Koza, Okinawa: Base Town Blues

Overview

A historic music pub reopened in Koza, Okinawa Prefecture, near Kadena Air Base, in 2019. The owner, rock musician Miyanaga Eiichi, performed for American soldiers who were en route to the front lines during the Vietnam War. Now he tells audiences about how the music expressed soldiers' desires for peace, and recounts the history of the base town. Others whose paths crossed in Koza include a resident whose family home was seized for the air base, a former worker at bars catering to US soldiers, and a US veteran who joined the antiwar movement while in Okinawa. The complex history of a base town is explored.