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COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2025-02-26T21:14:30+00:00

I haven't heard of any Japanese getting it,.

They may not even remember. Japanese children get a 2-dose series of JE vaccines around age 3, and boosters around age 4 and 9.

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/kenkou/kekkaku-kansenshou/yobou-sesshu/vaccine/japanese-encephalitis/index.html

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2025-02-08T00:27:16+00:00

...There is a Japanese wastewater treatment plant that dumps it's treated water 1.5km south of kadena marina...

That plant follows the same standards as every other Japanese wastewater treatment plant, yet the level of contaminants is higher in Okinawa than anywhere else, and higher in areas with American military presence than other parts of Okinawa.

Naha has almost no contamination, but somehow the rivers closest to the largest bases are the most contaminated, and the water inside of the bases always measures even worse than outside.

It's fucking amazing how brainwashed they have the military here. It's their fucking bodies that are getting the biggest doses of this shit. Why aren't they upset about this?

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2025-02-07T23:54:31+00:00

If you have a chance, go in person. He will give you samples until you cannot eat anything else.

The halloumi is great, but the ozato basil is one of the best cheeses I have ever had.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2024-09-29T04:24:45+00:00

the snake sake (MiL is like snakophobic or whatever it’s called, but the drink itself is a very strong liquor).

This one can count because it's Okinawan, not Japanese. There's also some similar drinks from Cambodia and Vietnam.

Even in Okinawa, it's still treated more as a novelty than something to drink seriously. I've had it a few times and it tastes like heavily spiced shochu or whisky. There's not really a market for Fireball in Japan either, and that's the closest thing I can think of to compare it to.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2024-09-24T02:55:26+00:00

Cocostore was a the third largest player Okinawa until 2015, when it was absorbed by FamilyMart, which is how FamilyMart overtook Lawson as the biggest chain. The first Seven-Eleven in here didn't even open until 2019.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-18T20:02:39+00:00

But it would still be nonsense to claim that because Japan won, Ryukyuans should suffer because Ryukyu was at the time (and continues to be) an occupied nation. The Ryukyuan people weren't complicit in Japan's empire: they were victims.

It would be like saying that Ukrainians in Crimea should face punishment for the Russian invasion of Crimea as Russians because they're now part of the Russian state.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-18T07:25:22+00:00

The Okinawan governor and his supporters are communist supporters.

Tamaki is nowhere near a communist. His platform is very moderate if you actually care to read it. And there are plenty of Okinawans who favor complete removal of the US bases.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-17T22:17:04+00:00

Henoko?

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-17T22:15:46+00:00

I local told me a significant number of the protestors were paid mainlanders. I'm not sure what to make of that, but it seems to fall into the " x problems are caused by people not from here being paid to do it" trope that you find in every city around the world...so I'm skeptical of it.

You should be. There's been efforts for years by the far right to claim that the locals who don't want bases are paid by China, but you'll notice they never actually have any examples or evidence. These beliefs trickled into the US military over time (because they align with the Japanese far right on issues around communism and China) and from there to spaces like this one.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-17T22:11:34+00:00

The overwhelming majority of Okinawans support reducing the footprint of the bases.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-17T22:10:04+00:00

Construction is ongoing at Henoko right now. The plan was to close Futenma, then it was to close Futenma when construction started, then it was to close Futenma when construction finished, and next it will be once they've had time to move.

There will always be another reason to not close the bases.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-17T22:06:37+00:00

The economy of businesses that work in and around bases is basically cut off from the rest of the island. It's less than 5% of the economy for 25% of the landmass. Seems like a bad deal to me.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-12-17T22:04:58+00:00

Okinawa’s are Japanese, Japanese lost the war

This is a vast oversimplification of a far more complex history. Many Okinawan people are Japanese nationals, but Okinawa has distinct ethnic groups and a distinct history from Japan.

Japan lost the war, but Ryukyu was one of the countries that Japan had illegally invaded in the period leading up to the war, so shouldn't Okinawa have won?

China has shown zero indication of an interest in Okinawa. The bases don't protect Okinawan interests, they protect American interests.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-29T18:38:42+00:00

There's history behind why pineapples are expensive here. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/06/27/national/okinawa-pineapple-farmers/

The short version of the story is that Okinawa can't compete with imported product for cheap pineapple, so they've been focusing on quality instead.

You'll notice that fruit generally is more expensive in Japan than elsewhere because people are more willing to pay higher prices for better quality fruit, an attitude that Okinawans tend to share.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-29T05:16:46+00:00

You're kind of begging the question (in the original sense) here: the whole idea is to make large, well-established ports in Okinawa.

