Natural Settings
Ryukyu is an archipelago which stretches for 1300 km (about 800 miles) between Kyushu and Taiwan. It consists of four island groups: Amami-Oshima, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama in the order from North to South. Okinawa prefecture embraces Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama islands excluding Amami-Oshima. A 2005 population census revealed 1,363,351 people, consisting of about seventy islands, with the total land area of 2,245 sq. km (about 922 sq. miles). The largest island is Okinawa with 53% of the total land area.
The relatively constant warm temperatures and frequent rainfall of the subtropical zone keep the islands green throughout the year. It is not unusual for rainfall to be recorded for over half of the days of the year. Typhoons with monsoon rains strike regularly in late summer and early fall, leaving destruction in their wake.
Cultural Characteristics
The Ryukyu language is a major dialect of Japanese. The separation of the Ryukyuan dialect from the language of the Japanese main islands took place about 1500 years ago. Over the subsequent centuries, Ryukyuan gradually became unintelligible to the Japanese. Despite government efforts in 1879 to establish Japanese as the standard language, the local dialect persisted as the informal language of the home and friends. Recently, however, radio, television and increased travel between Okinawa and the main islands of Japan have accomplished, to a large extent, what prewar governments failed to attain. Today, the Okinawan language is near extinction.
The indigenous religion is animistic with strong resemblance to the primitive Shinto on the mainland Japan. Awe-inspiring natural objects, special geologic formations, and locations associated with ancestors are regarded with reverence. Females, lay and professional shamans, play an important role in domestic and communal religion.