This year, Okinawa marks the 50th anniversary of its return to Japan. This is the first installment of a series that explores some of the issues that have impacted Okinawa people since the handover, leading up to the present day.
Okinawa's history of hardship and reconstruction overlaps with the lives of married couple Hiroyuki and Takako Shiroma, who had run a jewelry store on Kokusai-dori street in Naha for more than 50 years.
