Oliver Stone to visit Okinawa to discuss U.S. military base issue

Oliver Stone to visit Okinawa to discuss U.S. military base issue

Oliver Stone


July 3, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo

In an event that celebrates the 120th anniversary of the establishment of the Ryukyu Shimpo, the newspaper will invite two-time Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone to Okinawa. The event will feature a lecture by Stone with a panel discussion. Stone will observe the U.S. military bases in Okinawa for the first time. With an interpreter present, the discussion will cover the excessive burden on Okinawa of hosting bases and U.S. military strategy. Some of the works of Stone and some digest footage of his visit to the prefecture will also be shown.

【Date】The event starts at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14 with doors open from 6:30 p.m.

Satoko Norimatsu

Masahide Ota

Peter Kuznick

【Venue】Theater building of the Okinawa Convention Center in Ginowan

【Speaker and panelists】
Oliver Stone: American film director, screenwriter, producer and veteran
Peter Kuznick: Professor of History at American University
Masahide Ota: Former Okinawa Governor and director of the Ota Peace Research Institute

Satoko Norimatsu (panelist and interpreter): Director of the Peace Philosophy Centre

【Advance purchase tickets】Adults: 1,000 yen. Students up to and including university age: 500 yen (500 yen more if bought at the door)
Festival seating

【Ticket sales will begin】On July 4 Thursday

【Point of sale】 Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper company (Head office building, Izumizaki Branch Building and Central Region Office, Northern Region Office), all stores of Family Mart (Entertainment Plus) and Lawson (L code:88109), Junkudo Shoten Naha Branch and Todabooks Tomigusuku Branch, Kyuyodo Shobo (Naha Main Place Branch and San-A Nishihara City Mall Branch), Sakurazaka Theater.

【Contact】Ryukyu Shimpo Administration Office at 098(865)5200

【Organizer】Ryukyu Shimpo

【Cooperation from】Okinawa Television

Oliver Stone: American film director, screenwriter, producer and veteran. Stone was born in New York in 1946. After coming back from the Vietnam War, he graduated from New York University Film School. Stone debuted as a film director in 1974. He won Academy Awards for Best Director for films such as Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. Stone has been energetically making films focused on contemporary and controversial American political and cultural issues such as JFK and Wall Street. He has created a documentary miniseries for Showtime titled The Untold History of the United States. It covers the hidden history of the United States after World War II and is attracting considerable attention.

Peter Kuznick: Professor of History at American University. Born in New York In 1948, Kuznick teaches modern history of the United States. A critic of the U.S. decision to use atomic bombs in World War II, he strongly criticizes U.S. military hegemonism. Kuznick brings American students to Hiroshima and Nagasaki every year. Teaching the course Oliver Stone’s America at the university, Kuznick and Stone prepared the series and book of the same title. These works represent a milestone in their collaborative projects.

Masahide Ota: Former Okinawa Governor and director of the Ota Peace Research Institute. Ota was born on Kumejima Island in 1925. Serving in the student unit called Tekketsu Kinnoutai, he barely escaped death while he was studying at teachers’ training school during the Battle of Okinawa. Ota graduated from Waseda University and Syracuse University where he earned a master’s degree in journalism. He served successively as a professor of Social Science and Dean of the Faculty Of Law and Letters in the University of the Ryukyus from 1957 to 1989. Ota became Okinawa Governor in 1990 and served two four-year terms. He then became a member of the upper house, serving one six-year term.

Satoko Norimatsu: Director of the Peace Philosophy Centre, a Vancouver-based organization promoting peace. Norimatsu actively publishes articles about the U.S. military base issue in Okinawa in both English and Japanese on the web. She and Gavan McCormack co-wrote a book titled Resistant Islands. Norimatsu also translated a book titled Rethinking the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki : Japanese and American Perspectives that was co-written by Kuznick and Akira Kimura. Norimatsu is a member of the 100 People Committee that seeks to create peace and recover human dignity in Okinawa.

(English translation by T&CT, Mark Ealey)

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