Are Okinawa people Japanese?

Are Okinawa people Japanese? This question is very interesting, because the reason why this question can become a "problem" is of course not simply from the perspective of nationality, but there are many practical perspectives, such as historical perspective, cultural perspective and people's identity. So let's talk about this problem in detail today. Who are Okinawa people?

Of course, when talking about this topic, the first thing we have to say is that from the perspective of nationality, there is not much to say about this issue. Because modern Okinawans are indeed Japanese nationals except those who voluntarily join other countries and foreigners in Okinawa, and because Japan does not actually recognize dual nationality, the vast majority of Okinawa residents are Japanese nationals, and only Japanese nationals.

(Ancient Ryukyu Kingdom)

But legally, the nationality of these people is one thing, but in fact, the composition of Okinawa people is another matter. First of all, friends who like history must know that Okinawa used to be an independent country for a long time in history, named Ryukyu. The reason why Ryukyu can become an independent country is also because the residents here are indeed a unique nation.

According to the latest genetic research, the genetic composition of Ryukyu nationality is significantly different from that of the main ethnic groups in Japan, but it is closer to Ainu people, the only officially recognized ethnic group in Japan, who mainly live in Hokkaido in northern Japan, and both ethnic groups are genetically closer to some remains found in various rope-language cultural sites in ancient Japan.

The lineage of the Hehe nationality is formed by the mixed blood of the rope literati and the Yayoi ethnic group who later moved to Japan from the Asian continent, so it is actually quite different from the Ryukyu people. However, from another perspective, the origin of Ryukyu people is also very different from that of all ethnic groups in the Asian continent, even more different than that of Japanese people and all ethnic groups in the Asian continent.

But in fact, the composition of Ryukyu people is not so simple, because although the early origin is different from that of the ethnic groups in the Asian continent, in the later Ryukyu Kingdom period, Ryukyu became a vassal of China for a long time, so its contacts with China were extremely close. During this period, in fact, a considerable number of China people immigrated to Ryukyu and settled down, and eventually merged into the Ryukyu ethnic group.

(Fuzhou Garden in Jiumi Village, Ryukyu)

Among them, the most famous is the Fujian people who moved to Ryukyu from Fujian, China in the early Ming Dynasty. At that time, Sun Yat-sen Kingdom of Ryukyu surrendered to China, and its king Chadu asked China for some talents to spread the culture of the Central Plains and facilitate trade with China. Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, granted his request and ordered 36 boatmen from Fujian to immigrate to Ryukyu. After arriving in Ryukyu, these people settled in Kumi Village near Ryukyu Mura, the capital of Ryukyu.

During the whole process of Japan's invasion and annexation of Ryukyu, the people of Kumi Village had fierce resistance for many times. After Ryukyu was annexed by Japan, Kumi Village even became the core area against Japanese rule in Ryukyu. However, after the defeat of China in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Ryukyu's opposition to Japanese rule was even more hopeless, so some Kumi villagers emigrated back to China, while others gradually merged into the Ryukyu nation. According to some accounts, among the Ryukyu people, there are almost 2, people who are of Kumi village origin, that is, China origin.

(Ryukyu king in ancient paintings)

But these people are of course a minority among the Ryukyu people. Although the number of Ryukyu people is unknown because Japan does not recognize them as a separate nation, the population of Okinawa Prefecture is about 1.44 million, including many immigrants from Japan, but its main body is still Ryukyu. In addition, there are some Ryukyu immigrants in Japan and other countries, so some people think that the total number of Ryukyu people may be 1.6 million. The language, culture and national identity of the Ryukyu people

Before Ryukyu was annexed by Japan, the main language used was Ryukyu. Although Ryukyu was deeply influenced by China culture in ancient times, and Chinese characters were widely used, and descendants of immigrants from China, represented by Kumi Village, were proficient in Chinese for a long time, they did not change the national language of Ryukyu people. Ryukyu language is not the same as Chinese and any Chinese dialect.

And realistically speaking, Ryukyu and Japanese do have a certain kinship. Ryukyu language is the only language in the world that can be classified into the same language family as Japanese. They have some similarities in basic vocabulary and phonological system, but these similarities can only show that the two languages may have close origins in ancient times, and they are completely incomprehensible to each other in modern times.