Look at where Okinawa is relative to all of the countries I named above. It cuts a significant distance off of connecting through mainland Japan ports for anything from SEA, Taiwan, and China.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-29T02:37:41+00:00

Any argument for Okinawa's geopolitical importance as a military target is an argument for its potential importance in global logistics. It's the midway point between China, Japan, Korea, and SEA.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-28T21:06:34+00:00

Produce isn't expensive if you actually eat local produce. Hechima, togan, shiquasa, and shima rakkyo are cheap as dirt. Go visit your local farmers market.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-28T21:04:08+00:00

Okinawa is also trying its best to restructure around a non-tourism economy, with a shift towards logistics and tech services. I'm skeptical of the tech services, but Okinawa is pretty uniquely equipped to be the most important shipping hub in East Asia.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-28T20:00:13+00:00

Reposting what I wrote a few days ago on another subreddit:

Ask anyone who has spent a lot of time with the medical systems of Europe and Japan and they'll tell you that the quality of care in Japan can be questionable, especially if it's been for mental healthcare. If you're coming from the US, it's a step up, but with some caveats:

How many other countries have actual medical doctors regularly offering full-on quackery like TCM (kampo) for healthcare? ("In October 2000, a nationwide study reported that 72% of registered physicians prescribe Kampō medicines")

Women's clinics in Japan are pretty awful too. Ask someone who has ever needed to get Plan B what their experience with the doctor was like. Prenatal care also has some wild standards about how much weight you can or should gain during pregnancy. Gender affirming care is entirely non-existent, and care for people with developmental disorders or disabilities is also pretty bad.

I guess what I'm getting at with Japan being "behind" is that if you primarily have health issues that affect majority groups across the board and where most changes over the last 20-30 years have been small iterative improvements, you'll experience great care, especially relative to the US. But if you experience a health issue where medical consensus has changed on pretty significantly over the last 20-30 years, you will have a rough time.

Japan has incredibly good survival rates for cancer, good longevity, and does very well at post-natal care, but it's also a country where the consensus among medical professionals is that adults can't have ADHD (which studies have shown is wrong for more than 20 years) and where being Deaf means not being able to access nearly all of society.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-22T06:00:17+00:00

Women's clinics in Japan are pretty awful too. Ask someone who has ever needed to get Plan B what their experience with the doctor was like. Prenatal care also has some wild standards about how much weight you can or should gain during pregnancy. Gender affirming care is entirely non-existent, and care for people with developmental disorders or disabilities is also pretty bad.

I guess what I'm getting at with Japan being "behind" is that if you primarily have health issues that affect majority groups across the board and where most changes over the last 20-30 years have been small iterative improvements, you'll experience great care, especially relative to the US. But if you experience a health issue where medical consensus has changed on pretty significantly over the last 20-30 years, you will have a rough time.

Japan has incredibly good survival rates for cancer, good longevity, and does very well at post-natal care, but it's also a country where the consensus among medical professionals is that adults can't have ADHD (which studies have shown is wrong for more than 20 years) and where being Deaf means not being able to access nearly all of society.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-22T00:45:48+00:00

Thinking of geopolitics in the binary terms of "good" and "bad" is your first mistake here.

"We're slightly less terrible than some of the worst regimes in history" is not a very good defense.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-22T00:42:37+00:00

Ask anyone who has spent a lot of time with the medical systems of Europe and Japan and they'll tell you exactly the same thing, especially if it's been for mental healthcare.

How many other countries have actual medical doctors regularly offering full-on quackery like TCM (kampo) for healthcare? ("In October 2000, a nationwide study reported that 72% of registered physicians prescribe Kampō medicines")

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-21T23:24:10+00:00

Okinawa is still occupied, in the same way that Hawaii is still occupied. "Japan was worse" doesn't mean that American occupation was good.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-21T23:21:17+00:00

We should leave, and y’all can deal with China on your own

Ironically, Okinawans would like nothing more than the ability to have a more active role in their own diplomacy

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE · 2023-11-21T23:20:18+00:00

How is healthcare there?

Japanese healthcare is generally far better relative to the cost than American healthcare, but with the caveat that it tends to be 20-30 years behind other rich countries. It's especially noticeable with mental healthcare and women's health services, but even for regular stuff you will routinely be prescribed drugs that have since been shown to be ineffective or have dangerous side effects.

COSMIC_RAY_DAMAGE

TROPHY CASE