Okinawa Prefecture (Japanese: 沖縄県, Hepburn: Okinawa-ken) is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan.[2] It has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020[update]) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Okinawa Prefecture occupies the southern half of the island chain lying between Kyushu and Taiwan.
The oldest evidence of human existence on the Ryukyu Islands is from the Stone Age and was discovered in Naha[6] and Yaeyama.[7]: 86 Some human bone fragments thought to be from the Paleolithic era were unearthed from a site in Naha, but the artifact was lost in transportation before it was examined.[6] Japanese Jōmon influences are dominant on the Okinawa Islands, although clay vessels on the Sakishima Islands have a commonality with those in Taiwan.[note 1]
The first mention of the word Ryukyu was written in the Book of Sui.[note 2]Okinawa was the Japanese word identifying the islands, first seen in the biography of Jianzhen, written in 779.[note 3] Agricultural societies begun in the 8th century slowly developed until the 12th century.[note 4][14][15] Since the islands are located at the eastern perimeter of the East China Sea relatively close to Japan, China and Southeast Asia, the Ryukyu Kingdom became a prosperous trading nation. Also during this period, many Gusukus, similar to castles, were constructed. The Ryukyu Kingdom entered into the Imperial Chinese tributary system under the Ming dynasty beginning in the 15th century, which established economic relations between the two nations.
In 1609, the Shimazu clan, which controlled the region that is now Kagoshima Prefecture, invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom. The Ryukyu Kingdom was obliged to agree to form a suzerain-vassal relationship with the Satsuma and the Tokugawa shogunate, while maintaining its previous role within the Chinese tributary system; Ryukyuan sovereignty was maintained since complete annexation would have created a conflict with China. The Satsuma clan earned considerable profits from trade with China during a period in which foreign trade was heavily restricted by the shogunate. Although Satsuma maintained strong influence over the islands, the Ryukyu Kingdom maintained a considerable degree of domestic political freedom for over two hundred years.
Four years after the 1868 Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government, through military incursions, officially annexed the kingdom and renamed it Ryukyu han. At the time, the Qing dynasty asserted a nominal suzerainty over the islands. Ryukyu han became Okinawa Prefecture of Japan in 1879, even though all other hans had become prefectures of Japan in 1872. In 1912, Okinawans first obtained the right to vote for representatives to the National Diet (国会) which had been established in 1890.[16]
1945–1965
On 1 April 1945, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps launched an invasion of Okinawa with 185,000 troops. They were faced with fanatical resistance from the Japanese defenders. A third of Okinawa's civilian population were killed during the ensuing fighting.[17] The dead, of all nationalities, are commemorated at the Cornerstone of Peace.
After the end of World War II, the United States set up the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands administration, which ruled Okinawa for 27 years. During this "trusteeship rule", the United States established numerous military bases on the Ryukyu islands. The Ryukyu independence movement was an Okinawan movement that clamored against U.S. rule.
