Motoshinkakarannu (1971) NDU

A documentary film about prostitutes, yakuza, labor unions, and tourists in Koza City (now Okinawa City) before the reversion of Okinawa to Japan. Shot over a period of 15 months from April 1969 to July 1970, Motoshinkakarannu which takes its name from the Okinawan word for business without seed money (a euphemism for prostitution)captures a tumultuous time in Okinawas occupation. With the impending reversion, the NDU chronicles a confluence of sentiments across the island prefecture from antiAmerican riots to labor protests. An immediate and radical work, Motoshinkakarannu delivers an unflinching snapshot of Okinawa at the time, revealing racial tensions, discrimination, imperialist gazes and more through its raw immersion into the lives of sex workers, yakuza, tourists and GIs.