History of the Ryukyu Islands
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This article is about the history of the Ryukyu Islands southwest of the main islands of Japan.
History of Ryukyu |
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Militarism | |
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Battle of Okinawa | 1945 |
Military Government | 1945–1950 |
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Civil Administration | 1950–1972 |
Government | 1952–1972 |
Tokara Reversion | 1952 |
Amami Reversion | 1953 |
Koza riot | 1970 |
Okinawa Reversion Agreement | 1971 |
Okinawa Reversion | 1972 |
Kagoshima Prefecture | 1953–present |
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Etymology
The name "Ryūkyū" originates from Chinese writings.[1][2] The earliest references to "Ryūkyū" write the name as 琉虬 and 流求 (pinyin: Liúqiú; Jyutping: Lau4kau4, Middle Chinese: /ljuw gjuw/) in the Chinese history Book of Sui in 607. It is a descriptive name, meaning "glazed horn-dragon".
The origin of the term "Okinawa" remains unclear, although "Okinawa" (Okinawan: Uchinaa) as a term was used in Okinawa. There was also a divine woman named "Uchinaa" in the book Omoro Sōshi, a compilation of ancient poems and songs from Okinawa Island. This suggests the presence of a divine place named Okinawa. The Chinese monk Jianzhen, who traveled to Japan in the mid-8th century CE to promote Buddhism, wrote "Okinawa" as 阿児奈波 (anjenaʒpa).[3] The Japanese map series Ryukyu Kuniezu labeled the island as 悪鬼納 (Wokinaha) in 1644. The current Chinese characters (kanji) for Okinawa (沖縄) were first written in the 1702 version of Ryukyu Kuniezu.
Early history
Prehistoric period
The ancestry of the modern-day
Okinawa midden culture
Okinawa
Mythology, the Shunten Dynasty and the Eiso Dynasty
The first history of Ryukyu was written in
Gusuku period
Three-Kingdom period
The Three-Kingdom period, also known as the
Ryukyu Kingdom
Ryukyu Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||
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1429–1879 | |||||||||||||||||
Anthem: "Ishinagu nu uta" (石投子之歌)[11] | |||||||||||||||||
Status |
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Capital | King (國王) | | |||||||||||||||
• 1429–1439 | Shō Hashi | ||||||||||||||||
• 1477–1526 | Shō Shin | ||||||||||||||||
• 1587–1620 | Shō Nei | ||||||||||||||||
• 1848–1879 | Shō Tai | ||||||||||||||||
Sessei (摂政) | |||||||||||||||||
• 1666–1673 | Shō Shōken | ||||||||||||||||
Regent (國師) | |||||||||||||||||
• 1751–1752 | Sai On (Sai Un) | ||||||||||||||||
Legislature | Shuri cabinet (首里王府), Annexed by Japan | 27 March 1879 | |||||||||||||||
Currency | Ryukyuan, Chinese, and Japanese mon coins[12] | ||||||||||||||||
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Today part of | Japan |
1429–1609
In 1429 King Shō Hashi completed the unification of the three kingdoms and founded a single Ryukyu Kingdom with its capital at Shuri Castle.[citation needed] Shō Shin (尚真) (1465–1526; r. 1477–1526) became the third king of the Second Sho Dynasty - his reign has been described[by whom?] as the "Great Days of Chūzan", a period of great peace and relative prosperity. He was the son of Shō En, the founder of the dynasty, by Yosoidon, Shō En's second wife, often referred to as the queen-mother. He succeeded his uncle, Shō Sen'i, who was forced[by whom?] to abdicate in his favor. Much of the foundational organization of the kingdom's administration and economy stemmed from developments which occurred during Shō Shin's reign. The reign of Shō Shin also saw the expansion of the kingdom's control over several of the outlying Ryukyu Islands, such as Miyako-jima and Ishigaki Island.[citation needed]
Many Chinese moved to Ryukyu to serve the government or to engage in business during this period. In 1392, during the Hongwu Emperor's reign, the Ming dynasty Chinese had sent 36 Chinese families from Fujian at the request of the Ryukyuan King to manage oceanic dealings in the kingdom. Many Ryukyuan officials descended from these Chinese immigrants, being born in China or having Chinese grandfathers.[13] They assisted the Ryukyuans in advancing their technology and diplomatic relations.[14][15][16]
Satsuma domination, 1609–1871
The invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom by the Shimazu clan of Japan's Satsuma Domain took place in April 1609. Three thousand men and more than one hundred war-junks sailed from Kagoshima at the southern tip of Kyushu. The invaders defeated the Ryukyuans in the Amami Islands, then at Nakijin Castle on Okinawa Island. The Satsuma samurai made a second landing near Yomitanzan and marched overland to Urasoe Castle, which they captured. Their war-junks attempted to take the port city of Naha, but were defeated by the Ryūkyūan coastal defences. Finally Satsuma captured Shuri Castle,[17] the Ryukyuan capital, and King Shō Nei. Only at this point did the King famously tell his army that "nuchidu takara" (life is a treasure), and they surrendered.[18] Many priceless cultural treasures were looted and taken to Kagoshima. As a result of the war, the Amami Islands were ceded to Satsuma in 1611; the direct rule of Satsuma over the Amami Islands started in 1613.
