|
When Commodore Perry visited Okinawa in 1854, he noted:
It would be difficult for you to imagine the beauties of this island
with respect to the charming scenery and the marvelous perfection of
cultivation.
Sadly, the island's history has not been all as pleasant as that scenery.
The source of modern-day Okinawans is disputed. Evidence suggests the
island was never part of formal Japanese territory until annexation in 1872.
The earliest inhabitants were likely descended from crossovers via a
prehistoric land bridge from modern-day China, with a later mixture of
Malaysians, Micronesians, and Japanese.
Early Chinese visitors noted the hospitality of the islanders, and its
brutal poverty.
Pressed between two powerful neighbors — China and Japan — it suited them
well to be polite. After the European explorers of the 19th century, they
had greedy Dutch, Portugese, English, and others, who always noted the
hospitality of the natives.
The Okinawan language seems to be a scion of Japanese, having split off
long ago.
The dominant economy was farming of sugar cane, and later on, the potato,
without which far more Okinawans would have died in the 1945 battle. Other
farmed items include guava, banana, papaya, and tobacco.
Okinawans were not always poor. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century,
they traded from Java to Japan, to China and Korea.
At about the end of the sixteenth century, the Japanese feudal leader
ordered Okinawa to give men and arms for a Chinese invasion. Okinawans
generally opposed military adventures; there is a widespread (and possibly
false) story that during the huge (and failed) Mongol invasions of Japan in
the 13th century, that the Okinawans refused to help the Mongols, being
later ravaged by them. Nor did they wish to ruin their Korean trade; the
Japanese planned its attack via this peninsula. They did not wish to offend
China, to whom they had strong trade and cultural ties.
The attack went without Okinawa's help, and the Japanese ruler meanwhile
died. There was a ferocious battle of succession; the Shimazu family of
Kyushu Island won — the Satsumas, the Okinawans nearest Japanese neighbors.
The Shimazu's wanted Okinawa's trade, and wanted favor with the regime in
Edo (modern-day Tokyo), and the Okinawans (presumably) had not paid respects
to the new regime in Kyushu. Permission to punish Okinawa was granted the
rulers in Edo, doubtless happy that the murderous Satsuma clan was causing
trouble elsewhere, to the south — not north in Tokyo.
The Okinawan invasion was in 1609. Three thousand men and more than one
hundred war junks sailed from Kagoshima at the southern tip of Kyushu. The
Okinawans were nearly weaponless; many treasures were taken to Kagoshima.
The Satsuma rulers never permitted Okinawans to own arms, leading to
Okinawa's most famous contribution to world culture — karate (below).
The Satsumas enacted crippling taxes, taking over the island trade; we
note Japan had been closed in 1636. Okinawans sometimes couldn't eat the
fish they caught.
After Perry's "black ships" came by, the Meiji Restoration proceeded
after the Meiji Emperor attained the throne in 1867. Tokyo told China that
Okinawans were Japanese — dubious at best. A pawn in a great game of chess,
the weaker Chinese gave in, though the ignored Okinawans themselves would
have preferred Chinese rule to Japanese.
The island were formally annexed to Japan in 1879, the monarchy in Shuri
Castle abolished. While they were ostensibly Japanese, Okinawans experienced
(and sometimes still do) extreme racism. The island grew poorer.
As a side note, the mongoose was introduced from India in 1910 to control
the poisonous habu snake.
Tokyo mandated Japanese language in the slowly-expanding school system,
wanting to render the islanders Japanese citizens. By 1939 there was
compulsory military training. Some educated Okinawans wanted to end
Okinawa's culture and become Japanese. As the Japanese rolled from one
military victory to another from 1931 to 1941, when they made the arguably
worst military mistake in all history at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese did seem
God's chosen people; perhaps the Japanese would one day sit astride the
entire world. Had they attached themselves to the right master?
Into the 1940s, Okinawans were fed a constant stream of propaganda. By
1944, Okinawans were befuddled by their Japanese masters. There were wartime
shortages, women were raped, and civilian products commandeered for military
use.
Long subject to typhoons, powerful neighbors, and disease, they now faced
a new and truly deadly enemy — the Americans.
The crucial year 1945
The year 1945 was defined by the Battle of Okinawa (which see), and the
consequent annexation of Okinawa by the Americans.
The Battle of Okinawa, fought in 1945, was one of the last major battles
of World War II, claiming the lives of an estimated 120,000 people. Okinawa
was the only place where there was a land battle in Japan during WW II, and
it was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War. In addition to the Japanese
military people who died fighting in the Battle of Okinawa, more than one
third of the civilian population, 100,000 people, died. The Okinawa victims
were not only killed by bombs and shells, but also by the Japanese military.
The Americans were under strict orders not to harm civilians, but there
were atrocities such as the Cave of the Virgins, where many Okinawan school
girls were killed.
The island was occupied by the United States as a result of World War II.
After 1945
This history is at the present writing still fragmentary; any
knowledgeable persons would be welcomed to contribute more.
Okinawa remains the poorest prefecture of Japan as of this writing
(August 2003).
The 1972 reversion of Okinawa completed the return of control of the main
islands to Japan. The United States military still controls about 19% of the
island, and this presence is subject to much controversy: while the
Americans give jobs to the locals and pay much rent on land, some Americans
have committed serious crimes on the island.
|
