, a weekly edutainment news program on ATV spent a considerable amount of time discussing the recent news about Prime Minister Hatoyama breaking his promise to relocate a US Marine Corps base outside of Okinawa.

At one point in the program, one of the celebrity panelists wondered why one of the Marine Corps bases on Okinawa was named “Camp Schwab“:

The host, journalist Akira Ikegami, explains that the base is named after an American Marine. He reminds the audience that American Marines played a major role in the battle to capture Okinawa from the Japanese, so their bases in Okinawa have been named after war heroes who died in action after “killing many Japanese soldiers.”

The celebrity panelists react with shock. How could the Americans be so insensitive? Even Ikegami agrees that the Americans should probably think more about Japanese people’s feelings. One comedian wonders if the people living nearby Camp Schwab could include some descendants of the very soldiers killed by PFC Schwab.

This practice of naming bases after war heroes is used in all the camps that fall under the umbrella of Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler. Here is a list with Wikipedia links to the biographies of each war hero:

Camp Courtney
Camp Foster
Camp Gonsalves
Camp Hansen
Camp Kinser
Camp McTureous
Camp Shields

Camp Schwab was officially given its name in the 1950′s, a period when Okinawa was under American rule, and the case is probably the same for the other bases. When the islands were returned to Japan, the names were not changed.

Is it insensitive for the Americans to retain the use of such base names? From the perspective of Japanese outside of Okinawa, this probably seems so. For Okinawans, who tend to view both the Imperial Japanese Military and U.S. Military in a very negative manner, I suspect the issue of base names is relatively unimportant when placed next to the overall question of whether the bases themselves are desirable.

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62 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - May 9, 2010 at 11:33 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan, Politics Tags: okinawa

Michael

It amazes me how the Japanese are milking the victim card. Because they didn’t do ANYTHING bad during WWII.

Hamachiman

Right, because the opinions of a celebrity panel reflect those of the whole nation.

Have at it Japan haters!

Aya

They don’t reflect, but they sometimes influence.
Most of the people who watch it right now don’t really remember (or care) about what happened then. I’m not saying that TV shows in other countries are not using the same methods though.
pixel_bomber

Don’t underestimate celebrity panels. There are plenty of people out there that need to be told how to think.

Dumbo

Oh puhleez. Michael.

Why don’t you go hang out with Borat and Jay Leno and see how we’re doing in America when it comes to “milking” opinion.
Victim card? Is that how you see it? Lets look at the broader picture, shall we? If you’re feeling guilty about it by saying that, then why don’t you help with bringing world peace instead of stoking the fire?

And no, you can’t send the CIA to my house to shut me up LOL

Michael

Well, that made sense.

cryptnotic

LOL. If they don’t like the naming of the bases, they shouldn’t have lost WWII.

Though maybe if they’d won, we would be complaining about Japanese bases in Australia, Hawaii, and California.

Tbrot

Hmmm, now that you mention it Camp Tojo does roll off the tongue rather nicely.

But yeah, some Japanese seem to forget they were the ones who started this dance and that Americans have a history of lingering long after their welcome has worn out. Certainly the Japanese would have been so much more benevolent with their host countries than the Americans, no? Civilians would have been treated with such greater compassion, after all the Japanese invaded countries like China and Korea to free them from the yoke of western oppression. The Japanese after all had been renowned for their quality of mercy throughout their period of expansion.

Darien Shields

Hohohoh
Tony D

Not to mention the snazzy currencies they were going to give us!

http://www.rba.gov.au/Museum/Displays/1920_1960_comm_bank_and_note_issue/world_war2.html

Tbrot

Well, the Marines have never been known as an overly sensitive or touchy feely organization. I guess it never occurred to them that naming their base after a high Jap body count marine would be kind of like a NFL touchdown victory dance. Doubly so with names like Schwab that are so hard to pronounce, even more loss of face.

Frankly, I’m partial to renaming the base to Camp Hello Kitty and giving the base a makeover so that it has more of a theme park appearance. Perhaps even giving it a period Japanese look like historic Kyoto and dressing some of the base personnel in period costumes.

It also wouldn’t hurt to have a few high end shops at the perimeter of base that Japanese ladies like Akira are partial to. The likes of Coach, Prada, Chanel, Hermes, etc.

