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Ryukyuans

"Okinawans" redirects here. For other uses, see Okinawan (disambiguation).

Ryukyuans
琉球民族
Ryukyuan dancers in ceremonial attire
Regions with significant populations
 Okinawa Prefecture1.4 million[1]
 Kagoshima Prefecture118,773[nb 1][2]
 Osaka Prefecture70,000[3]
 Kanagawa Prefecture45,000[3]
 Hyōgo Prefecture12,000[3]
Rest of mainland Japan173,000[3]
Outside of Japan415,361[4]
Languages
Religion
Related ethnic groups
Yamato, Jōmon

The Ryukyuans[nb 2] are a Japonic-speaking East Asian ethnic group indigenous to the Ryukyu Islands, which stretch from the island of Kyushu to the island of Taiwan.[5] With Japan, most Ryukyuans live in the Okinawa Prefecture or Kagoshima Prefecture. They speak the Ryukyuan languages,[6] one of the branches of the Japonic language family along with the Japanese language and its dialects.[5]

Ryukyuans are not a recognized minority group in Japan, as Japanese authorities consider them a subgroup of the Japanese people, akin to the Yamato people. Although officially unrecognized, Ryukyuans constitute the largest ethnolinguistic minority group in Japan, with more than 1.4 million living in the Okinawa Prefecture alone. Ryukyuans inhabit the Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture as well, and have contributed to a considerable Ryukyuan diaspora.

Ryukyuans have a distinct culture with some matriarchal elements, an indigenous religion and a cuisine where rice was introduced fairly late (12th century). The population lived on the islands in isolation for many centuries. In the 14th century, three separate Okinawan political polities merged into the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429–1872), which continued the maritime trade and tributary relations started in 1372 with Ming China.[5] In 1609, the Satsuma Domain (based in Kyushu) invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom. The Kingdom maintained a fictive independence in vassal status, in a dual subordinate status to both China and Japan, because Tokugawa Japan was prohibited to trade (directly) with China.[7]

During the Japanese Meiji era, the kingdom became the Ryukyu Domain (1872–1879) after its political annnexation by the Empire of Japan.[8] In 1879, the Ryukyu Domain was abolished, and the territory was reorganized as Okinawa Prefecture, with the last king (Shō Tai) forcibly exiled to Tokyo.[5][9][10] China renounced its claims to the islands in 1895.[11] During this period, the Meiji government, which sought to assimilate the Ryukyuans as Japanese (Yamato), suppressed Ryukyuan ethnic identity, tradition, culture, and language.[5][12][13][14][15][16] After World War II, the Ryūkyū Islands were occupied by the United States between 1945 and 1950 and then from 1950 to 1972. Since the end of World War II, many Ryukyuans have expressed strong resentment against the extensive U.S. military facilities stationed in Okinawa and Tokyo's handling of related issues.[6][17]

United Nations special rapporteur on discrimination and racism Doudou Diène, in his 2006 report,[18] noted a perceptible level of discrimination and xenophobia against the Ryukyuans, with the most serious discrimination they endure linked to their opposition of American military installations in the archipelago.[19]

  1. ^ 沖縄県の推計人口 (in Japanese). Okinawa Prefecture. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. ^ 奄美群島の現状・課題及び これまでの奄振事業の成果について (PDF) (in Japanese). Kagoshima Prefecture. 23 April 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Rabson, Steve (2012). The Okinawan Diaspora in Japan: Crossing the Borders Within. University of Hawai'i Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-8248-3534-7. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  4. ^ Matayoshi, Toshimitsu; Urasaki, Naoki (13 October 2016). 海外の沖縄県系人、約41万5千人　県が5年ぶり推計 [Okinawa Prefecture estimates for the first time in five years that there are approximately 415,000 people of Okinawan descent living overseas]. Okinawa Prefecture Exchange Promotion Division (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2024 – via Okinawa Times.
  5. ^ a b c d e Minahan, James B. (2014). Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 231–233. ISBN 978-1-61069-018-8.
  6. ^ a b Masami Ito (12 May 2009). "Between a rock and a hard place". The Japan Times. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  7. ^ Loo 2014, pp. 1–2.
  8. ^ "資料年表 – 沖縄県立図書館 貴重資料デジタル書庫" [Chronology of Materials – Okinawa Prefectural Library]. www.library.pref.okinawa.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  9. ^ Rabson 2008, p. 3.
  10. ^ Caprio 2014, p. 61.
  11. ^ Dubinsky & Davies 2013, p. 12.
  12. ^ Christy 2004, pp. 173–175.
  13. ^ Rabson 2008, p. 4.
  14. ^ Dubinsky & Davies 2013, pp. 15–16.
  15. ^ Caprio 2014, pp. 49–50, 63, 66–67.
  16. ^ Inoue 2017, p. 3.
  17. ^ Hendrickx 2007, pp. 65–66.
  18. ^ Doudou Diène (18 January 2006). Meghna Abraham (ed.). "The Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance" (PDF). International Service for Human Rights E/CN.4/2006/16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  19. ^ Tanaka Hiroshi; Oda Makoto; Pak Kyongnam; William Wetherall; Honda Katsuichi (March 2006). "The Diene Report on Discrimination and Racism in Japan" (PDF). The Asia-Pacific Journal. Retrieved 11 February 2017.


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