Ryūkyūans

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Ryūkyūan people (Japanese: 琉球民族) are the indigenous people of the Ryūkyū Islands of Japan between the islands of Kyūshū and Taiwan. The subgroups of Ryūkyūans are Okinawans, Miyako people, and Yaeyama people. Politically, they live in either Okinawa Prefecture or Kagoshima Prefecture. Their languages make up the Ryūkyūan language family, one of the two branches of the Japonic language family, the other one being Japanese and its dialects. Although many mainland Japanese treat Okinawan ("Uchinaguchi" in Okinawan) as a "hougen" or dialect, it is, in fact, totally different from Japanese and cannot be understood by a native Japanese speaker. The language is almost exclusively spoken by Okinawans ("Uchinanchu" in Okinawan) and has several of its own regional variations.

1 Ryūkyūan ethnic identity & pride
2 History
3 First documentation and origins of Ryūkyūan people
4 Further reading
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Ryūkyūan ethnic identity & pride

The culture of Ryūkyūans, though closely related to Japanese culture, is nonetheless distinctive in that it historically received much more influence from China and has separate political and religious traditions. The Ryūkyūan people's marine environmental protection awareness is very strong. Okinawans have a very tightly-knit family life and enjoy close personal friendships, the "island happiness" being one of the several factors that make Uchinanchu among the longest-lived people in the world. Uchinanchu, while almost completely intermixed with Japanese, Chinese and other races, tend to see themselves as bound together by their home island and, among older Uchinanchu, will always consider themselves from Okinawa ("Uchinā" in Okinawan) first and Japan second.

Okinawan food is rich in vitamins, minerals and is a good balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates. Although rice is a staple food, pork, seaweed, rich miso (fermented soybean) pastes and black sugar all feature prominently in native cuisine. Most famous to tourists is the bitter melon, gōya, which is often mixed into a rice dish called gōya champurū. A popular anime series called "Samurai Champloo" makes reference to this because one of the characters is Uchinanchu. The bitter taste of this dish is best left to the natives, while hearty soups like ashitibichi (lit. "pig's feet") soup can restore the traveler from the oppressive humidity.

Native Uchina religion is female-based, with women holding positions as shamans and guardians of the home and hearth. Shi-shi lion dog statues can often be seen on or in front of houses-this relates to the ancient Uchina belief that the male spirit is the spirit of the outside and the female spirit is the spirit of the inside. To prevent the negative interaction or conquering of the inside spirit by the outside, the male spirits will go into the shi-shi statues while the man is inside and enter him again when he leaves. Of course, most Okinawans are not serious adherents to this religion anymore, but many older Uchinanchu try to teach about the old ways, including dances and the language.

Uchinanchu are peaceful people and have always considered the arts and music as more honorable than combat skills. This can be evidenced by the revelation that, in feudal Japan, it was almost mandatory to show martial awareness by keeping a daishō (matched pair of large and small swords) in the tokonoma (living room alcove), but Uchinanchu always had a shamisen (a sort of Asian guitar or lute) in their tokonoma. In modern times, the old dances and songs are making a resurgence as young Uchinanchu and even foreigners with mixed blood get more into their unique culture. Once again the shamisen and chants can be heard over fires at the festivals. However, during the occupation by Japan in the mid 15th-16th centuries, the Uchinanchu were completely disarmed of all bladed weapons by the Japanese (who feared revolt). The techniques of self-defense and using farm tools as weapons against armed opponents called Karate by today's martial artists was, in fact, created totally by Uchinanchu who probably incorporated some gong fu and native techniques from China into a complete system of attack and defense known simply as Te (literally meaning "hand(s)," but with a strong connotation of "manoeuvre(s)"). There are several offshoots of this martial art, Shorin Ryu being one of them. These martial arts are also making a resurgence in Okinawa as young people once again look to their ancient past for a proud tradition of self-defense and inner calm.

The kamekōbaka is the traditional Ryukyuan family tomb

[edit] History

The Ryūkyūan islands were unified by the Ryūkyūan Kingdom in the 12th century. The islands paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty of China, and later to the Qing Dynasty of the Manchu Empire. In the early 17th century, however, the Ryūkyūan Kingdom was conquered by the Satsuma-han of Kyūshū. The Satsuma domain kept the kingdom nominally alive because of the benefit from trade with China, although the Amami Archipelago came under the full control of Satsuma. During the Meiji period, the kingdom was formally abolished and Okinawa prefecture was established. After World War II, the Ryūkyūs, like the rest of Japan, were occupied by the U.S., but the U.S. maintained control of Okinawa even after the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco, which went into effect on April 28, 1952. Twenty years later, in 1972, the Ryūkyūs were returned to Japan. However, social and political conflict persist concerning the perceived ongoing discrimination by mainland Japanese people. Furthermore, due in part to the intense fighting in the islands during World War II, many Ryūkyūans are strongly anti-military (even though they may at the same time be pro-American). Okinawa comprises just 0.6% of Japan's total land mass, yet U.S. military bases use about 10% of all the land in the Ryūkyūs, including 18.8% of the land on Okinawa Island itself. Many feel that they bear more than their fair share of the U.S.-Japan security alliance, and the presence of the military remains an issue in local politics.

[edit] First documentation and origins of Ryūkyūan people

Chinese historical writings first mentioned the Ryūkyūs during the 6th-7th centuries (the Sui Dynasty). The Ryūkyū Islands were inhabited early in historical times, perhaps by sea-faring Austronesian peoples whose horticulture and navigation technologies spread from what is now the southeastern coast of China to Taiwan, the Philippines, the Malayo-Indonesian islands, Polynesia, Melanesia, and Madagascar. While there is evidence of early habitation, the very earliest settlers died out, and the current population of the Ryūkyūs is of the same basic genealogical stock as the mainland Japanese, though with a relatively higher contribution of Jomon elements.

The kinship between the Ryūkyūan languages and the Japanese language suggests a common origin in the language of immigrants from continental Asia to the archipelago. See the articles on the Yayoi and Kofun cultures for more.

[edit] Further reading

Essays on Okinawa Problems by Masahide Ota. Yui Shuppan Co.: Gushikawa City, Okinawa, Japan, 2000. ISBN# 4-946539-10-7 C0036. An excellent collection of essays by a peace activist and former governor of Okinawa. Among the issues it discusses are those affecting the development of Ryūkyūan identity.