Okinawa 1961-1970

Tatsuo Kurihara
Okinawa 1961-1970

Photographs: Tatsuo Kurihara

Publisher: Asahi Shinbunsha

211 pages

Year: 1970

Comments: Publisher's acetate jacket, softcover, obi as issued. First edition, 1970. 255 x 185 mm. Text in japanese and in english. Copy in very good condition. A scarce and collectible copy. An impressive gravure printing!

During the early 1970's Asahi Newspaper produced a series of politically charged photographic reportages on the atom-bomb and its after-effects, pollution, unemployement and other social issues. All of them were produced by staff photographers with a particular interest in the subject. Okinawa had been designated "a keystone of the Pacific" and the 118 military bases on the island left little room for doubt of American commitment. It also gained strategic significance in the Vietnam war. This emotional documentary contrasts life on the bases with life in the villages and towns. The meeting-point between the two tended to be in bars and brothels, and Kurihara records the growing local opposition movements to the bases.