During the mid-1950s, the U.S. seized land from Okinawans to build new bases or expand currently existing ones. According to the Melvin Price Report, by 1955, the military had displaced 250,000 residents.[18]
Secret U.S. deployment of nuclear weapons
Since 1960, the U.S. and Japan have maintained an agreement that allows the U.S. to secretly bring nuclear weapons into Japanese ports.[19][20][21] The Japanese people tended to oppose the introduction of nuclear arms into Japanese territory[22] and the Japanese government's assertion of Japan's non-nuclear policy and a statement of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles reflected this popular opposition. Most of the weapons were alleged to be stored in ammunition bunkers at Kadena Air Base.[23] Between 1954 and 1972, 19 different types of nuclear weapons were deployed in Okinawa, but with fewer than around 1,000 warheads at any one time.[24] In fall 1960, U.S. commandos in Green Light Teams secret training missions carried small nuclear weapons on the east coast of Okinawa Island.[25]
1965–1972 (Vietnam War)
Between 1965 and 1972, Okinawa was a key staging point for United States in its military operations directed towards North Vietnam. Along with Guam, it presented a geographically strategic launch pad for covert bombing missions over Cambodia and Laos.[26] Anti-Vietnam War sentiment became linked politically to the movement for reversion of Okinawa to Japan. In 1965, the U.S. military bases, earlier viewed as paternal post war protection, were increasingly seen as aggressive. The Vietnam War highlighted the differences between United States and Okinawa but showed a commonality between the islands and mainland Japan.[27]
As controversy grew regarding the alleged placement of nuclear weapons on Okinawa, fears intensified over the escalation of the Vietnam War. Okinawa was perceived by some inside Japan as a potential target for China, should the communist government feel threatened by United States.[28] American military secrecy blocked any local reporting on what was actually occurring at bases such as Kadena Air Base. As information leaked out, and images of air strikes were published, the local population began to fear the potential for retaliation.[27]
Political leaders such as Makoto Oda, a major figure in the Beheiren movement (Foundation of Citizens for Peace in Vietnam), believed that the return of Okinawa to Japan would lead to the removal of U.S. forces, ending Japan's involvement in Vietnam.[29] In a speech delivered in 1967, Oda was critical of Prime Minister Eisaku Satō's unilateral support of America's war in Vietnam, claiming "Realistically we are all guilty of complicity in the Vietnam War".[29] The Beheiren became a more visible anti-war movement on Okinawa as the American involvement in Vietnam intensified. The movement employed tactics ranging from demonstrations to handing leaflets to soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines directly, warning of the implications for a third World War.[30]
Map of US Military Bases in Okinawa in 1969
The U.S. military bases on Okinawa became a focal point for anti-Vietnam War sentiment. By 1969, over 50,000 American military personnel were stationed on Okinawa.[31]United States Department of Defense began referring to Okinawa as the "Keystone of the Pacific". This slogan was imprinted on local U.S. military license plates.[32]
In 1969, chemicals leaked from the U.S. storage depot at Chibana in central Okinawa, under Operation Red Hat. Evacuations of residents took place over a wide area for two months. Even two years later, government investigators found that Okinawans and the environment near the leak were still suffering because of the depot.[33]
On May 15, 1972, the U.S. government handed over the islands to Japanese administration.[34]
The 1995 kidnaping, beating, and rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen triggered large protests in Okinawa. Reports by the local media of accidents and crimes committed by U.S. servicemen have reduced the local population's support for the U.S. military bases. A strong emotional response has emerged from certain incidents. As a result, the media has drawn renewed interest in the Ryukyu independence movement.
Documents declassified in 1997 proved that both tactical and strategic weapons have been maintained in Okinawa.[33][35] In 1999 and 2002, the Japan Times and the Okinawa Times reported speculation that not all weapons were removed from Okinawa.[36][37] On October 25, 2005, after a decade of negotiations, the governments of the U.S. and Japan officially agreed to move Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from its location in the densely populated city of Ginowan to the more northerly and remote Camp Schwab in Nago by building a heliport with a shorter runway, partly on Camp Schwab land and partly running into the sea.[17] The move is partly an attempt to relieve tensions between the people of Okinawa and the Marine Corps.
Despite Okinawa prefecture constituting only 0.6% of Japan's land surface, in 2006 75% of all USFJ bases were located on Okinawa, occupying 18% of the main island.[17][38]
U.S. military facilities in Okinawa
2007–present
According to a 2007 Okinawa Times poll, 85% of Okinawans opposed the presence of the U.S. military,[39] because of noise pollution from military drills, the risk of aircraft accidents,[note 5]environmental degradation,[40] and crowding from the number of personnel there,[41] although 73% of Japanese citizens appreciated the mutual security treaty with the U.S. and the presence of the USFJ.[42] In another poll conducted by The Asahi Shimbun in May 2010, 43% of the Okinawan population wanted the complete closure of the U.S. bases, 42% wanted reduction, and 11% wanted to maintain status quo.[43] Okinawan feelings about the U.S. military are complex, and some of the resentment towards the U.S. bases is directed towards the government in Tokyo, perceived as being insensitive to Okinawan needs and using Okinawa to house bases not desired elsewhere in Japan.
