现代日本与冲绳

本文试图把以“琉球处分”为发端的）中绳近代史作为前史纳入视野，通过重新追问“在现代日本，冲绳到底意味着什么？”，来思考日本的现状。作者认为，近代日本以现代化的名义用“琉球处分”将）中绳纳入其版图，随后又将之排斥在现代化进程之外，为冲绳日后的改革埋下隐患。二战后，冲绳的分离军事支配又成为维持天皇制和日本本土寻求稳定发展的代价。它的回归虽然可部分归因于目益强大的日本与美国在角色上的重新调整，但企图通过解决冲绳问题来改变日本，路途遥远。作者认为，未来冲绳面临着三个选择，而它最终的走向不仅关乎着自身，而且与日本的前途，甚至与东亚和整个世界的局势相关。

Modern Japan and Okinawa

What does Okinawa mean to modern Japan？ In an attempt to answer this question, the author looks into how Okinawa was included in the map of Japan in recent times and was then excluded from the modernization process, thereby overshadowing its future reform. After the World War Ⅱ, Okinawa was isolated as a military island - a further cost for ensuring Japanese monarchy and the stable development of Japanese society. Although its partial return is partly due to the role shift between the increasingly powerful Japan and the United States, its final solution as a means of changing Japan is still beyond sight. The author suggests three possible prospects for Okinawa, each of which has its bearing upon not only the future of Okinawa, but that of Japan, of East Asia, and of the world as a whole.