United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands

This article is about the U.S. Occupation government in Okinawa; for the earlier, native royal government, see Ryūkyū Kingdom.

United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands
Military occupation
←   ← 1952–1972 →
Flag
Capital	Not specified
Language(s)	Japanese, Ryukyuan[citation needed]
Political structure	Military occupation
Historical era	World War II/Cold War
- Battle of Okinawa	April 1 – June 21, 1945
- Treaty of San Francisco	April 28, 1952
- Returned to Japan	May 14, 1972
Currency	B yen (1945–1958) US dollar (1958–1972)

The United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (琉球列島米国民政府, Ryūkyū-rettō Beikokumin Seifu) (USCAR) was the government in Okinawa, Japan after World War II until 1972.

Outline

After the Battle of Okinawa in World War II, the armed forces of the United States occupied Okinawa and set up a local government. In 1952, Japan signed the Treaty of San Francisco and admitted the control of Okinawa by the U.S. government.

USCAR, which was a subordinate organization of the forces of the United States, surveilled the Ryukyuan Government and could overrule all the decisions made by the Ryukyuan Government. Technically speaking, USCAR was thus a civil affairs administration of the United States Military Government (USMG).

Peace treaty specifications

Two important articles of the post-war peace treaty of April 28, 1952 are the following.

Article 3: Japan will concur in any proposal of the United States to the United Nations to place under its trusteeship system, with the United States as the sole administering authority, Nansei Shoto south of 29 degrees north latitude (including the Ryukyu Islands and the Daito Islands), Nanpo Shoto south of Sofu Gan (including the Bonin Islands, Rosario Island and the Volcano Islands) and Parece Vela and Marcus Island. Pending the making of such a proposal and affirmative action thereon, the United States will have the right to exercise all and any powers of administration, legislation and jurisdiction over the territory and inhabitants of these islands, including their territorial waters.

Article 4b: Japan recognizes the validity of dispositions of property of Japan and Japanese nationals made by or pursuant to directives of the United States Military Government in any of the areas referred to in Articles 2 and 3.

After a referendum, on May 15, 1972^{[citation needed]}, control of Okinawa was given back to Japan, and USCAR was abolished. This completed the disposition of this Japanese property by USMG.

Government system

The post of Governor of the Ryukyu Islands was created in 1945 and replaced in 1957 by the High Commissioner and the Civil Administrator of the Ryukyu Islands until 1972.

The government was headed by a Chief Executive, who for the first time was elected by the Ryukyuan people on the same day as elections to the Legislature in November 1968. Previously the Chief Executive was elected by members of the Legislature.

Governor

• General Douglas MacArthur 1945–1951
• General Matthew Ridgway 1951–1952
• General Mark Wayne Clark 1952–1953
• General John E. Hull 1953-1955

Deputy Governors

• Lieutenant General Thomas F. Hickey
• Major General Samuel T. Williams
• Major General Armistead D. Mead
• Lieutenant General Thomas F. Hickey
• Major General Edward J. McGaw
• Lieutenant General James Edward Moore

High Commissioners

• Lieutenant General James E. Moore Jukly 4, 1957 – April 30, 1958
• Lieutenant General Donald P. Booth May 1, 1958 – February 12, 1961
• Lieutenant General Paul Wyatt Caraway February 16, 1961 – July 31, 1964
• Lieutenant General Albert Watson II August 1, 1964 – October 31, 1966
• Lieutenant General Ferdinand Thomas Unger November 2, 1966 – January 28, 1968
• Lieutenant General James B. Lampert January 28, 1968 – May 14, 1972

Civil Administrators

• Vonna F. Burger 1956 ? - 1959
• John G. Ondrick June 1959 – May 1962
• Shannon McCune July 18, 1962 – February 8, 1964
• Gerald Warner February 11, 1964 – July 10, 1967
• Robert A. Fearey August 21, 1968 – May 12, 1972

Chief Executives

• Shuhei Higa April 1, 1951 – October 25, 1956
• Jugo Toma October 25, – November 10, 1959
• Seisaku Ota November 10, 1959 – October 31, 1964
• Seiho Matsuoka October 31, 1964 – December 1, 1968
• Chobyo Yara December 1, 1968 – May 14, 1972

Deputy Chief Executive

• Seiko Kohagura

Speaker of the Legislature

• Katsu Hoshi

Deputy Speaker of the Legislature

• Tokuishi Igei

The government consisted of the legislature, the administrative body, and the courts. The members of legislature were elected. The legislature often had conflicts with USCAR. The head of the administrative body was assigned by USCAR (1952–60), assigned the leader of the dominant party of the legislature (1960–66), elected in the legislature (1966–68), and elected by the citizens (1968–72). The legislature made its own laws.

The official currency was the B yen from 1945–1958, when the B yen was abolished and the US dollar was brought into use. The government printed Ryukyuan postage stamps and passports. Cars drove on the right in contrast to the main islands of Japan. The island switched to driving on the left in 1978 to bring it in line with the rest of Japan.

Flag

Civil ensign of Ryukyu

The Criminal Code of Ryukyu restricted the flying of any national flags except the Flag of the United States The protesters against the Ryukyu government flew Hinomaru, the flag of Japan. Civil ships of Ryukyu flew an ensign derived from International maritime signal flag "D" instead of Japanese or American ensigns. The D ensign was not well known internationally, so the Ryukyuan ships were sometimes seized.^{[citation needed]} The ensign changed to "Hinomaru below a triangular flag labeled Ryukyu" in 1967

See also

• Josef R. Sheetz, US military governor of Okinawa from 1949–1950
• Ryukyuan people
• Ryukyu independence movement