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- Dec 26, 2018
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Just a little memory I had as I look back on the economic impact of the novel coronavirus in Okinawa versus three entire months confined to my barracks room and work duties on lockdown... everyone then—by everyone, I mean the Lance Corporal Underground and everyone else that has no idea about even basic economics, to include my naïve self—said that we were the cornerstone of the Okinawan economy, just like many still believe today.
In times like this, it really puts things into perspective on how little impact SOFA truly has on the Okinawa economy. Everyone always parrots that Okinawa will fail without the military. Truth be told, something you learn when you cross over to what could be greener pastures for you and reside in Okinawa: real-estate would keep moving and the economy would be just as strong, if not stronger, without a U.S. military presence in Okinawa.
The recent COVID-19 epidemic in Japan and Okinawa backs this little theory of mine up that SOFA is just a blip on the radar in the full picture of the economics here.
After the Mayor of Naha, as well as other high ranking officials in the government of Okinawa, urged citizens to not go out unless necessary, some shops on Kokusai Street have seen a 30% dip revenue over the previous month. Furthermore, we're only half-way through this month and only on our second day after those announcements were made.
No lockdown or period of mourning coming from III MEF had as close of an impact on the economy as the COVID-19 panic is right now. There are some exceptions, though. Those might apply to businesses that solely relied on SOFA customers who had to close early or not open on certain days because their chosen demographic were Americans, primarily being SOFA. However, these were generally bars and clubs.
Nonetheless, a bar or club owner should be able to target all demographics and not rely on any specific one for their revenue.
I've been in Okinawa through many "periods of mourning" and lockdowns, to include personally being on a 3-month lockdown myself. While the importance behind them is to show respect for victims involved, there are still victims behind being affected as people need to make a living as well—the business owners.
I suppose where I'm getting with this is that once you pick a niche or something you do, perhaps joining the vast Okinawa photographers even, you must select your demographics to balance out your situation.
I'm not a legal guru in the military. Though, you need to ask yourself: would a lockdown where you couldn't visit certain places, such as the extended one that I was on after the 3-months which excluded Kokusai Street, have an impact on you? Would you be able to pick yourself up and turn to something different to continue making money, such as processing old photos and uploading to stock sites such as Shutterstock or Adobe Stock?
These are some very important questions to ask yourself while you're narrowing down your business in Okinawa. You should always have a plan in place where if something happened, you could always turn to another plan to continue off where an instance would have little to no impact on your life and making money.
In times like this, it really puts things into perspective on how little impact SOFA truly has on the Okinawa economy. Everyone always parrots that Okinawa will fail without the military. Truth be told, something you learn when you cross over to what could be greener pastures for you and reside in Okinawa: real-estate would keep moving and the economy would be just as strong, if not stronger, without a U.S. military presence in Okinawa.
The recent COVID-19 epidemic in Japan and Okinawa backs this little theory of mine up that SOFA is just a blip on the radar in the full picture of the economics here.
After the Mayor of Naha, as well as other high ranking officials in the government of Okinawa, urged citizens to not go out unless necessary, some shops on Kokusai Street have seen a 30% dip revenue over the previous month. Furthermore, we're only half-way through this month and only on our second day after those announcements were made.
No lockdown or period of mourning coming from III MEF had as close of an impact on the economy as the COVID-19 panic is right now. There are some exceptions, though. Those might apply to businesses that solely relied on SOFA customers who had to close early or not open on certain days because their chosen demographic were Americans, primarily being SOFA. However, these were generally bars and clubs.
Nonetheless, a bar or club owner should be able to target all demographics and not rely on any specific one for their revenue.
I've been in Okinawa through many "periods of mourning" and lockdowns, to include personally being on a 3-month lockdown myself. While the importance behind them is to show respect for victims involved, there are still victims behind being affected as people need to make a living as well—the business owners.
I suppose where I'm getting with this is that once you pick a niche or something you do, perhaps joining the vast Okinawa photographers even, you must select your demographics to balance out your situation.
I'm not a legal guru in the military. Though, you need to ask yourself: would a lockdown where you couldn't visit certain places, such as the extended one that I was on after the 3-months which excluded Kokusai Street, have an impact on you? Would you be able to pick yourself up and turn to something different to continue making money, such as processing old photos and uploading to stock sites such as Shutterstock or Adobe Stock?
These are some very important questions to ask yourself while you're narrowing down your business in Okinawa. You should always have a plan in place where if something happened, you could always turn to another plan to continue off where an instance would have little to no impact on your life and making money.
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