Darien Shields

I think it might be prudent to point out that- according to Wikipedia and the citation on his Medal of Honour- Schwab wasn’t honoured for getting a lot of kills so much as for dying. He allowed his unit to take a strategically important point by assaulting it head on when they were pinned down, resulting in his own death but saving his unit and helping their forces push forwards. This is what they considered an act of heroism.

Personally, I think it’s undermined ever so slightly by the fact that he was apparently armed with a flamethrower.

dave

clearly dumb, but its a celebrity panel. i dont think anyone could go to the okinawa war museum and argue that the japanese army was fighting the good fight.
nagoriyuki

Having watched this part, I just found TV Asahi’s idiocy, AGAIN.
So, who is speaking the bases’ names to the whole Japanese such openly?
It’s Japanese TVs.
If you think it insensitive, you should just refrain from using those names.
What’s wrong with Americans using the American names?
Japanese news media can use Japanese place names as the camps’ names if they hope so.
But they take the trouble to restate them in the American manner.
And now they say it’s insensitive? I have no word.

LB

Sure that makes sense – and perhaps America can just refer to Hiroshima as “Target of Special Bombing Mission #13″.

Magus

There are plenty of bases named after both Union and Confederate generals who did their fair share of killing peoples’ very own siblings throughout the continental US. Hell, we even have a state park named after Colonel Custer, who got everyone killed in a disastrous battle against the Indians.

I don’t think the choice of names is that big of a deal. I bet had the war gone differently, Japan would have loved to name a base after Admiral Yamamoto, too. He was a pretty amazing guy. I don’t mind that his decisions killed a great many Americans, he was just doing his job and doing it very well. And Allied soldiers and generals did the same. Such are the consequences of war, which reminds us why we should avoid war at all costs.

kyo

Wrong we should not avoid war at all costs if we did so our country lives possessions family would be forfit we should avoid war until all other reasonable means have been expended.

Vonskippy

Ya got to admit, Japan is very good at finding insignificant crap to whine about.
RMilner

Perhaps the camp could be renamed after one of the heroic Japanese soldiers who died saving Okinawan citizens from indiscriminate slaughter by US forces..

tbrot

Or perhaps after the Japanese soldiers who shot Okinawans who tried to surrender to murderous US troops.

Okinawans seemed to have suffered at the hands of both the Japanese Imperial Army and the onslaught of American troops.

pixel_bomber

It’s not unusual to name bases or ships after war heroes. Seems kind of strange that people would actually know who these base names refer to anyway. I doubt many Americans outside of Military personnel would have any clue who most of those people were. I guess on the plus side the base names might serve as a reminder of a terrible time so that we never repeat it.

I wonder how the Japanese SDF chooses names for their bases or ships.
dumbfword

Funny coming from a nation that enshrined War Criminals(Yasukuni Shrine). Imagine if Germany had a church built that honored Hitler, Himmler, Gorning, etc.

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net Jordan

Just to clarify: Yasukuni wasn’t built to house the souls of Japan war criminals. It was built to commemorate those who lost their lives during the Boshin War.

Darien Shields

What it gets up to now, on the other hand, is a whole other story.

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net Jordan

That is certainly true. I didn’t want some people stopping by here and leaving with the idea that Japan made a shrine specifically for war criminals.

dumbfword

Also. Not mentioned on the show was that Albert E. Schwab died fighting on Okinawa.
BEEMAN

I being once a Marine have to side with the Japanese when it comes to the naming of the Marine Base. We are at peace with Japan. Why make that peace more fragile than it already is? Especially, considering the promise that was broken.

I must also reject the locals for not realizing the money involved in moving such a large force elsewhere.
Darien Shields

What exactly are they supposed to name it after? I believe it’s customary to name these bases after dead soldiers. So, what? Name it after soldiers who died in Germany, maybe? Name German bases after soldiers who died in Japan? Would that be more sensitive? To me that just seems two-faced, putting them on the other side of the world.

While the presence of the base is a delicate matter that I think should be thoroughly examined, I think the name is something else. Just give it a rest.

