Yikes! MTM
They have been fucking with our minds forever.
So, they are all satisfied because they got soundproof windows and new A/Cs. Super.
You are correct that they are Okinawans first. Still, a conservative POV. A minor correction on the history. Japan did not take the kingdom in 1609. It was a protectorate of both Japan and China to facilitate trade. Japan was closed to foreign trade during the Tokugawa era other than a small island in Nagasaki used by the Dutch or through Okinawa. Japan took Okinawa after the Meiji Restoration on the advice of Western advisers while China was busy with their own problems.
The Ryukyu Kingdom was self rule until things started to fall apart with the arrival of Commodore Perry in the 1850s.
Don't know about voter fraud. The central government wields too much power to allow it to happen on a regular basis since the results run opposite Tokyo's plans. Not sure we read the same papers about the base controversy. They certainly were not on Hatoyama's side during that blow up. I don't see editorials supporting the anti-base position other than in Okinawa.
While we can agree on many things (you appear more knowledgeable than I gave you credit…sorry), you seem to take the position on Okinawans similar to the Democrats in reference to blacks, which is, they should be satisfied with all the things we give them. Perhaps, the Ryukyu's would like to make their own way again. A small independence movement has existed there for quite a while.
Not sure what you mean really about why Okinawa is the way it is, but from an historical POV, they have been abused by foreigners and Japanese (particularly during WW2) for the past 170 years. The Vietnam war was not a pleasant experience for them either. That wears on a people after a while.
Nice deflection. The people I know involved (you know it is more than just the おばあちゃん protests) aren't paid.
Still, we didn't end it as sworn enemies (I don't think), so there's that.