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Okinawans,
sometimes called Ryukyuans, are indigenous people of the
Okinawan islands. Their language is
usually treated as a dialect of
Japanese or less commonly as a discrete language. From the latter view,
the
Okinawan languages constitute one of the two branches of the Japanese
linguistic family.
The Okinawan islands were unified by the
Ryukyu Kingdom in the 12th century.
She paid tribute to the
Ming Dynasty and then the
Qing Dynasty. In the early 17th century the kingdom was conquered by the
Satsuma
Han of
Kyushu. Satsuma kept the kingdom nominally alive because of benefit from
trade with
China. During the
Meiji peroid, the kingdom was
formally abolished and the
Okinawa prefecture was established. After
World War II Okinawa was trusted by the
U.S. In 1972 Okinawa returned to
Japan. Although in early modern times the Okinawans experienced national
awakening, Okinawa became more an more integrated into the society of the
Japanese mainland.
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