EWC and Obuchi Student Scholarship

Hawai’i and Okinawa from the history of East-West Center and Obuchi Students Scholarship 

Hatsuho Kinjo

     2025 is the 125 Years of Okinawan Immigration to Hawai’i, as well as 25 years of Obuchi Students Scholarship from East-West Center (EWC). This article discussed the history between Hawai’i and Okinawa, revealing the value and meaning of EWC and study-abroad opportunity to Hawai’i to Okinawan people, from the two books. 

    Our first book is “The Bridge Kinking Hawai’i & Okinawa ~Fervent Feeling & Attachment of Interweaving People ~” by Chōkō Takayama in 2020. The author, Takayama is an alumnus of  EWC and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and He summarized the connection of Hawai’i and Okinawa from a broader point of view. The first half of the book is composed of numerous interview pieces that he conducted, and it aims to reveal personal stories of Okinawan immigrants in Hawai’i. The interview pieces of the history of Okinawan immigrants, especially, are powerful voices for understanding the fierce working conditions of sugarcane plantations that first-generation (issei) experienced, and the interviews of second-generation (nisei) life during the chaos of World War II made this book unique. In addition, not only the history of Okinawans, but the book collected various life stories of Okinawan immigrants in Hawai’i who contributed to both Okinawa and Hawai’i in their fields. The second half of the book centers on the history of the Obuchi Student Scholarship, which is a full scholarship provided by EWC to Okinawan students. The history of EWC and Okinawa goes back to 1961 when Okinawa sent the first students to Hawai’i/EWC. Due to the dynamic political change and the reversion of Okinawa from the U.S. to Japan, this EWC scholarship program from Okinawa was terminated in 1972. Yet the connection between Okinawa and Hawai’i continued after the program, and with the great dedication of the Okinawan community in Hawai’i, EWC, and alumnus of Okinawan students from EWC, the scholarship officially announced to start again in the symbolic time of the G-8 Summit in Okinawa in 2000. Takayama passionately worked on restarting the Okinawan scholarship program in Hawai’i and summarized the symbolic meaning of this program in both Okinawa and Hawai’i. 

     While Takayama's piece gave us an overview image of the connection between Hawai’i and Okinawa, “Bridge of Rainbow Linking East & West” by EWCA Okinawan Chapter was written in 2011 shared a more personal connection of each Okinawan who studied in EWC and the University of Hawai’i.  This book is the collection of journals of each student who researched/studied/joined the EWC program in Hawai’i, and it gave us an insightful understanding of the values and symbolic meaning of learning opportunities open for Okinawan students. Although each experience was different and unique, there are some similarities. First of all, the experience of Hawai’i made the Okinawan people think about our identity as Okinawans in the Japanese system. Many scholars saw similar colonial history and the current situation of structural inequality in both Native Hawaiians and Okinawans faced and encouraged them to speak out from the perspectives of social justice. The deep discussion with Native Hawaiians gave us critical perspectives of Okinawan positionality, which is a critical discussion for Okinawa people. Others mentioned the value of learning in the multi-national and multi-cultural community in EWC made their eyes wide open. Many scholars mentioned that student life in EWC made them learn Okinawa more deeply, with the interaction of other minority people from all over the world. The experience of living together with people who are proud of their culture and places, and the critical question that those people shared with Okinawan students changed Okinawan students’ perspective completely. The last pivotal experience is the encounter with Okinawan people in Hawai’i. Meeting with diaspora Okinawans, who passionately connect and find their identity as Okinawan encourages Okinawan scholars greatly to rethink their identity as Okinawan. Moreover, meeting with the same generation of Hawaii Okinawans and having a discussion of Okinawan identity and the definition of “Uchinanchu (Okinawan)” changed their life. 

     Learning the history of the Obuchi Students Scholarship and understanding the genealogy of the program encouraged me as an Obuchi scholar in 2024. The purpose of my study in Hawai’i, as many former Okinawan scholars, is to learn Okinawa more intensely. I expect the learning in the Department of Education, Place-based Education, as well as Pacific Island Studies, will give me a different definition of Okinawa. Also, my interest in understanding Okinawa from a broader perspective with the relations of Okinawan immigrants in the Pacific, including Hawai’i will give me a deeper understanding of Place, Okinawa. The constant questions of “What is Okinawa”, and “What is Uchinanchu for Okinawan people” that many former Okinawan scholars had asked, are the questions that I am facing now. Giving the Okinawan students to reflect back their own identity and critically think about the meaning of Uchinanchu is the biggest value of this Obuchi Students Scholarship and I am honored to have that opportunity.

Reference

Chōkō Takayama, The Bridge Kinking Hawai’i & Okinawa ~Fervent Feeling & Attachment of Interweaving People ~ (Okinawa: Toyo Planning, 2020). 

Link to UH Library 

EWCA Okinawan Chapter, Bridge of Rainbow Linking East & West (Okinawa: EWCA Okinawan Chapter, 2011). 

Link to UH Library