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Gusuku often refers to castles or fortresses in the Ryukyu Islands that feature stone walls. However, the origin and essence of gusuku remain controversial. In the archaeology of Okinawa Prefecture, the Gusuku period refers to an archaeological epoch of the Okinawa Islands that follows the shell-mound period and precedes the Sanzan period, when most gusuku are thought to have been built. Many gusuku and related cultural remains on Okinawa Island have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites under the title Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu.
The Ryukyuan languages, also Lewchewan or Luchuan, are the indigenous languages of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago. Along with the Japanese language and the Hachijō language, they make up the Japonic language family.
The Amami language or languages, also known as Amami Ōshima or simply Ōshima, is a Ryukyuan language spoken in the Amami Islands south of Kyūshū. The southern variety of the Setouchi township may be a distinct language more closely related to Okinawan than it is to northern Ōshima.
The Yonaguni language is a Southern Ryukyuan language spoken by around 400 people on the island of Yonaguni, in the Ryukyu Islands, the westernmost of the chain lying just east of Taiwan. It is most closely related to Yaeyama. Due to the Japanese policy on languages, the language is not recognized by the government, which instead calls it the Yonaguni dialect. As classified by UNESCO, the Yonaguni language is one of the most endangered languages in all of Japan, after the Ainu language.
The Okinawa Islands are an island group in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and are the principal island group of the prefecture. The Okinawa Islands are part of the larger Ryukyu Islands group and are located between the Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture to the northeast and the Sakishima Islands of Okinawa Prefecture to the southwest.
National Route 58 is a Japanese national highway connecting the capital cities Kagoshima and Naha of Kagoshima Prefecture and Okinawa Prefecture, respectively. With a total length of 884.4 kilometers (549.5 mi), it is the longest national highway in Japan, though it measures only 245.2 kilometers (152.4 mi) on land. The highway begins at an intersection with National Routes 3 and 10 in Kagoshima. From Kagoshima, it travels southwest along the first island chain that divides the Pacific Ocean from the East China Sea. From the north to the south, it has sections on the islands of Tanegashima, Amami Ōshima, and finally, Okinawa. On Okinawa it ends at an intersection with National Routes 330, 331, and 390 in Naha.
The Ryukyu Islands, also known as the Nansei Islands or the Ryukyu Arc, are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands, with Yonaguni the westernmost. The larger are mostly volcanic islands and the smaller mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island.
Okinawan, spoken in Okinawa Island, was once the official language of the Ryukyu Kingdom. At the time, documents were written in kanji and hiragana, derived from Japan.
The invasion of Ryukyu by forces of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma took place from March to May of 1609, and marked the beginning of the Ryukyu Kingdom's status as a vassal state under the Satsuma domain. The invasion force was met with stiff resistance from the Ryukyuan military on all but one island during the campaign. Ryukyu would remain a vassal state under Satsuma, alongside its already long-established tributary relationship with China, until it was formally annexed by Japan in 1879 as the Okinawa Prefecture.
Yukka nu hii is an annual festival of the Okinawa Islands of southwestern Japan, which is traditionally celebrated on the 4th day of the 5th month of the lunisolar calendar. It centers on the traditional dragon boat races. The festival dates back to circa 1400, where it is said to have been adopted from the Chinese. The dragon boat races are a form of giving thanks to the sea and agricultural gods and asking for their continued help for the future.
Minna Island, or Minnajima (水納島), is an island in the Miyako Islands in the jurisdiction of Tarama, Miyako District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
The 11th Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on November 28, 2010. The official campaign start began November 11. The 2010 election garnered national attention mostly for the dispute between the central government and local communities in Okinawa over the planned relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to Henoko in Nago that had also contributed to the resignation of prime minister Yukio Hatoyama in June 2010.
The Kikai language is spoken on Kikai Island, Kagoshima Prefecture of southwestern Japan. It is debated whether it is a single dialect cluster. Regardless, all Kikai dialects are members of the Amami–Okinawan languages, which are part of the Japonic languages.
Yabiji (八重干瀬), also known as Yaebiji, Yaebise, Yaebishi, and Yapiji and appearing on some historical Western nautical charts as Providence Reef, is the largest coral reef group in Japan. Located in the Miyako Islands, it contains over 100 coral reefs. Known for being above water level several times a year, most visibly around March 3 of the lunar calendar, it was made a Natural Monument of Japan in 2013.
Okinawa (沖縄) is a name with multiple referents. The endonym refers to Okinawa Island in southwestern Japan. Today it can cover some surrounding islands and, more importantly, can refer to Okinawa Prefecture, a much larger administrative division of Japan, although the people from the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands still feel a strong sense of otherness to Okinawa.
Amami-Ōshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island (奄美大島、徳之島、沖縄島北部及び西表島) is a serial UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of five component parts on four Japanese islands in the Ryukyu Chain of the Nansei Islands. The site was selected in terms of biodiversity for having a diverse ecosystem of plant and animal species that are unique to the region.
Kenshichi Heshiki was an Okinawan photographer. He is known for his dedication to the subject of Okinawa and often photographed quiet scenes of Okinawans who lived on the margins of society. Heshiki's understated photographs of daily life in Okinawa have been differentiated from images taken by mainland photographers who visited the islands to shoot the protests and tension surrounding Okinawa's reversion back under Japanese control. Heshiki was most prolific between the late 1960s to the 1990s during which he travelled to and photographed various remote areas within the Ryukyu Archipelago. These images feature in his seminal book Lungs of a Goat which earned him the prestigious Ina Nobuo Award.
Yasuo Higa was an Okinawan photographer, ethnologist and anthropologist. He served ten years as a police officer near a US military base before becoming a photographer, with much of his early work centered on life in postwar Okinawa. Higa is most known for his research on ancient rituals and shamanesses from the Ryukyu Islands, mainland Japan, and Asia, conducted over the span of nearly 40 years. Through his photographs and extensive notes, Higa has preserved critical documentation on maternal rituals that have been effectively rendered extinct in areas such as Kudaka and Miyakojima.
Kudaka Island is an island in Ryukyu Islands, located in Nanjō, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and 5.3 kilometers away from Cape Chinen, Nanjō. From Nanjō, Kudaka Island can be reached by high-speed boat in 15 minutes and by ferry in 20 minutes. It is only about three miles off the southeast coast of Okinawa.
Mae Island, known in Japanese as Mae-shima or Mae-jima,is an uninhabited island in Okinawa's Kerama island group. It is controlled by the city of Tokashiki in Shimajiri District.
References
- 1 2 沖縄県民が今も｢旧暦｣を使い続ける歴史背景. 東洋経済オンライン (in Japanese). 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- 1 2 3 沖縄には正月が３つある！！ 沖縄の人は知っているが、県外の人は知らない沖縄の正月. 琉球新報. 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
- 1 2 3 沖縄の島々で受け継がれる旧正月の儀式. nippon.com. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
- ↑ 奄美大島のお正月、三献で新年のお祝い！. Amami Time. Retrieved 2022-02-24.