In 1972, during the Cold War, the island of Okinawa was reincorporated into Japan after twenty-five years of US military occupation. Although the administration was officially transferred to the Japanese government, bilateral security agreements allowed the military bases to remain, consolidating Okinawa as one of the main US strategic posts in the Pacific. It is in this context that photographer Mao Ishikawa’s photo book Hot Days in Camp Hansen!! (1975–77) was born. The images produced by Ishikawa feature two social groups deeply rooted in the Okinawan daily life of the 1970s: US soldiers and the women from the town of Kin, who worked in the bars around Camp Hansen and often had romantic and sexual relationships with these men. Refusing an accusatory or exoticizing photojournalistic approach, Ishikawa does not present a denunciation of the history of exploitation perpetrated by the US military. Instead, she reveals a complex network of affection and solidarity between individuals who share a common life—low-ranking soldiers, mostly Black and displaced from their country, and Okinawan women in subordinate roles, living in a territory historically marginalized by the Japanese state. In tune with the contestatory spirit of Okinawan youth in the 1970s— influenced by international anti-imperialist movements, protests against the Vietnam War, and civil rights struggles in the US—Ishikawa went beyond the island’s borders and travelled to Philadelphia, where she spent almost two months living with her friend Myron Carr, a former soldier. With a radically human gaze, she portrays the context of origin of the men with whom she shared a daily life in Okinawa. Far from the militarized environment, her photos capture scenes of children playing, relaxed conversations on the sofa, and walks through the city’s streets.

WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION:

6 photographs from the series Red Flower—The Women of Okinawa (1975–77), printing on cotton paper, each 48 × 38 cm or 38 × 48 cm; 3 photographs from the series Life in Philly (1986), printing on cotton paper, each 38 × 48 cm; 8 photographs from the series Uchina Shibai (Okinawa Play)—A Story of Nakada Sachiko’s Theatre Company, printing on cotton paper, each 38 × 48 cm or 48 × 38 cm: An Old-Fashioned but Sophisticated Green Room. Akebono Theater, Naha City (May 1978); Nakada Sachiko (Born in 1933) the Leader of the Troupe, Deigo-za Group. Comic Role Fits her Perfectly (1978); In the Dawn, Came Back from the Bar and Fell Asleep Instantly between my Husband and a Grandchild (April 1981); With 99-Year-Old Grandma Matsu. Elderly Welfare Center, Nakagusuku Village (October 1981); Three Daughters All Together at Work in the Mothers’ Bar. Eldest Kazuko (Left), Youngest Yasue (Middle), Intermediate Akemi (Right). Nakada Sachiko Geinokan, Naha City (April 1985); Yoza Choi (May 27, 1989); Title of Program: “Newspaper Boy.” Masae, a Granddaughter, Was Staring. Reversion, Memorial Hall, Gushikawa City (February 1991); Title of Program: “Smoke of Saying Good-bye.” Bitter Cry. The Expression of the Leader of the Troupe. Reversion Memorial Hall, Gushikawa City (February 1991). All courtesy of POETIC SCAPE, in cooperation with Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum. Participation in São Paulo supported by National Center for Art Research, Japan