In early 2008, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologized after a series of crimes involving American troops in Japan, including the rape of a young girl of 14 by a Marine on Okinawa. The U.S. military imposed a temporary 24-hour curfew on military personnel and their families to ease the anger of local residents.[44] Some cited statistics that the crime rate of military personnel is consistently less than that of the general Okinawan population.[45] However, some criticized the statistics as unreliable, since violence against women is under-reported.[46] Between 1972 and 2009, U.S. servicemen committed 5,634 criminal offenses, including 25 murders, 385 burglaries, 25 arsons, 127 rapes, 306 assaults and 2,827 thefts.[47] Yet, per Marine Corps Installations Pacific data, U.S. service members are convicted of far fewer crimes than local Okinawans.[48]
In 2009, a new Japanese government came to power and froze the U.S. forces relocation plan but in April 2010 indicated their interest in resolving the issue by proposing a modified plan.[49] A study done in 2010 found that the prolonged exposure to aircraft noise around the Kadena Air Base and other military bases cause health issues such as a disrupted sleep pattern, high blood pressure, weakening of the immune system in children, and a loss of hearing.[50]
In 2011, it was reported that the U.S. military—contrary to repeated denials by The Pentagon—had kept tens of thousands of barrels of Agent Orange on the island. The Japanese and American governments have angered some U.S. veterans, who believe they were poisoned by Agent Orange while serving on the island, by characterizing their statements regarding Agent Orange as "dubious", and ignoring their requests for compensation. Reports that more than a third of the barrels developed leaks have led Okinawans to ask for environmental investigations, but as of 2012[update] both Tokyo and Washington refused such action.[51]Jon Mitchell has reported concern that the U.S. used American Marines as chemical-agent guinea pigs.[52]
On September 30, 2018, Denny Tamaki was elected as the next governor of Okinawa prefecture, after a campaign focused on sharply reducing the U.S. military presence on the island.[53]
In 2006, some 8,000 U.S. Marines were removed from the island and relocated to Guam.[54] The move to Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz is expected to be completed in 2023. Japan paid for a majority of the cost to construct the new base.[55][56] The U.S. still maintains Air Force, Marine, Navy, and Army military installations on the islands. These bases include Kadena Air Base, Camp Foster, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Camp Hansen, Camp Schwab, Torii Station, Camp Kinser, and Camp Gonsalves. The area of 14 U.S. bases are 233 square kilometres (90 sq mi), occupying 18% of the main island. Okinawa hosts about two-thirds of the 50,000 American forces in Japan although the islands account for less than one percent of total lands in Japan.[38]
Suburbs have grown towards and now surround two historic major bases, Futenma and Kadena. A sizeable portion of the land used by the U.S. military is Camp Gonsalves in the north of the island.[57] On December 21, 2016, 10,000 acres of Camp Gonsalves were returned to Japan.[58] On June 25, 2018, Okinawa residents held a protest demonstration at sea against scheduled land reclamation work for the relocation of a U.S. military base within Japan's southernmost island prefecture. A protest gathered hundreds of people.[59]
Since the early 2000s, Okinawans have opposed the presence of American troops helipads in the Takae zone of the Yanbaru forest near Higashi and Kunigami.[60] This opposition grew in July 2016 after the construction of six new helipads.[61][62]
The islands comprising the prefecture are the southern two thirds of the archipelago of the Ryūkyū Islands (琉球諸島, Ryūkyū-shotō). Okinawa's inhabited islands are typically divided into three geographical archipelagos. From northeast to southwest:
The dugong is an endangered marine mammal related to the manatee.[64]Iriomote is home to one of the world's rarest and most endangered cat species, the Iriomote cat. The region is also home to at least one endemicpit viper, Trimeresurus elegans. The islands of Okinawa are surrounded by some of the most abundant coral reefs found in the world.[65][66] The world's largest colony of rare blue coral is found off Ishigaki Island.[67] The sea turtles return yearly to the southern islands of Okinawa to lay their eggs. The summer months carry warnings to swimmers regarding venomous jellyfish and other dangerous sea creatures.
