The Okinawa Islands are home to a vibrant culture, abundant greenery, and azure seas, attracting millions of tourists from Japan and abroad each year.
These islands, located at the southernmost tip of Japan, were once independent kingdoms for centuries before being militarily annexed by the Japanese Empire in the decades leading up to World War II.
But with the arrival of American troops at the end of World War II, these quiet islands became the stage for some of the most destructive ground fighting of the Pacific War.
Despite the resilience of the Okinawan people and the recent influx of tourists, the impact of this battle still affects the lives of Okinawans to this day.

This shocking and vibrant collection of work by renowned Okinawan manga artist Susumu Higa brings to life the complex and multifaceted stories of his homeland.
This book is a compilation of two of Higa's works, "Sword of the Sand" and "Mabui."
These intertwined stories calmly reveal the horrors of war and examine how life in Okinawa was irrevocably changed by the American occupation, through the islands' indigenous spirituality and the priestess Yuta.

"Okinawa" is a tragic record, but it is also a work that imagines the dreams and desires of people facing an uncertain future.
Deeply rooted in the culture and geography of this unique, fascinating, and beautiful place, the overlapping relationships between Okinawan and Japanese identity, occupation and autonomy, and humanitarianism and violence, pose questions that reach across borders and seas.