“One comedian wonders if the people living nearby Camp Schwab could include some descendants of the very soldiers killed by PFC Schwab.”
No, probably not, because the base is in Okinawa, and most of the soldiers came from mainland Japan. (and why are we listening to a comedian’s views on something that have nothing to do with comedy?)

LB

and why are we listening to a comedian’s views on something that have nothing to do with comedy?

Yeah, get someone serious in here, like Jon Stewart or Steve Colbert.

kyo

you made me snort…

Stereo

Japanese do not name bases after a person.
randomcommenter

Sensitivity is not saying certain things to certain people because it would hurt them. That’s not “two-faced”, any more than thinking someone disfigured by scars is scary looking, but not saying that to their face.

Besides which, you could always, for example, call the Camp, I dunno, “Camp Futenma”? “Camp 1765″? “Camp Fortitude”? “Camp Antelope”? There are a billion naming conventions out there to choose from.
pixel_bomber

“One comedian wonders if the people living nearby Camp Schwab could include some descendants of the very soldiers killed by PFC Schwab.”
_______________

Possibly, and maybe even descendants of the soldiers who killed him.

Aoshi101

They call us insensitive, yet they inadvertly disrespected Schwab and his heroics by not focusing on what he died for (not to mention they didn’t even mentioned he died). They didn’t make mention at all of the sacrifices Schwab made yet have the gall to say naming our American base after a hero is “insensitive”? Now I’m not one to get up in arms about stuff like this because people have their opinions, but that’s really uncalled for.

Lets not mention how many Americans died, especially on Iwo Jima, to finish a war THEY started. They wanted oil, we said no because they were invading China, then they throw a fit like a child because they couldn’t get it. I should say, the Japanese Military, at the time threw the fit. Japan, stop denying your dark past and accept it already, stop running from it. We accepted our past history, you should too.
Aoshi101

I just want to say, don’t get me wrong, I like Japan. I like some of the traditions and values they have but their ignorance towards wars past drives me nuts. Especially the elders in Japan. It’s ridiculous. We know the price they paid yet they don’t respect the price Americans paid.
Level3

If they don’t like current names, we could change them.

Camp Bataan.
Camp Nanking.
Camp 731.
Camp Manila.

or name the camps after US soldiers who were tortured and/or executed by Japanese.
Preferably torutred, but survived, and are alive today, so they can take part in a re-naming ceremony.

I’m sure either alternative would be “better”, because the Japanese media would just have to ignore the issue.

Stereo

Think of the best interest of the US. None of the names you raised would benefit US. The current name is not so good for the country, either.

James Bong

Yeah, Japan as a nation, is more or less in a stage of full denial at this point. Whether that denial is from pure ignorance or not isn’t really America’s concern. Ultimately it’s up to Japan to educate it’s people more fully, or face further international embarassment and irrelevance.
koguro

You are talking about ignorance. What makes you think you know the history?
We have not seen the history yet. All we know is bunch of propagandas created by the great powers.

Do not trust Japanese media they are anti-USA and anti-Japan.
And so is Japanese DPJ government. (Guess who is benefitting from all of these.)
omg

This will always happen…if it involved your country they would whine about it. The is no way stopping it and blaming the country won’t help.
For all you Americans trying to put blame on Japanese Media maybe you should look at your own. USA is the number one whiner of all time.
G-chan

“Celebrity Panels”, regardless of nationality, should only maybe be seen but definitely not heard.
kotar

Um, to the American people, every point this TV-show make seems to be a sore point.
Don’t overreact, forks.
This is honest question as japanese．

Schwab,Foster,Gonsalves,Hansen,Kinser,McTureous,Shields..
they are only just a hateful enemy,murder, from Japanese standpoint.
you should know that．

level3

You think all soldiers are “hateful” and do “murder”?
Or do you think only American soldiers are “hateful”?

Legally, killing in war is not murder.
Killing prisoners of war is.
Deliberately killing civilians is.
Forcing children to jump off a cliff in Okinawa is.

Fighting for your country is not “hateful”.
Killing people because you think YOU are racially better is hateful.
Enslaving and raping women is hateful.
Using prisoners for deadly medical experiments is hateful.

Which side did that most, eh?

