I had the chance to visit the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology yesterday.  This is the graduate university/international research facility located in Onna-son that has been partially completed.  It lies on the narrow neck of Okinawa where the Southern and Central part of the island joins the northern part.  This part of the island is only 3 kilometers wide (3 km=about two miles).  The ocean is calm and beautiful, dotted with small minor islands here and there.  The mission of the institution is to create a world-class research facility focused on the life sciences, and to this end it has recruited researchers who are already well established, some of whom have been awarded the Nobel prize.  The total number of researchers, students, and staff will be close to 500 once the university officially opens in September of 2012.

Though construction is still going on, with the construction of a monolithic lab, the already functioning central building and laboratory buildings are stunning.  The complex of buildings, to be interconnected with “skyways” that avoid the necessity to down the trees in the jungle below, are something straight out of an artist’s conceptual drawing.  It’s looks very science fiction-ish, like a space colony on some foreign planet.  Just put a dome over the whole thing and the picture is complete.  The quality of the construction is something that I found puzzling- it seemed that no expense had been spared.  Even the road I drove in on was paved with a special arrangement of different colored stone.

Part of my puzzlement came from pure astonishment.  Everything seemed so ultra-futuristic, which I was not prepared for.  The entrance area consisted of a long tunnel which only added to the wonder. Huge TV screens built into one side of the tunnel wall would come to life as one walked by.  Here a display of education carried out in the local community by the university.  There a researcher explaining that they had to close the door so their genetically modified fruit flies wouldn’t escape into the outside environment.  At the end of the tunnel were the elevators.  These convey people up and down a tower, which is also very tunnel-esque.  It only strengthened the space colony feeling, though to be fair I had recently seen the movie “Moon” with Sam Rockwell, so I carried some of that film’s vibes with me as I walked around.  I felt way, way out of place.

Another reason I felt somewhat confused is that there are not yet any students at the university.  So the place was rather empty, yet it looked like it was absolutely ready to be used.  Here and there were small groups of people engaged in conversation.  The cafe I ate at had a few patrons.  But mostly, it was just me and the building, and the building just stood there while I mostly gawked.  Could this place really become what the stated intention was?  I had a hard time imagining it- most Okinawans tend to think that Onna-son is the middle of nowhere, and it would be surprising if the university could really be the “best research university in the world”, as it has stated in print.  The ambition was more than apparent, as was the reality that these buildings exist.  It was “build it, and they will come”, big time.  But what if they don’t come?  These buildings did not come cheap, and as a fellow visitor remarked, are “too fancy”.  I had a glimmer of understanding when she told me that there had been some controversy about the construction of the university, with people pointing out the very lucrative contract Kokuba construction would be receiving from the government.

Money.  Of course.  Why hadn’t I thought of that?  There must be more to the story, but there’s the money, and something tells me it’s a big part of the story.

I felt a strong sense of illusion about the place.  We are, by all realistic accounts, entering an era of peak oil and social and political upheaval around the world, not to mention perhaps a zombie apocalypse.  I wish OIST all success, because they could be a force for positive change in Okinawa.  But I can’t help but have very mixed feelings about this institution.

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OIST accepts visitors Monday to Friday between 9 and 5.  Contact the university to reserve a free guided tour.