After 1609 the Ryukyuan kings became vassals of Satsuma. Though recognized as an independent kingdom,[19] the islands were occasionally also referred to[by whom?] as being a province of Japan.[20] The Shimazu introduced a policy banning sword ownership by commoners. This led to the development of the indigenous Okinawan martial arts, which utilize domestic items as weapons.[citation needed] This period of effective outside control also featured the first international matches of Go, as Ryukyuan players came to Japan to test their skill. This occurred in 1634, 1682, and 1710.[21][22]
In the 17th century the Ryukyu kingdom thus became both a tributary of China and a vassal of Japan. Because China would not make a formal trade agreement unless a country was a tributary state, the kingdom served as a convenient loophole for Japanese trade with China. When Japan officially closed foreign trade, the only exceptions for foreign trade were with the Dutch through Nagasaki, with the Ryukyu Kingdom through the Satsuma Domain, and with Korea through Tsushima.
Ryukyu Domain, 1872–1879
In 1872 the Ryukyu Kingdom was reconfigured as a feudal domain (
Okinawa Prefecture, 1879–1937
In 1879, Japan declared its intention to annex the Ryukyu Kingdom. China protested and asked former U.S. President
Hostility against mainland Japan increased in the Ryukyus immediately after its annexation to Japan in part because of the systematic attempt on the part of mainland Japan to eliminate the Ryukyuan culture, including the language, religion, and cultural practices. Japan introduced public education that permitted only the use of standard Japanese while shaming students who used their own language by forcing them to wear
Okinawa and World War II
In the years leading up to World War II, the Japanese government sought to reinforce national solidarity in the interests of militarization. In part, they did so by means of conscription, mobilization, and nationalistic propaganda. Many of the people of the Ryukyu Islands, despite having spent only a generation as full Japanese citizens, were interested in proving their value to Japan in spite of prejudice expressed by mainland Japanese people.[30]
In 1943, during World War II, the US president asked its ally, the Republic of China, if it would lay claim to the Ryukyus after the war.[31] "The President then referred to the question of the Ryukyu Islands and enquired more than once whether China would want the Ryukyus. The Generalissimo replied that China would be agreeable to joint occupation of the Ryukyus by China and the United States and, eventually, joint administration by the two countries under the trusteeship of an international organization."[32] On March 23, 1945, the United States began its attack on the island of Okinawa, the final outlying islands, prior to the expected invasion of mainland Japan.
Battle of Okinawa: April 1 – June 22, 1945
The Battle of Okinawa was one of the last major battles of World War II,[33] claiming the lives of an estimated 120,000 combatants. The Ryukyus were the only inhabited part of Japan to experience a land battle during World War II. In addition to the Japanese military personnel who died in the Battle for Okinawa, well over one third of the civilian population, which numbered approximately 300,000 people, were killed. Many important documents, artifacts, and sites related to Ryukyuan history and culture were also destroyed, including the royal Shuri Castle.[34] Americans had expected the Okinawan people to welcome them as liberators but the Japanese had used propaganda to make the Okinawans fearful of Americans. As a result, some Okinawans joined militias and fought along Japanese. This was a major cause of the civilian casualties, as Americans could not distinguish between combatants and civilians.[citation needed]
Due to fears concerning their fate during and after the invasion, the Okinawan people hid in caves and in family tombs. Several mass deaths occurred, such as in the "Cave of the Virgins", where many Okinawan school girls committed suicide by jumping off cliffs for fear of rape. Similarly, whole families committed suicide or were killed by near relatives in order to avoid suffering what they believed would be a worse fate at the hands of American forces; for instance, on Zamami Island at Zamami Village, almost everyone living on the island committed suicide two days after Americans landed.[35] The Americans had made plans to safeguard the Okinawans;[36] their fears were not unfounded, as killing of civilians and destruction of civilian property did take place; for example, on Aguni Island, 90 residents were killed and 150 houses were destroyed.[37]
As the fighting intensified, Japanese soldiers hid in caves with civilians, further increasing civilian casualties. Additionally, Japanese soldiers shot Okinawans who attempted to surrender to Allied Forces. America utilized Nisei Okinawans in psychological warfare, broadcasting in Okinawan, leading to the Japanese belief that Okinawans who did not speak Japanese were spies or disloyal to Japan, or both. These people were often killed as a result. As food became scarce, some civilians were killed over small amounts of food. "At midnight, soldiers would wake up Okinawans and take them to the beach. Then they chose Okinawans at random and threw hand grenades at them."[attribution needed][38]
