In the 1960's governments between the U.S. And Japan, negotiation about Okinawa's reversion was in progress. And finally Okinawa's reversion in 1972 was agreed, but on the other hand, reduction of the bases was moving in slow pace. At the same time, a conception about Okinawa's development after the reversion was said by both Ryukyu and mainland government, and from the political point of view as well. This conception's main point was on how to make Okinawa become independent from the "base economy". And to realize this, what Okinawa needed was a economic growth.
For this, a plan called "Okinawa Fukko Kaihatsu Keikaku" (renaissance development plan) was planned. This plan is largely divided into three parts; with three time period. The First Okinawa Fukko Kaihatsu Keikaku was planned and done from 1972-1981, and the second one was from 1982-1991. The third one, which is still in progress is planned from 1992-2001. The goal for the first and second plan was; the revision of the differences from the mainland and the adjustment for independent development. And plus this, arrangement of the area which will contribute to the district with feature proceed of economy and cultural growth of our nation is mentioned as a goal for the third plan.
About five years after the reversion, the biggest problem at Okinawa was the unemployment problem. The world economy was right in the middle of the long term depression after the 1st oil shock. The Ocean Exposition which was done to take off the economy after the reversion, has ended and Okinawa was worried about the influence by that. During this Ocean Exposition, many of the facilities and roads were build around. New hotels and souvenir shops were build as well. But, it didn't turn out to be the way they expected. Therefore, all the facilities they constructed were just a waste of effort and money. Many of the businesses in all areas were not needed anymore and many of them were becoming bankrupt. With this, in 1977, unemployed people had gone up to 29000 and the unemployment rate was 6.8%.(unemployed people in 1971: 4000;and unemployed rate: 1.0
More specific cause of this unemployment problem could be largely divided into three main reasons. 1. A huge number of dismissal was done toward the employee at the U.S. bases. Large percentage of this included the people in the middle and advanced age, so 70% of all the dismissed employees couldn't find a next job. 2. Many of the unemployed people were due to the reversion . Ex. People who had a job which is not permitted in the mainland; and people whose job was a subcontractor of the U.S. Facilities. 3. Many of the after effects of the Ocean Exposition which are mentioned above
Number of people who were dismissed by the company's reduction
1974 917
1975 729
1976 2989
1977 1208
Number of companies which became bankrupt
1972 5
1976 152
1977 214
One of the characteristics of Okinawa's Unemployment problem is that many of the unemployed people were young. Out of the 27000 unemployed people in 1977, 12000 were below 25 years old
Nippon Bank reported that the financial funds which were paid to Okinawa(financial funds -taxes paid to the mainland+ incomes by the military land money) were like this:
1972 154,300,000,000yen
1973 230,100,000,000yen
1974 331,200,000,000yen
1975 349,500,000,000yen
1976 362,300,000,000yen
As you can see, Okinawa economy was widely supported by the financial funds. The tourism income had also increased after the reversion. The number of tourists in 1971 was only about 200,000 but in the next year it went up to 440,000; and 1,558,000 in 1975.(this was because of the Ocean Exposition). In 1991, this number flows to 3,000,000. The government aims to double this number of tourists in Okinawa by the end of the decade to 6,000,000-7,000,000 a year. The income by the tourism was a very important support for the Okinawa economy.
The Okinawa economy was known as a base economy,as mentioned before. From 1972 to now, over 4,000,000,000,000 yen has been sent to Okinawa prefecture by the government due to the U.S. Military bases. As a result, many of the roads and harbors had been adjusted, but there were not enough industrial development which will hopefully connect to an independent growth in the Okinawa economy. One of the reasons for this was a long period control of the U.S. It made the start of all industrialization slow. We can't say that no industrial development was made. The problem was that the weight of the Third industry (service category) of the whole industry was too heavy compared to First industry and Second industry. Of all the industry, Service category (3rd) covers 79% of the whole in 1991. The manufacturing and construction industry which is the Second industry covers only 21%; and agricultural industry which is the First industry covers 2.8%. We can see from this number that the Okinawa economy was changing into a Service economy. Until this one-sided industrial situation gets fixed and Okinawa economy separates from the base economy, It is hard for the Okinawa economy to develop
One the important income of the Okinawa's economy right now is tourism as mentioned before. But there is a big problem to this as well. Island's golden beaches are being spoilt by mud and sewage from the development,and the great coral reefs are dying visibly from the pollution. These environment problems should be thought about as well when we think about Okinawa and the Okinawa economy.
