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- Convenors:
-
Aike Rots
(University of Oslo)
Isabelle Prochaska-Meyer (University of Vienna)
Paul Kreitman (Columbia University)
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- Discussant:
-
Stanislaw Meyer
(Jagiellonian University)
- Stream:
- Urban, Regional and Environmental Studies
- Location:
- Torre B, Piso 3, T16
- Sessions:
- Friday 1 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
This panel explores various aspects of nature-making and spatial contestation in the Ryukyu Islands. The papers address nature conservation in relation to territorial conflicts, the postwar history and changing meanings of sacred sites, and the contemporary significance of heritage production.
Long Abstract:
Environmental anthropologists and spatial scientists have recently challenged the paradigmatic nature-culture dichotomy, showing that the two are shaped in constant interaction, by human and non-human actors. In Japan, nature is closely intertwined with modern nation-building projects, both ideologically and physically. The production of nature as demarcated space has been a core aspect of modern imperialism. Annexed by Meiji Japan in 1879, the Ryukyu Islands are among Japan's remaining colonial possessions. Occupying a central position in the East China Sea, they are considered of profound strategic importance, and the national government has implemented several strategies to ensure territorial control: militarization, nature conservation, economic subsidies, heritage production etc. Other actors, however, have also made claims to the land, especially on Okinawa. These include the US military, the tourist industry, ritual specialists, environmental activists, farmers, local residents, and others. Today, spatial politics in the Ryukyu Islands is highly contested; different actors compete with each other for control over small areas of land that are rich in natural resources and imbued with cultural and religious meanings.
In this panel, we will explore various aspects of nature-making and spatial contestation in the Ryukyu Islands, combining historical and anthropological approaches. The three papers address the topics of wildlife conservation, the contestation of sacred space, and the production of heritage, respectively. The first paper looks at nature conservation in relation to national sovereignty claims in the region. These remain partly unresolved, as the PRC claims some of the Ryukyu Islands (the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands) as part of its sovereign territory, which is a significant source of geopolitical tension. The second paper looks at the history and changing meanings of sacred places (utaki) in Okinawa from the occupation period until today, and discusses the present-day significance of these places in relation to debates about US military presence. The third paper likewise looks at utaki in Okinawa, but it focuses on one site in particular, Seifa Utaki. Through this case study, the paper examines the significance of heritage production in contemporary Okinawa, in relation to biodiversity conservation and identity politics.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 1 September, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
This paper explores the relationship between wildlife and sovereignty conservation by examining a series of wildlife conservation campaigns that the Ryukyu University zoologist Takara Tetsuo carried out in the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Isles during the U.S. military occupation of Okinawa (1945-1972).
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the relationship between wildlife conservation and sovereignty production by examining a series of wildlife conservation campaigns carried out during the U.S. military occupation of the Ryukyu Islands (1945-1972). During this period of indefinite, involuntary separation from mainland Japan, groups of government-affiliated Japanese scholars worked to classify the archipelago's cultural and natural heritage in ways that would parallel heritage legislation in Japan proper.
One Ryukyu University-based zoologist, Takara Tetsuo, was an especially avid taxonomist of Okinawan natural heritage. Takara paid particular attention to the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Isles, once the site of a Japanese bird-culling abattoir and tuna cannery, but uninhabited since 1940. Between 1950 and 1968 Takara led five expeditions to the Senkaku group, hoping to prove the survival on the islands of the Short-tailed Albatross, declared extinct by U.S. Occupation authorities but later rediscovered on the Izu Islands and and designated a special natural monument of the Japanese nation.
Although Takara never sighted albatrosses in the Senkaku Isles, he was instrumental in fomenting Japanese media coverage of "poaching" by Taiwanese fisherman allegedly trespassing on the islands. In the process he helped to reposition the Senkaku Isles as a part of Okinawan (and by extension Japanese) natural heritage - whilst leading expeditions that also surveyed the islands for offshore oil and gas deposits, inflaming diplomatic tensions over the territory still further. With the rediscovery of an albatross population nesting on the Senkaku Islands, Takara Tetsuo's legacy continues to play out today.
Paper short abstract:
The paper discusses the change of perception of sacred places (utaki) in Okinawa from the post-war time until the present. Whereas in the past, utaki were often disregarded, along with religious practices of ritual specialists, nowadays they are seen as a precious cultural heritage of Okinawa.
Paper long abstract:
This paper discusses the change of perception of sacred places in Okinawa. Spiritual healers (mostly women, called kaminchu or yuta) are main practitioners and ritual specialists for religious matters especially related to ancestor cult. They perform consultations at home, and praying rituals at sacred places. These places include sites related to the Battle of Okinawa, where kaminchu perform pacifying rituals for deceased, and places of historical importance related to the ancestor cult and worship of Ryukyuan heroes. Sacred places are often located in natural groves called utaki. In some cases entrance to the utaki is restricted to religious practitioners.
The perception of utaki has changed as well as the perception of spiritual healers. While some utaki in the pre-war time were altered to Shinto sites, with the purpose of enhancing Japanese identity of Okinawans, during the post-war time many sacred places were demolished, being seen as unwanted remnants of "backward culture". The practice of kaminchu was harshly criticized in the past, but it was difficult to prevent their agency since they were not institutionalized. Their place of agency however, the sacred places, could be controlled since they represented a manifestation of the spiritual practice. The destruction of utaki was seen as a necessary step towards modernization, preventing ritual specialists practicing "superstition". Many utaki had to be removed because of the construction of military facilities, but ironically, some utaki that remained inside bases preserved their original form and escaped the fate of destruction as it happened with sacred places outside the bases. With the rise of the so-called "Okinawa boom" in the 1990s, many sacred places were reevaluated as important cultural heritage with a touristic value.
Paper short abstract:
This paper looks at the role of nature, sacrality and cultural identity in heritage production. It explores the consequences of Seifa Utaki's transformation from one of the Ryukyu Kingdom's sacred centres into a World Heritage Site, popular tourist destination and 'biodiversity hotspot'.
Paper long abstract:
Located in the southeastern corner of Okinawa, Seifa Utaki is one of the island's best-known and largest sacred groves. It played a central role in the ritual-mythological system of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429-1879), when priestesses associated with the monarchy used it for ritual ceremonies. In 2000, the grove was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, together with several related historical sites (collectively referred to as 'Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu'). In recent years, it has become a popular tourist site, attracting a steady flow of visitors. The meanings attributed to Seifa Utaki are manifold. Although the heritagisation of the grove has gone together with a decline in worship traditions, many visitors today do appear to appreciate the 'sacred' character of the place, engaging in individual prayer and newly invented pilgrimage practices. Others appreciate the grove because of its value as a biodiversity hotspot, or because of its historical and archaeological importance. In this paper, I will analyse these different meanings. I will explore the ecological, political and socio-cultural consequences of Seifa Utaki's transformation from an Okinawan sacred centre, closely intertwined with royal authority, into a World Heritage Site of ecological and historical significance, supposedly representative for 'ancient Japanese' nature worship traditions. I will then relate my findings to wider debates about the role of religion in nature preservation, the tension between conservation ideals and real-life practices, and the significance of heritage production for the construction of local and national identities today.