Massive casualties in the Yaeyama Islands caused the Japanese military to force people to evacuate from their towns to the mountains, even though malaria was prevalent there. Fifty-four percent of the island's population died due to starvation and disease. Later, islanders unsuccessfully sued the Japanese government. Many military historians believe that the ferocity of the Battle of Okinawa led directly to the American decision to use the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A prominent holder of this view is Victor Davis Hanson, who states it explicitly in his book Ripples of Battle: "because the Japanese on Okinawa, including native Okinawans, were so fierce in their defense (even when cut off, and without supplies), and because casualties were so appalling, many American strategists looked for an alternative means to subdue mainland Japan, other than a direct invasion."[39]
Princess Lilies
After the beginning of World War II, the Japanese military conscripted school girls (15 to 16 years old) to join a group known as the Princess Lilies (Hime-yuri) and to go to the battle front as nurses. There were seven girls' high schools in Okinawa at the time of World War II. The board of education, made up entirely of mainland Japanese, required the girls' participation. The Princess Lilies were organized at two of them, and a total of 297 students and teachers eventually joined the group. Teachers, who insisted that the students be evacuated to somewhere safe, were accused of being traitors.[citation needed]
Most of the girls were put into temporary clinics in caves to take care of injured soldiers. With a severe shortage of food, water and medicine, 211 of the girls died while trying to care for the wounded soldiers.[
Post-war occupation
After the war, the islands were occupied by the United States and were initially governed by the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands from 1945 to 1950 when it was replaced by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands from 1950 which also established the Government of the Ryukyu Islands in 1952. The Treaty of San Francisco which went into effect in 1952, officially ended wartime hostilities. However, ever since the battle of Okinawa, the presence of permanent American bases has created friction between Okinawans and the U.S. military. During the occupation, American military personnel were exempt from domestic jurisdiction since Okinawa was an occupied territory of the United States.
Effective U.S. control continued even after the end of the
On November 21, 1969, a Joint Communique was issued by President Nixon and Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, with the US president agreeing to return the Ryukyus to Japan in 1972. U.S. President
Agent Orange controversy
Evidence suggests that the US military's Project 112 tested biochemical agents on US marines in Okinawa in the 1960s.[41] Later, suggestions were made that the US may have stored and used
Prosecution under Status of Forces Agreement
After Okinawa reunited with Japan in 1972, Japan immediately signed a treaty with the U.S. so that the American military could stay in Okinawa. The legal agreement remained the same. If American military personnel were accused of a crime in Okinawa, the US military retained jurisdiction to try them as part of the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) if the victim were another American or if the offense were committed during the execution of official duties. This is routine for military service people stationed in foreign countries.
In 1995, two Marines and a sailor
In February, 2008, a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old Japanese girl in Okinawa,
Planned development of American bases
Base-related revenue makes up 5% of the total economy. If the U.S. vacated the land, it is claimed[
Other complaints are that the military bases disrupt the lives of the Okinawan people; the American military occupy more than a fifth of the main island. The biggest and most active air force base in east Asia, Kadena Air Base, is based on the island; the islanders complain the base produces large amounts of noise and is dangerous in other ways. In 1959 a jet fighter crashed into a school on the island, killing 17 children and injuring 121. On August 13, 2004, a U.S. military helicopter crashed into Okinawa International University, injuring the three crew members on board. The U.S. military arrived on scene first then physically barred local police from participating in the investigation of the crash. The US did not allow local authorities to examine the scene until six days after the crash.[58][59][60][61][62] In a similar manner, unexploded ordnance from WWII continues to be a danger, especially in sparsely-populated areas where it may have lain undisturbed or been buried.[63]
Notable people
- Isamu Chō was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army known for his support of ultranationalist politics and involvement in a number of attempted military and right-wing coup d'etats in pre-World War II Japan.
