Okinawa

2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction - Longlist

American Library Association Best Comics for Adults 2023

Booklist Editors' Choice: Best Graphic Novels 2023

Washington Post Book World Editors' Staff Pick 2023

The Guardian Best Graphic Novels of 2023

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

A peaceful, independent kingdom until its annexation by the Japanese Empire in the 19th century, Okinawa was the site of the most destructive land battle of the Pacific War. Today, the archipelago is Japan's poorest prefecture and unwilling host to 75% of all US military bases in Japan.

Okinawa brings together two collections of intertwined stories by the island's pre-eminent mangaka, Susumu Higa. These stories reflect on this difficult history, pulling together traditional Okinawan spirituality, the modern-day realities of the continuing US military occupation, and the senselessness of the War. The first collection, Sword of Sand, provides a ground-level, unflinching look at the horrors of the Battle of Okinawa. Higa then turns an observant eye to the present day in Mabui (Okinawan for "spirit"), exploring how the American occupation has irreversibly changed the island prefecture through the lens of the archipelago's indigenous spirituality and the central character of the yuta priestess.

Okinawa is a harrowing document of war, but it also addresses the dreams and needs of a people as they journey into an uncertain future. It is essential reading for anyone interested in World War II and its effects on our lives today, as well as for those with an interest in the people and culture of this fascinating, complicated place. Although thoroughly about one specific locale, the complex relations between Okinawan and Japanese identities and loyalties, between place and history, and between humanity and violence speak beyond borders and across shores.

Please note: This book is a traditional work of manga and reads back to front and right to left.