#usmgr

From: https://www.rememberingokinawa.com/page/1946_Repat_Report_pg1

Prior to the war many Ryukyuans lived and worked in Japan and other countries occupied or controlled by the Japanese. It was determined by the US military that for security and economic reasons that these people should be returned to the Ryukyu Islands. Repatriation actually started in Feb 1946 with the return of about 20,000 Ryukyuans from the Mariana Islands. The strain on Okinawa to accommodate them brought a halt to the program at that point. On 1 July 1946 the US Army took over control of the Military Government from the Navy and restarted the repatriation program with the first returnees due to arrive in August 1946 and all Ryukyuans to be repatriated by 26 Dec 1946.

(Pt. 1 on Tumblr)

Just to keep things even more interesting in the East China/Philippine Seas than they are already are, let us hearken back to the days of the Ryukyu Kingdom - comprising the Ryukyu Islands that have been so deliciously attractive to a number of attentive empires.....the first to take an active hand being Japan, of course, and then the United States of America under a number of military post-war guises, before the islands were passed back to Japan in the early 1970s.  Which is not to say the United States of Americans don’t still spend a bunch of time there [Okinawa, of course], and also is not to say that there haven’t been calls for a secession and return to independent kingdom status.....

Stamp details: Top left: Issued on: July 1, 1948 From: Naha, United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands MC #1

Top right: Issued on: February 15, 1950 From: Naha, United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands MC #15

Middle stamp: Issued on: October 1, 1951 From: Naha, United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands MC #21

Stamp on bottom: Issued on: April 17, 1972 From: Naha, United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands MC #256