- Takuji Iwasaki was a Japanese meteorologist, biologist, ethnologist historian.
- Uechi Kanbunwas the founder of Uechi-ryū, one of the primary karate styles of Okinawa.
- Ōta Minoruwas an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, and the final commander of the Japanese naval forces defending the Oroku Peninsula during the Battle of Okinawa.
- Akira Shimada was a governor of Okinawa Prefecture. He was sent to Okinawa in 1945 and died in the battle.
- Mitsuru Ushijima was the Japanese general at the Battle of Okinawa, during the final stages of World War II.
- Kentsū Yabu was a prominent teacher of Shōrin-ryū karate in Okinawa from the 1910s until the 1930s, and was among the first people to demonstrate karate in Hawaii.
- Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., an American Lieutenant-General, was killed during the closing days of the Battle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking US military officer to have been killed by enemy fire during World War II.
- Ernest Taylor Pyle was an American journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in combat during World War II. He died in Ie Jima, Okinawa.
See also
Notes
- ^ Minamijima Fudoki Chimei-gaisetsu Okinawa, Higashionna Kanjun, p.16 in Japanese
- ^ The transition of Okinawa and Ryukyu Ryukyu-Shimpo-Sha, 2007, in Japanese
- ^ http://lodel.ehess.fr/crlao/docannexe.php?id=1227 [bare URL]
- Otago University, retrieved November 22, 2009
- ISBN 4-938984-17-2in which 3 more sites in Okinawa are described. Coral islands favor the preservation of olden human bones.
- ^ Toshiaki 2001, pp. 12, 20.
- Japan Times, May 12, 2009, p. 3.
- ^ Tze May Loo, Heritage Politics: Shuri Castle and Okinawa's Incorporation into Modern Japan (New York: Lexington Books, 2014), 94-96.
- ^ George H. Kerr, Okinawa: History of an Island People (Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1958), 51.
- ISBN 978-0-80482087-5.
- ^ Arben Anthony Saavedra, Fernando Inafuku (April 21, 2019). National Anthem of the Ryukyu Kingdom 琉球王国国歌 (YouTube) (in Okinawan). Okinawa. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
- ^ "Ryuukyuuan coins". Luke Roberts at the Department of History – University of California at Santa Barbara. 24 October 2003. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ISBN 0-7914-2687-4. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ISBN 978-3-447-05474-4. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ISBN 0-313-30712-1. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ISBN 978-90-5867-614-6. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ Okinawa Prefectural reserve cultural assets center (2015). "首里城跡". sitereports.nabunken.go.jp. Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ^ Turnbull, Stephen. The Samurai Capture a King: Okinawa 1609. 2009.
- ^ Smits, Gregory (1999). Visions of Ryūkyū: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics, p. 28.
- ^ Toby, Ronald P. (1991). State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia and the development of the Tokugawa bakufu, pp. 45–46, citing manuscripts at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo: "Ieyasu granted the Shimazu clan the right to "rule" over Ryukyu… [and] contemporary Japanese even referred to the Shimazu clan as 'lords of four provinces', which could only mean that they were including the Ryukyu Kingdom in their calculations. However, this does not mean that Ryūkyū ceased to be a foreign country or that relations between Naha and Edo ceased thereby to be foreign relations."
- ^ Sensei's Library: Ryukyuan players
- ^ Go – Feature: Go in old Okinawa, MindZine Archived March 5, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hamashita Takeshi, "The Intra-Regional System in East Asia in Modern Times", in Network Power: Japan and Asia, ed. P. Katzenstein & T. Shiraishi (1997), 115.
- ^ "Okinawa, Commodore Perry, and the Lew Chew Raid". III publishing (World wide web log). March 8, 2010.
- ^ Lin, Man-houng. "The Ryukyus and Taiwan in the East Asian Seas: A Longue Durée Perspective," Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. October 27, 2006, transl. & abridged from Academia Sinica Weekly, No. 1084. August 24, 2006.
- ^ a b c Ross/Globe Vol. IV: Loo-Choo, 1878.
- ^ Goodenough, Ward H. GEORGE H. KERR. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Pp. xviii, 542. Rut land, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1958. $6.75 Book Review: "George H. Kerr. Okinawa: the History of an Island People…," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May 1959, Vol. 323, No. 1, p. 165.
- ^ The Demise of the Ryukyu Kingdom: Western Accounts and Controversy. Ed by Eitetsu Yamagushi and Yoko Arakawa. Ginowan-City, Okinawa: Yonushorin, 2002.