Arch at an Okinawan Castle ruinShuri Castle, NahaIshigakiNaha
Geology
The island is largely composed of coral, and rainwater filtering through that coral has given the island many caves, which played an important role in the Battle of Okinawa. Gyokusendo[68] is an extensive limestone cave in the southern part of Okinawa's main island.
The indigenous Ryukyuan people make up the majority of Okinawa Prefecture's population and are also the main ethnic group of the Amami Islands to the north. Large Okinawan diaspora communities persist in places such as South America[71] and Hawaii.[72] With the introduction of American military bases, there are an increasing number of half-American children in Okinawa, including prefecture governor Denny Tamaki.[73] The prefecture also has a sizable minority of Yamato people from mainland Japan; exact population numbers are difficult to establish, as the Japanese government does not officially recognise Ryukyuans as a distinct ethnic group from Yamatos.
The overall ethnic identity of Okinawa residents is rather split. According to a telephone poll conducted by Lim John Chuan-tiong (林泉忠), an associate professor with the University of the Ryukyus, 40.6% of respondents identified as "沖縄人 (Okinawan)", 21.3% identified as "日本人 (Japanese)" and 36.5% identified as both.[74][self-published source?]
Having been a separate nation until 1879, Okinawan language and culture differ in many ways from those of mainland Japan.
Language
There remain six Ryukyuan languages which, although related, are incomprehensible to speakers of Japanese. One of the Ryukyuan languages is spoken in Kagoshima Prefecture, rather than in Okinawa Prefecture. These languages are in decline as the younger generation of Okinawans uses Standard Japanese. Mainland Japanese and some Okinawans generally perceive the Ryukyuan languages as "dialects". Standard Japanese is almost always used in formal situations. In informal situations, de facto everyday language among Okinawans under age 60 is Okinawa-accented mainland Japanese ("Okinawan Japanese"), which is often mistaken by non-Okinawans as the Okinawan language proper. The actual traditional Okinawan language is still used in traditional cultural activities, such as folk music and folk dance. There is a radio-news program in the language as well.[78]
Okinawans have traditionally followed Ryukyuan religious beliefs, generally characterized by ancestor worship and the respecting of relationships between the living, the dead, and the gods and spirits of the natural world.[79]
Culture
Okinawan culture bears traces of its various trading partners. One can find Chinese, Thai and Austronesian influences in the island's customs. Perhaps Okinawa's most famous cultural export is karate, probably a product of the close ties with and influence of China on Okinawan culture. Karate is thought to be a synthesis of Chinese kung fu with traditional Okinawan martial arts.
A traditional Okinawan product that owes its existence to Okinawa's trading history is awamori—an Okinawan distilled spirit made from indica rice imported from Thailand.