You should know that.
pixel_bomber

I just find it amazing that Japanese citizens know who all these soldiers are. It would be pretty difficult to find Americans who are not enlisted that know who the soldiers are that these bases are named after. I guess the Japanese schools history lessons on WWII must be a lot more in depth than the ones taught in the US.

japanobserver

Japanese are indeed great whiners. But the difference between Americans and Japanese is that Japanese whine about problems and get nothing done, while Americans whine and end up going on “adventures” and make situations a lot worse. Nonetheless, I can’t really say that JP media isn’t doing their job since on the other end of the Pacific, CNN believes that they are entitled to muckrake about Japan, courtesy of Kyung Lah. Why can’t Japan do the same, find stuff of America and draw its populace against it? If anything, the American media has been ruthless on Japan lately. I am just surprised that JP media isn’t going on a retaliatory bally hoo as of late.
Miochan

Hey is Chiaki.

Kakoi . ^_^
cranedog

wait a minutes, are they saying that if the US military gives the base a name
that’s acceptable to the Japanese and/or Okinawans, they can keep the US troops
on Japan?
John

Interesting. I hadn’t thought about it before. But as the article points out, Okinawans historically have been victims of the Japanese military as much, maybe even more, as they have been victims of the US military.
flowby

Re naming – I’m mystified why a perfectly good public holiday April 29th, had to be renamed celebrating the war time emperor – in whose name millions of Japanese died, millions of others died and untold misery was heaped upon the asian / pacific world.

Perhaps the panel might like to take this up and any number of other “ambiguous” naming cases around the country.

LB

Because it was his birthday?

Emperor (Hirohito)’s Birthday = Greenery Day = Showa Day

Here’s another for you:

Emperor (Meiji)’s Birthday = (Meiji) Constitution Day = Culture Day

gtg

celebrity panels… well propably not the right persons to discuss such points with… however

1. isnt japan proud of its samurai heritage and arent we shown in many movies that one trait of a samurai is to respect and honor great fighters regardless on which side on the battlefield they are/were fighting?

2. arent there japanese towns/places named after sengoku era samurai? I guess they killed a lot more japanese than these marines

3. oh and regarding sensibility – how about statues of (probable) war criminals? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Tsuji
Spector

Can someone explain to me why the American military are even there? Why don’t they just GTFO?

pixel_bomber

Google is your friend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Mutual_Cooperation_and_Security_between_the_United_States_and_Japan

William

Well, no1 is safe if USA is near.
USA can use u in a bad way, or atack u, or some terrorist can atack u cuz u help USA xD
So better to be alone then in a bad company
as we say in Brazil “previously only than in bad company” ^^

pixel_bomber

No spelling is safe when Willian is near.
spookychief

wow there is some real ignorance here people. i will tell you this if you think America is bad then appearently you’ve never heard of North Korea. See if the US military were to pull out of that AOR guess whos military would roll in and you would all be f’d so when you see Americans you should actually be grateful as we are that you allow us to be there. Another thing is if the US miitary were to pull out of there Japan’s economy would collapse ESPECIALLY OKINAWA. Thank you and you are welcome have a great day

flowby

L.B. – exactly!

Eh?
richardkoshimizu

pot, meet kettle
pixel_bomber

By the way this weeks episode of “The Pacific” series is the battle of Okinawa. Granted this show only features the perspective of a few men on one side of the battle so maybe it’s not the entire story of what went on there. Still it’s worth watching if you are interested in the soldiers point of view alongside historical data.
http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com Turner

It’s probably unavoidable to name these bases after someone the Japanese would respect.
Albert Camus

The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force uses historical names for its ships and submarines. Many if not all the names are of ships that were involved in the killing of a great many Allies in World War II to include the names of the Aircraft Carriers involved in the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Never have I heard one complaint from any American about this. But yet…
Charles Hickman

How come they never teach us that the U. S. forced Japan to attack the U.S. after the U.S. cut off the southeasr asia oil supplies to Japan ?
But when Saddam Husein threatened to cut off Mediterranean oil supplies-Saddam Hussein was the bad boy. OK for U.S.to cut off oil supply-not OK for anyone else to cut supply-
GO FIGURE !

Should US Military Bases in Okinawa be Named After Men Who Killed Japanese Soldiers?

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