Stamping Out the ‘Nation-Ruining Disease’: Anti-Tuberculosis Campaigns in US-Occupied Okinawa

Abstract

Summary This article examines tuberculosis prevention campaigns in US-occupied Okinawa in the 1950s and 60s. The number of tuberculosis patients in Okinawa increased after World War II due to the influx of repatriates and construction workers. This article highlights both the social and cultural aspects of the Okinawan fight against tuberculosis by focusing on key figures in anti-tuberculosis projects: public health nurses and Kabira Chōshin (1909–98), the chief of the Ryukyu Anti-Tuberculosis Association.1 While the public health nurses promoted tuberculosis prevention by closely supporting tuberculosis patients and educating the population, Kabira tried to connect anti-tuberculosis campaigns with the restoration of Ryukyuan culture. By analysing their anti-tuberculosis efforts, this article argues that the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis under the US occupation constituted a site where people’s calls for a better life became intimately interconnected with US Cold War militarism, on one hand, and with ‘pro-reversion’ sentiment, on the other.