Other prominent examples of Okinawan culture include the sanshin—a three-stringed Okinawan instrument, closely related to the Chinese sanxian, and ancestor of the Japanese shamisen, somewhat similar to a banjo. Its body is often bound with snakeskin (from pythons, imported from elsewhere in Asia, rather than from Okinawa's venomous Trimeresurus flavoviridis, which are too small for this purpose). Okinawan culture also features the eisa dance, a traditional drumming dance. A traditional craft, the fabric named bingata, is made in workshops on the main island and elsewhere.[80]
The Okinawan diet consists of low-fat, low-salt foods, such as whole fruits and vegetables, legumes, tofu, and seaweed. Okinawans are particularly well known for consuming purple potatoes, also known as Okinawan sweet potatoes.[81] Okinawans used to be known for their longevity compared to the rest of Japan and the world in general. This particular island is a so-called Blue Zone, an area where people are purported to live longer than most others elsewhere in the world. Possible explanations for this were diet, low-stress lifestyle, caring community, activity, and spirituality of the inhabitants of the island.[82][page needed]
A cultural feature of the Okinawans is the forming of moais. A moai is a community social gathering and groups that come together to provide financial and emotional support through emotional bonding, advice giving, and social funding. This provides a sense of security for the community members and as mentioned in the Blue Zone studies, may have been a contributing factor to the longevity of its people.[83] However, in recent decades Okinawans' life expectancy has fallen significantly (also bringing into question the general validity of the 'Blue Zones' denominaton), which often has been blamed on cultural influence from the rest of Japan, as well as foreign influences on Okinawans' lifestyle.[84]
Two Okinawan writers have received the Akutagawa Prize: Eiki Matayoshi in 1995 for The Pig's Retribution (豚の報い, Buta no mukui) and Shun Medoruma in 1997 for A Drop of Water (Suiteki). The prize was also won by Okinawans in 1967 by Tatsuhiro Oshiro for Cocktail Party (Kakuteru Pāti) and in 1971 by Mineo Higashi for Okinawan Boy (Okinawa no Shōnen).[85][86]
Whereas most homes in Japan are made from wood and allow free-flow of air to combat humidity, typical modern homes in Okinawa are made from concrete with barred windows to protect from flying plant debris and to withstand regular typhoons. Roofs are designed with strong winds in mind, in which each tile is cemented on and not merely layered as seen with many homes in Japan.[citation needed] The Nakamura House (ja:中村家住宅 (沖縄県)) is an original 18th century farmhouse in Kitanakagusuki. Many roofs also display a lion-dog statue, called a shisa, which is said to protect the home from danger. Roofs are typically red in color and are inspired by Chinese design.[89]
Karate originated in the Ryukyu Kingdom, under Chinese influence. Following Okinawa's occupation Karate spread to the United States of America and onto the rest of the world. It is now popular across the world, for example Karate was included in the 2020 Olympics.[91][92][93]
Association football
FC Ryukyu is a professional football team based on Okinawa. Since 2014 they have competed in the second or third tier in the national league system.
The Ryukyu Golden Kings are a professional basketball team that compete in the B.League, the top-tier professional basketball league of Japan. They are successful, having won the national title five times (most recently in 2023).
Announced on July 18, 2019, BASE Okinawa Baseball Club will be forming the first-ever professional baseball team on Okinawa, the Ryukyu Blue Oceans. The team is expected to be fully organized by January 2020 and intends on joining the Nippon Professional Baseball league.[96]
In addition, various baseball teams from Japan hold training during the winter in Okinawa prefecture as it is the warmest prefecture of Japan with no snow and higher temperatures than other prefectures.
The 34 U.S. military installations on Okinawa are financially supported by the U.S. and Japan.[103] The bases provide jobs for Okinawans, both directly and indirectly; in 2011, the U.S. military employed over 9,800 Japanese workers in Okinawa.[103] As of 2012[update] the bases accounted for up to 5% of the economy.[104] However, Koji Taira argued in 1997 that because the U.S. bases occupy around 20% of Okinawa's land, they impose a deadweight loss of 15% on the Okinawan economy.[105] The Tokyo government also pays the prefectural government around ¥10 billion per year[103] in compensation for the American presence, including, for instance, rent paid by the Japanese government to the Okinawans on whose land American bases are situated.[106] A 2005 report by the U.S. Forces Japan Okinawa Area Field Office estimated that in 2003 the combined U.S. and Japanese base-related spending contributed $1.9 billion to the local economy.[107] On January 13, 2015, in response to the citizens electing governor Takeshi Onaga, the national government announced that Okinawa's funding will be cut, due to the governor's stance on removing the US military bases from Okinawa, which the national government does not want happening.[108][109]
The Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau is exploring the possibility of using facilities on the military bases for large-scale meetings, conferencing, exhibitions events.[110]
^Naoichi Kokubu at the 1943 excavation of Enzan shell mound in Taipei city noted the clay pottery on Yaeyama island resembled the red coloring of those found in Taiwan,[7][8][9] while Hiroe Takamiya disapproved it by discussing the unique Yaeyama style stone axe independent from Chinese influence.[7][10]
^Though the name Ryukyu appears in the Book of Sui, it is not defined clearly if it refers to the Okinawa island, the islands east of the Sea of China except Japan, or Taiwan.[11]
^Kanjun Higashionna introduces that Jianzhen's biography notes Ryūkyū, however he argues that the location could have been Taiwan actually, reasoned that it was not accessible in five days' voyage from mainland China to Okinawa island in the 8th century.[12]
^Masahide Takemoto suggested in his 1972 paper that the 10th century sites he excavated were formed on hillsides suited to agriculture, where remains of Chinese celadonware were also excavated as signs of the beginning of the Gusuku period or centralized governing system.[13]
^"U.S. civilian arrested in fresh Okinawa DUI case; man injured". The Japan Times. June 26, 2016. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Under a decades-old security alliance, Okinawa hosts about 26,000 U.S. service personnel, more than half the total Washington keeps in all of Japan, in addition to base workers and family members.
