We Will Not Allow Okinawa to Become a Colony of Another Country
Master Ryuho Okawa's Okinawa Lecture, "The World of Truth" Part 1
On the 30th of January, Master Ryuho Okawa, the founder of Happy Science, gave a public lecture entitled “The World of Truth” in Okinawa, a place now perturbed by the plan to relocate the U.S. military base there. The Okinawan government has been acting to stop the relocation of the military base to Okinawa, but Master Okawa has a different idea.
Around 3,000 people gathered at the Okinawa Convention Center, and Happy Science’s media division broadcast Master Okawa’s 50-minute lecture to locations throughout Japan.
Okinawan Leftists Are Different from Atheistic Leftists
Master Okawa spoke of Okinawans’ opinions on the removal of the U.S. military base:
It is said that leftism is strong in Okinawa, but a deeper look reveals that they are different from the leftists on mainland Japan. Okinawan leftism is one that appeared 70 years ago as a result of the resistance and distrust that emerged due to the indignity of losing many lives during WW2; so it is not an atheistic leftism.
Over 200 thousand people died in Okinawa during the war, so I could understand how it wouldn’t be easy to forgive the U.S. But it is also true that the U.S. is now very friendly with Japan. It is the world’s greatest economic and military superpower. Being in an alliance with such a country means that we are being protected.
Master Okawa has visited Okinawa many times, and has visited the proposed site of the U.S. military base in Henoko, Nago, Okinawa Prefecture. At the end of the lecture, Master Okawa spoke about the connection between Okinawa and the Shinto Gods of Japan. He declared, “We will not allow Okinawa to become a colony of another country ever again!” And the audience burst into an applause.
Okinawans Protect the Peace and Stability of Asia
Before the lecture, there was a pre-talk, which Ryoko Shaku, leader of the Happiness Realization Party (HRP) and Tatsuro Kinjou, HRP’s Okinawan candidate for the September Upper House elections, led. Since the establishment of the HRP in 2009, Kinjou has been proposing the need to strengthen national security and to relocate the U.S. military base to Okinawa.
“I love the sea at Okinawa, but I also love the people,” Ryoku Shaku said as she appeared in a blue suit, matching the color of the Okinawan sea.
She warned of China’s increasing dominance:
This is my third visit to Okinawa this year: when I came to Ishigaki and Yonaguni in January on the day of the reclamation of the Senkaku Islands, I felt the unrest of the islands at the border of our country. I heard stories from people who heard when China opened fire on Taiwan and from fishermen that Chinese boats had chased.
Kinjou followed up by saying that over 1.2 million people died when China invaded Tibet. This is the same number of people that live on the main island of Okinawa. We cannot allow China’s threat to spread in Asia. He added, “I want to be able to say that the people of Okinawa are protecting Asia. I think that the people who are housing the U.S. military bases and thus protecting the peace and stability of Asia are the people of Okinawa.”
In the lecture, Master Okawa also spoke on the following points:
- An assessment of two local newspapers in Okinawa
- How strong democracy is and how weak dictatorship is
- South Korea’s greatest fears
- The memorial service held by the Japanese Emperor in the Philippines
- The most important ability needed in a politician
- Bank of Japan’s announcement on ‘negative interest’
- The close relationship between Okinawa and the Japanese Shinto Gods
You can view this lecture at your nearest Happy Science branch.
For more information, please visit http://happy-science.org/
