Essay on Ryukyu Islands

The Ryukyuan archipelago extends 400 miles (650 km) from southern Japan to Taiwan and contains over 140 islands cov­ering a total land area of nearly 1,291 sq. miles (2078 km). Okinawa Island with an area of 485 sq miles and a population of over a million is the largest of the islands. The islands have long been inhabited, pos­sibly since the Neolithic Age. The people appear to be descendants of Japanese and Southeast Asians who migrated to the Ryukyus during prehistoric times.

There must have been some contacts with both China and Japan, and the Ryukyuans’ so­cioeconomic systems reflect both Japanese and Chinese influences. In ancient times the islands formed an independent king­dom. By the 14th century a faction of the Ryukyuan leadership, located in Okinawa, accepted Chinese sovereignty which imi­tated a period of trading contact with China. This resulted in an assimilation of Chinese culture by the Okinawans.

In time, trade contacts with the Asian main­land from Korea to Vietnam included Japan on the north and Indonesia on the south, which also affected Ryukyuan cul­ture systems. Japanese influence had been growing in the 17th century over northern and central Ryukyu Islands, and in the late 19th century. As the European contacts in the east exerted political pressures during this period, Japan assumed administrative control over the whole of the Ryukyu Is­lands. In 1879 the Ryukyus became an integral part of Japan.

At the end of World War II, the United States took control of the islands, and the military government was replaced in 1951 by a civil administration based in Naha (on Okinawa), the capital and larg­est city of the islands, controlled primarily by Japan. Following Japanese agitation for the return of the islands, Japan took over the Ryukyu Islands, from the United States, but the U.S. continued to maintain military installations and troops on Oki­nawa Island.

Less than half of the islands are perma­nently inhabited; many of the smaller islands are just coral reefs. The larger ones are volcanic in nature, and some are big enough to provide some agricultural land. The population is primarily rural, and ag­riculture is the dominant occupation of the people. Sweet potatoes and rice are the sta­ple crops. The traditional economy was badly upset during the World War 11. An artificial economy significantly affected by the American military presence has since developed.

There is some pineapple pro­duction now and tuna fishing has become important. Three-fourths of the Oki-nawan population consists of small­holding sugarcane growers. Sugar refining and pineapple canning are the important manufacturing activities, with the prod­ucts going to Japan. Tea and tobacco are raised for home consumption.

The Ryukus remain, however, a food-deficit area for the local population, most of the food products are consumed by the Ameri­can military installations. Okinawa has experienced a surge in urbanization since World War II. Naha’s population esti­mated to be close to half a million has doubled since 1970.

The islands’ proximity to Japan, Taiwan and China reflects the strategic importance of the Ryukyus, and was an important factor in the estab­lishment of American military bases in Okinawa. The local population, however, recently looked upon the military pres­ence with increasing disfavor.