ABSTRACT
Following the Second World War, Okinawa was under the administration of the US armed forces from August 15, 1945 to May 15, 1972. High schools in Okinawa began entering the preliminary tournament of the National High School Baseball Championship Tournament in 1952, before the islands were returned to Japan. Schools from the region competed in the tournament in 1958, 1962, 1963 (when the Okinawa team won its first game), 1966 and 1968 (when the Okinawa team advanced to the semi-finals for the first time). After that, Tomishiro High School successively advanced to the quarterfinals in 1976, 1977 and 1978, and Okinawa Fishery High School succeeded in advancing to the finals in 1990 and 1991. Then, in 2010, Konan High School won the championship for the first time for Okinawa. In spite of being very skilled in the sport, until winning the championship, Okinawa’s participation seemed to represent the ‘sympathy’ of the sad experiences from the war, ‘special arrangements’ and economic disadvantages compared to the mainland, and a mental weakness whereby there was a lack of tenacity for the purpose of victory. In short, it can be said that such representation drew the attention of Okinawan people to a ‘summer moment’, in effect throwing a veil over the real history of their experiences and lives during and after the war.
