I. Starting Interests
I think many Japanese think that “Japan is a country that has only one race”, but actually there are Okinawans, Ainu and so on. They (Okinawans and Ainu) have specific languages, cultures and traditional. However, I realized that I don’t know anything about Okinawans and their culture because I have never been to Okinawa and I have never learned about there. So, I decided to study this are My starting interests were these 3 points.:
1. Why do Okinawa people have such a specific tradition, culture and language?
2. Which do they think, "they are Japanese" or "Okinawajin"?
3. How do people live in the main island think about Okinawa?
II. Basic Information
Okinawa lies south of the Japan. Population in Okinawa is 142 million. Okinawa became part of Japan in Edo era. Before that, they are a nation called Ryukyu and Japan have trade with Ryukyu. This is the reason why Okinawa has characteristic culture and tradition. One example of this is characteristic language variety called “ウチナーグチ(Uchina-guchi)”. Now in Okinawa, only elderly people can speak ウチナーグチ.
III. Problems
The problems that Okinawa have been long held is mainly discrimination and economical difficulties. These problems are strong relation with history. As I explained, Okinawa became Japan since Edo era. In 1990s, Japanese government started to discriminate Okinawa; ordering to use common Japanese when they are doing the traditional dance (方言論争) or discriminating scholar. The reason why the government do such policies is to prevent making their rational consciousness. After W.W.2, Okinawa was occupied by USA and USA started to construct base. Okinawa experienced such complex history, so even now Okinawa have problems; discrimination and economical difficulties.
IV. Language
Before W.W.2. In Japan, usually people think Okinawa language is just a dialect of Japanese and the government also doesn't admit that is is a specific language. However, some Okinawans says that we speak ウチナーグチ, which is an independent language". ウチナーグチ is the local language which is spoken on the southern half of the main island of Okinawa. And although is shares a common ancestor and some vocabulary and grammar with Japanese, ウチナーグチis largely incomprehensible to speakers of Japanese. It also has a more complex honorific system than Japanese. Because of these things, it can be said that Okinawans have their independent language.
V. Okinawajinn: Indigenous people
I learnt that there are gap of understanding or awareness between Japanese government and the international organization or Okinawans. The international organization, UNESCO advised that Japanese government should consult with Okinawajin to protect and promote Okinawajin's rights because UNESCO thinks Okinawajin are indigenous people of Japan. However, Japanese government doesn't accept that Okinawajin are indigenous people but the government accept that Ainu are indigenous people of Japan. Because of such a situation, Okinawajin are national minority; people who have their original or peculiar races but can't have their own nation and incorporate existing nation, such as Inuit, the Scottish, Quebec and so on. They are called stateless nations or ethno-national groups. May of them have deep-rooted historical reasons
VI. Final Thoughts
At first, I completely thought Okinawa is “Japan” and there aren’t any racial minority in Japan because almost all Okinawans speak common Japanese. However, it is not correct. Okinawa has complex history and they can speak their language or have specific tradition. In addition, according to some information, 2/5 people say that they are Okinawajin NOT Japanese. What I was most surprised about was that Japan is not a nation that has only race. Japan is a multiracial nation. Many Japanese don’t know this reality. What we can do is to share the information and understand them.