Ryukyuan People Japan
Okinawa the southernmost prefecture in japan used to be called the ryukyu kingdom.
Ryukyuan people japan. Politically they live in either okinawa prefecture or kagoshima prefecture their languages make up the ryukyuan languages considered to be one of the two branches. This small chain of islands which includes okinawa is located to the southwest of japan between kyushu the southern tip of japan and northeastern taiwan. While japan may seem homogenous in terms of ethnicity and culture this may be due to japan s absence of racial and ethnic statistics for japanese nationals.
Okinawa prefecture consists of 0 6 per cent of the entire territory of japan but around 74 per cent of all us military bases in japan are concentrated in okinawa. The written japanese language. After japanese annexation happened the local cultures and languages of ryukyu were suppressed.
The ryukyuan peoples are of japanese and southeast asian descent. The ryukyuan languages are part of the japonic family even though they are unintelligible to those who speak standard japanese. During the battle of okinawa world war ii between 40 000 to 150 000 okinawans were killed.
They see themselves as bound together by their home island and especially among older people will always consider themselves from ryukyuan first and japan second. 15 000 people pulling the rope and 270 000 people participating including spectators the great naha tug of war festival was recognized by the guinness world records in 1995 for the thickest rope made with rice straw in the world. The kunigami of japan are made up of seven closely related people groups living in the ryukyu islands.
The ryukyuan and the ainu share similar genetic traits despite living on opposite ends of the japan archipelago a new study has found. The ryukyuan are the indigenous peoples of the ryukyu islands. The largest native ethnic group in japan is the yamato people although large minority groups include the indigenous ryukyuan and ainu peoples.
The japonic languages and the ainu. The land occupied by military bases has been allocated via a leasing agreement forced upon locals by national legislation with landowners and farmers receiving payments from the japanese government but with little say about the. The ryukyuan people 琉球民族 ryūkyū minzoku okinawan.
Traditionally the people have a very tightly knit family life and enjoy close personal friendships. A tea ceremony master and a traditional ryukyuan dancer are among six people chosen to represent and promote japanese arts and culture abroad for fiscal 2020 and 2021 the cultural affairs agency.