^Kokubu, Naoichi (1943). "Yūken sekifu, yūdan sekifu oyobi kokutō bunka" [Shouldered and stepped stone axes with black pottery civilization]. Taiwan Bunka Ronsō (in Japanese) (1).
^Kanaseki, Takeo; Kokubu, Naoichi (1979). Taiwan Kōkoshi [Archaeology of Taiwan]. Hosei University Press. pp. 121–179. OCLC10917186.
^"Yaeyama-gata sekifu no kisoteki kenkyū (3)" [Basic studies on Yaeyama type stone axe]. Nantō Kōko [南島考古] (in Japanese) (15): 1–30. 1995.
^Higashionna, Kanjun (東恩納 寬惇) (1957). Ryūkyū no rekishi [The History of Ryūkyū]. Nihon rekishi shinsho (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shibundō. p. 13. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
^Takemoto, Masahide (1972). Shinzato, Keiji (ed.). "Kōkogaku no shomondai to sono genjō" [Challenges in Archaeology and the Present Condition]. Rekishi-hen. Okinawa bunka ronsō (in Japanese). 1. OCLC20843495.
^Takemoto, Masahide (1972). "Okinawa ni okeru genshi shakai no shūmatsu-ki (沖縄における原始社会の終末期)". Nantō shiron: Tomimura Shin'en kyōju kanreki kinen ronbunshu (富村真演教授還暦記念論文集) [The Terminal Stage of the Primitive Society in Okinawa]. Ryūkyū Daigaku Shigakkai. OCLC703826209.
^Asato (1990). Kōkogaku kara mita Ryūkyū-shi [History of Ryūkyū Seen from Archeological Principles] (in Japanese). Vol. 1. pp. 69–70.
^Steve Rabson, "Meiji Assimilation Policy in Okinawa: Promotion, Resistance, and "Reconstruction" in New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan (Helen Hardacre, ed.). Brill, 1997. p. 642.
^ abc"No home where the dugong roam". The Economist. October 27, 2005. Archived from the original on September 5, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2006. some of the bloodiest campaigns anywhere in the second world war were fought in Okinawa, and a third of the civilian population died.
^Special Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, House of Representatives (1955). "The Melvin Price Report". via Ryukyu-Okinawa History and Culture Website. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
^Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins", (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019), p. 102
^John Morrocco. Rain of Fire. (United States: Boston Publishing Company), pg 14
^Mitchell, Jon (August 19, 2012). "Rumbles in the jungle". The Japan Times Online. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^自然公園都道府県別面積総括 [General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
^Okinawa Prefectural reserve cultural assets center (2006). "陶磁器から古の神事（祭祀・儀式）を考える". Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
^"History of Okinawan Karate". March 2, 2009. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"2023年バスケW杯、予選ラウンド開催地に沖縄市が名乗り 1万人アリーナ評価" [Okinawa City's 10,000 capacity arena will be evaluated as a potential venue for the preliminary round of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.]. Okinawa Times. January 20, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
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