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THE OKINAWAN DIASPORA IN JAPAN: Crossing Borders Within. By Steve Rabson. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2012. ix, 312 pp. US$55.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8248-3534-7.
Rabson's book is the result of a lifelong study of Okinawan social history. It focuses on the Okinawan diaspora on the Japanese mainland, adding to the excellent research existing on die Okinawan diaspora abroad. The book features seven chapters and an introduction. The introduction and chapter 1 familiarize readers not acquainted with the topic; chapters 2 to 6 discuss die experiences of the diaspora in chronological order; chapter 7 compares Okinawans with other Japanese minorities. Throughout his book, Rabson draws on background information widely dispersed in works of history, sociology, literature, musicology and political science, to which he adds original research in the form of interviews. The results of a questionnaire survey he conducted among members of the diaspora also find entry into the discussion, although marginally so. In drawing on diese various materials, Rabson depicts life in die diaspora, and he does so with great care and impeccable command of detail.
The book's subtitle reads "crossing the borders within," that is, crossing borders which separate Okinawa from mainland Japan. Defying die idea of Japan as a state inhabited by a nation historically sharing one language and culture, Okinawans often set themselves apart by highlighting their differences to Japanese on the mainland. This praxis has been crucially reproduced and reinforced by experiences of exclusion, marginalization and discrimination...