However, after Ryukyu was annexed by Japan, Japan forced the implementation of Japanese in Ryukyu. The Ryukyu language declined rapidly in Ryukyu, and the number of people who can use it became less and less. At present, it is estimated that only a few thousand Ryukyu people can speak Ryukyu language.

(Ryukyu man in Ryukyu costume)

Ryukyu is located between China and Japan in history, so it can be said that it is culturally influenced by China and Japan. The influence of China culture was very deep in the early period of Ryukyu. For example, in ancient Ryukyu, Chinese characters were completely used, and all its official documents were written in Chinese. Moreover, although the national costume of Ryukyu people is called Ryukyu costume, its appearance is very similar to Hanfu.

Besides, Ryukyu people respect Confucianism very much. Besides Confucius, there are many local Confucian masters. However, the culture of Ryukyu is not entirely China culture, even in ancient times, it was influenced by some Japanese culture. For example, the folk songs of Ryukyu are mainly written in Hiragana in Japanese. In addition, after the Japanese invasion of Ryukyu in the 17th century, Ryukyu also produced Ryukyu Shintoism similar to Japanese Shintoism.

(Ancient Ryukyu aristocratic family)

Under the influence of Chinese and Japanese cultures, Ryukyu has gradually produced some unique cultures of its own, the most typical of which is the name of Ryukyu people. Before Ryukyu was annexed by Japan, everyone in Ryukyu's aristocratic class had three names, namely Tong Ming, Tang Ming and Ming. Among them, the children's name is Ryukyu, and the Tang name and the Japanese name are Chinese and Japanese names respectively.

here is an example of Chen qingtong, a Ryukyu country that came to Beijing to rescue the Qing court after being annexed by Japan, and finally committed suicide after failure. Lin Shigong is a descendant of China in Jiumi Village, so he has his own Chinese name, which is Lin Shigong. But at the same time, he has a children's name in Ryukyu language, called Gana.

As an aristocrat in Ryukyu, he also has a Japanese harmony name, which is called the son of a famous city, Qin Yun Shang Chun Bang, and this harmony name is also taken according to the pattern of ancient Japanese aristocrats, so it is actually different from the name of modern Japanese.

However, after Japan forcibly annexed Ryukyu in 1879, Japanese names became official names, while Tang names and Tong names only existed among the people, and now they are rarely used by Okinawa people. Therefore, from this trend, we can also see that the trend of Ryukyu people being forcibly assimilated by Japan is actually obvious.

After all, more than 1 years have passed since Japan was forcibly annexed in 1879, and Japan really has a good way to assimilate culture through education, so it is very difficult for Ryukyu people not to be assimilated at all.

(modern Ryukyu people performing in Ryukyu national costumes)

Even so, a series of national identity surveys conducted in Okinawa in recent years still show that Okinawa people's recognition of Japan is not high. For example, in a survey conducted in 1995, only 33% of Okinawans said they were Japanese, while 38% said they were not Japanese. Others were vague.

In a survey conducted in 27, when choosing their own identity, the proportion of people who only chose themselves as Okinawa was as high as 41.6%, while the proportion of people who only chose themselves as Japanese was only 25.5%. Of course, another 29.7% thought they were both Okinawa and Japanese. In addition, because the modern Okinawa economy is highly dependent on Japan, the proportion of Okinawa people who support Okinawa independence is not high, only 2.6%, while those who oppose independence reach 64.7%.

However, it should be noted that this survey is aimed at Okinawa people, not Ryukyu people, so many of the respondents are actually Japanese who originally moved to Okinawa. If the Ryukyu people are investigated separately, the proportion of people who think they are not Japanese or support independence is estimated to be higher.

Generally speaking, there is no doubt that Okinawa people are Japanese in nationality. However, in terms of historical origin, cultural heritage and national identity, there are still some differences between Okinawa people and Japanese people, especially the traditional native Ryukyu people in Okinawa. Even after being annexed by Japan for more than 1 years, their identity with Japan may still be put in a question mark.