- ^ Papinot, Edmond. (2003). Nobiliare du Japon – Sho, p. 56 (PDF@60); Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon. retrieved 2012-11-7.
- ^ Kerr pp. 459–64
- ^ Foreign Relations of the United States: The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943 p. 324 Chinese Summary Record.
- ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943 - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
- ^ Okinawa Prefectural reserve cultural assets center (2015). "沖縄県の戦争遺跡". Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ^ The Age of Shuri Castle, Wonder Okinawa.
- ^ Geruma Island[permanent dead link], Wonder Okinawa.
- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (2000) [1948]. "Chapter I: Operation Iceberg". Okinawa:The Last Battle. The United States Army in World War II, The War in the Pacific. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 5-11. Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
- ^ Aguni Island Archived November 13, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, Wonder Okinawa.
- ^ a b Moriguchi, 1992.
- ISBN 978-0-38572194-3
- ^ "Wwma.net".
- Japan Times, 4 December 2012, p. 14
- Japan Times, April 12, 2011, p. 12.
- Japan Times, 30 November 2011, p. 2.
- Japan Times, August 13, 2011, p. 1.
- Japan Times, August 24, 2011, p. 3.
- Japan Times, 14 February 2012, p. 12.
- Japan Times, 15 April 2012.
- Japan Times, 17 May 2012, p. 3
- Japan Times, 15 June 2012, p. 1
- Japan Times, 7 August 2012, p. 12
- Japan Times, 4 June 2013, p. 13
- ^ Selden, Mark (July 13, 2004). "Marine Major Convicted of Molestation on Okinawa". Znet. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
- ^ "Anger spreads through Okinawa", The Japan Times, Feb. 14, 2008
- ^ Japan probes new allegations of rape linked to U.S. military, CNN.com Asia, February 20, 2008
- ^ "U.S. envoy visits Okinawa" Archived February 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, CNN.com Asia, February 13, 2008
- ^ "U.S. imposes curfew on Okinawa forces", The Japan Times, February 21, 2008
- Japan Times, 13 May 2012, p. 7
- ^ "No Fly Zone English Home". noflyzone.homestead.com.
- ^ ZNet |Japan|Anger Explodes as a U.S. Army Helicopter Crash at Okinawa International University Archived May 8, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- Japan Times, June 8, 2010.
- Japan Times, April 29, 2010.
- Japan Times, October 6, 2004.
- ^ MACHINAMI : Ie Island
References
- Appleman, Roy E. et al. (1947), Okinawa: The Last Battle Archived November 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (LOC 49–45742), the 1945 battle
- Feifer, George (1992), Tennozan (ISBN 0-395-70066-3)
- Kerr, George H. (1958). Okinawa: the History of an Island People. Rutland, VT: Charles Tuttle. OCLC 722356
- ––– (1953). Ryukyu Kingdom and Province before 1945. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council. OCLC 5455582
- Matsuda, Mitsugu (2001), Ryūkyū ōtō-shi 1609–1872-nen 琉球王統史 1609-1872年 [The Government of the Kingdom of Ryukyu, 1609–1872] (in Japanese, ISBN 4-946539-16-6).
- Rabson, Steve (1996), Assimilation Policy in Okinawa: Promotion, Resistance, and "Reconstruction" Archived June 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Japan Policy Research Institute.
- Ross, J.M. ed. (1878). "Globe Encyclopaedia of Universal Information", Vol. IV, Edinburgh-Scotland, Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, retrieved from Google Books 2009-03-18;
- Toshiaki, Arashiro (2001). Kōtō gakkō Ryūkyū Okinawa-shi 高等学校琉球・沖縄史 [High School History of Ryukyu and Okinawa], Toyokikaku (in Japanese, ISBN 4-938984-17-2).
- Okinawa Encyclopedia (3 volumes in Japanese), Okinawa Times, 1983.
Further reading
- John McLeod (1818), "(Lewchew)", Voyage of His Majesty's ship Alceste, along the coast of Corea to the island of Lewchew (2nd ed.), London: J. Murray
External links
- A collection of essays miscellaneous historical topics
- (in Japanese)沖縄の歴史情報(ORJ) Many Ryukyu historical texts.
- Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties
- Many documents, including original and singular translations, concerning post-WWII Okinawa
- Wonder Okinawa, a comprehensive site run by the Okinawa Prefectural Government
- Information concerning UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Ryukyu Islands
- Early Ryukyuan History as described by the Chinese
- Ryukyuan coins information and pictures concerning minting and circulation
- Brief History of the Uchinanchu (Okinawans) Archived August 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine