Greg Girard
Japan’s southernmost prefecture, Okinawa, hosts a concentration of US military bases unlike anywhere outside the continental United States. More than half the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan are based here. On the main island of Okinawa nearly 20% of the land is occupied by these bases. This large US military footprint, and the legacy of Okinawa’s history as a US-administered territory until 1972, means that the social and physical landscape of Okinawa is shaped by this relationship with the US military like few other places. In "Hotel Okinawa" (2017), Girard looks at this unique world "on base" and off, separate and yet conjoined, the result of decades of living in close proximity with the US military. Additionally, archival photographs, periodicals and other artefacts, some dating back to the US occupation, appear throughout the book, registering historical strands that are part of the complex fabric of Okinawa today.
Kaiserslautern Military Community
Kaiserslautern Military Community is a community of Americans living in and around Kaiserslautern, Germany supporting United States Armed Forces and NATO installations, such as the Ramstein Air Base, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Kapaun Air Station, Vogelweh Housing Area, Pulaski Barracks, Kleber Kaserne, Daenner Kaserne, Panzer Kaserne, Sembach Kaserne, Miesau Army Depot, and Rhine Ordnance Barracks. With around 54,000 people, including military service members, Department of Defense civilians and contractors as well as their families, the KMC is the largest U.S. military community outside of the United States.