A Boy in Okinawa 50 Years Ago

Nice to meet you, please treat me well.

It has already been over 50 years since Okinawa became part of Japan.
I was in the fifth grade of elementary school at that time.
What would happen when the Ryukyu Government (American era) became the Okinawa Prefectural Government (Japanese era)?
It seemed like a lot of things would change, but as an elementary school student, I didn't really understand.
When I was in elementary school, the Ryukyu Government existed, and above that was the High Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands, so it was the American era. You needed a passport to go to the mainland.
Cars drove on the right side and there were many American cars, but Japanese cars with left-hand steering also drove around.
The money was dollars, and the small change was cents (we called them 1-sen, 5-sen, 10-sen, and 25-sen).
I remember carrying about three 1-sen coins and buying snacks or Mickey juice at the 'issen machiya' (candy store).
It seemed like there was a white line drawn on the sea between Cape Hedo in the north of the main island and Yoron Island, separating the mainland from the Ryukyus. (A child's image of it).
Demonstrations and rallies for the movement to return to the motherland were on the TV news every day, and it seems cars were burning in Koza. I feel like we were even taught how to hoist the Japanese flag at school.
I feel like we foolish kids back then were excited about various things, saying things like, 'They say it's going to snow!' once Okinawa became part of Japan.
Even such children have now lived much longer in the post-reversion life,
When asked, 'Ya, maanchu ga?' (What country are you from?),
We, who were 'born in the American era,' are neither American,
nor Yamato (Japanese mainlanders), but have become elderly people who answer, 'I am an Uchinanchu (Okinawan).'
I am an 'okinawan boy'.

(AI Cover Song) OKINAWAN BOY Lyrics/Composition: mino (C Lunch)

After that, I spent my junior high and high school years in post-reversion Okinawa and became interested in amateur band activities, and around my 40s, I reunited with my high school friends to form a working-adult band.
I tried having Suno AI cover the original songs I wrote back then.

OKINAWAN BOY Lyrics

Born in the American era, the 27th parallel drawn on the sea
Back when we hoisted the Japanese flag, if we returned to the motherland, it would snow
I longed for such a dream, I believed in such a dream
Okinawan Boy

Walking through the streets, Americans, neon-glittering A-signs
The 'BANANA SHOW' sign, dazzling and heating up my body
I was picking up the dollars dropped by soldiers heading to Vietnam
Okinawan Boy

Crying out to return Okinawa, my older brother was at rallies and protest marches
Chasing after hit-and-run American soldiers, cars are burning in Koza
No bases, no nukes, same as the mainland, I believed in those words
Okinawan Boy

The era of war before I was born, against the US military's naval bombardment
Japanese soldiers driving people out of caves, families scattered and separated
Come on, together with Grandma, to the family altar
Kneeling down, 'Utootoo' (praying)
Okinawan Boy
Okinawan Boy