Modoru Okinawa

With the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Okinawa became the momentary epicentre of a celebrative and raucous scene. African-American military personnel stationed at the Kadena Air Base, from which the long-range bombers deployed for attacks on North Vietnam, are the driving force behind an intimate collision of Japanese culture and the rising trends of black America. Photographer Keizo Kitajima visited Okinawa regularly during those years, wading into the island’s riotous and seedy nightlife to produce a seminal work of documentary photography. His series of previously unpublished images spins a vital portrait of this singular moment in time.