Ryukyuan identity: history, islands and self-description

The Ryukyu Kingdom was a historical polity; the Ryukyu Islands are a geographical term; present prefectural borders and nationality concern other categories. Languages and local practices also differ between island groups. Identifying the speaker, place and period helps establish what a particular description means.

In 1429, Shō Hashi united the three competing polities on Okinawa, establishing a kingdom centred on Shuri. After Satsuma’s invasion in 1609, the kingdom continued within relationships with China and Japan. The Japanese government designated Ryukyu a domain in 1872 and replaced it with Okinawa Prefecture in 1879, backed by armed troops and police. These changes reorganised political relations, but the island groups followed different paths: Amami came under Satsuma rule after the 1609 invasion.

Administration and reversion

The 1945 war and subsequent American administration profoundly affected Okinawan society. Amami, also under American administration after the war, returned to Japan on 25 December 1953. Okinawa’s reversion followed on 15 May 1972.

The effects of registration

The difference had consequences for island migrants. A US directive dated 29 December 1953 required residents of the Ryukyu Islands whose registered domicile was in Amami to obtain temporary alien-registration cards. Cultural connections across the islands thus coexisted with administrative boundaries that changed people’s treatment.

Languages and migration

Ryukyuan languages extend across present-day Okinawa and Amami; their differences go beyond accent. Migration creates further connections. Kai Fujinami’s 2022 study traces the life stories of two returnees from South America who proposed World Uchinanchu Day, established in 2016. Their experiences connect returning to ancestral roots with efforts to build a wider, inclusive diaspora. One returnee, Peru-born Tadashi Andres Ysa Urbina, described himself as an Okinawan born in Peru after meeting relatives and exploring his family’s roots. This is his individual account, not a description of everyone’s identity.

School language and transmission

Language policy brought political change into classrooms. Schools promoting standard Japanese used dialect tags to penalise local speech, although practice varied by school and period. Later initiatives encouraged transmission: Okinawa established Shimakutuba Day in 2006. The shift from discouraging local speech to supporting it shows how a language’s public standing can change.

The first World Uchinanchu Day was marked on 30 October 2016, following a proposal by two returnees from South America to sustain connections among Okinawan communities across borders. Museums, scholars, organisations and individuals use terms for different purposes and scopes. Regional belonging, ethnic self-description, Indigenous claims and nationality can relate without being interchangeable. Identifying who is speaking and the evidence they use allows differences to remain visible instead of assigning people an identity from outside.