Okinawan Textiles as Japanese Heritage: A Critical Approach

The Ryūkyū archipelago, in Southern Japan, is home to some ancient techniques for crafting (Kijōka-bashōfu) and dyeing (Bingata) textiles which are not found elsewhere in mainland Japan. The Kingdom of Ryūkyū was annexed to the Japanese empire only in recent times (1879), after centuries of relative independence, and the Japanese governments of the first decades of the 20th century has made considerable efforts to reshape and silence the local identity. This process of neutralization of local culture also affected the visibility and the perceived identity of those crafts within the national cultural discourse throughout the whole century. My thesis inspects different issues related to the intercurrent relations between heritage and nation. I will reconstruct what has been done to the Ryūkyū local heritage in the past and what the latest developments have been. I will also highlight the differences existing between the ways the identity of these crafts, Kijōka-bashōfu in particular,...Show moreThe Ryūkyū archipelago, in Southern Japan, is home to some ancient techniques for crafting (Kijōka-bashōfu) and dyeing (Bingata) textiles which are not found elsewhere in mainland Japan. The Kingdom of Ryūkyū was annexed to the Japanese empire only in recent times (1879), after centuries of relative independence, and the Japanese governments of the first decades of the 20th century has made considerable efforts to reshape and silence the local identity. This process of neutralization of local culture also affected the visibility and the perceived identity of those crafts within the national cultural discourse throughout the whole century. My thesis inspects different issues related to the intercurrent relations between heritage and nation. I will reconstruct what has been done to the Ryūkyū local heritage in the past and what the latest developments have been. I will also highlight the differences existing between the ways the identity of these crafts, Kijōka-bashōfu in particular, are presented in documents aiming at the international, rather than domestic, public. By doing so, I will offer an insight on the cultural policies implemented by the Japanese governments in this respect. Finally, I will operate an audiovisual analysis on a documentary made by entities independent by Japan, representing the everyday life and the activities of local craftspeople involved in the production of these textiles. With that, I will also assess how the local discourse on identity differs from the national discourse.Show less

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Okinawan Textiles as Japanese Heritage: A Critical Approach