Dr. Robin O'Day, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Georgia (UNG), served as a visiting professor at Sophia University in Japan from April through December in 2018. He taught Japanese students about social movements and protest culture.
O'Day's extensive work on the subject caught the attention of CNN, which spoke to him for an article about Jinshiro Motoyama. The 27-year-old spearheaded a referendum on relocating a longstanding and controversial U.S. air base in Okinawa.
O'Day highlighted Motoyama's focus on an issue rather than taking an ideological position.
"(Young Japanese) are discovering that they can engage in political issues without reproducing the same old political patterns of belonging to either the right or the left of the political landscape," O'Day told CNN.
O'Day said Motoyama has been part of a movement seeking to show his fellow Japanese that protests don't have to lead to radicalism.
