Ryukyu, also known as Okinawa, is the southernmost prefecture of Japan today. However, these islands were once an independent Kingdom and played a crucial role as a link between Northeast and...Show moreRyukyu, also known as Okinawa, is the southernmost prefecture of Japan today. However, these islands were once an independent Kingdom and played a crucial role as a link between Northeast and Southeast Asia during the maritime period. Established in 1429, the Ryukyu Kingdom existed as a separate state for nearly 450 years until it was incorporated into Okinawa Prefecture by the Meiji Japanese government in 1879. Scholarship on Okinawa has predominantly focused on post-war geopolitics or the general exchanges between China, Japan, and Ryukyu in the early modern period, often relying on textual accounts. Unfortunately, the arts of Okinawa have largely been overlooked by the Western world due to the prevailing notion that Japan is a homogeneous culture, disregarding local variations and leading Western Japanologists to lack specialized interest in Japan's peripheral regions. Similarly, ethnographic museums in the West have limited collections related to the Ainu people. These circumstances suggest that contemporary studies on Japan are largely influenced by the country's nationalist concept of a unified nation, particularly after the Meiji Restoration. China had been sending diplomatic envoys to the Ryukyu Kingdom since the Ming Hongwu Emperor, and this practice continued until the mid-19th century when Japan annexed Ryukyu and made it part of its territory. The four-century-long diplomatic history between Ryukyu and China can be considered the golden age of Okinawan history, during which numerous art forms thrived, and Okinawans took great pride in their unique culture and language. The Okinawans referred to the vessels carrying envoys from China as Okansen (meaning "crown ships"), and the primary envoys who crowned the Ryukyu King were called Sappōshi. Although the Ryukyu Kingdom was officially established as a unified dynasty by King Shō Hashi in 1429, the tributary relationship with Ming China had already begun in 1372, during the reign of the Ming Hongwu Emperor and King of Chūzan. In addition to the vassal and tributary relationship with China, the Kingdom maintained careful relations with Japan after the invasion by the Japanese Satsuma-Shimazu clan based in Kagoshima, Kyushu in 1609. The Ryukyu Kingdom pursued a diplomacy of equidistance and multilateralism, establishing trade with China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asian countries as the foundation of its economy. Consequently, people, goods, and information from various Asian countries were exchanged, giving rise to an international "Ryukyu culture." This study aims to explore the enduring but relatively understudied tributary relationship between the suzerain and vassal states through an examination of historical documents and material culture. Specifically, I will analyze similar tributary offerings found in the collections of various museums.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis analyses the development of Ryukyuan narratives of political legitimacy under the influence of the imperial Chinese tributary system. For centuries, the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was...Show moreThis thesis analyses the development of Ryukyuan narratives of political legitimacy under the influence of the imperial Chinese tributary system. For centuries, the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was annexed by Meiji Period Japan in 1879 and is today divided among Japan's Okinawa and Kagoshima Prefectures, formed an important linking bridge between China and Japan, East Asia's two dominant political entities. Based on a close reading and partial translation of relevant passages from several historical documents, most notably the kingdom's two official histories Chūzan Seikan and Chūzan Seifu, the thesis investigates the socio-political shift in succeeding conceptualisations of Ryukyuan kingship, the monarch's political legitimacy, and the country's state doctrine that occurred from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Show less
The present study is a qualitative documentary analysis of Okinawan Youth activism. Through a qualitative documentary analysis of various initiatives raised from the attempt to stop the relocation...Show moreThe present study is a qualitative documentary analysis of Okinawan Youth activism. Through a qualitative documentary analysis of various initiatives raised from the attempt to stop the relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma base to Henoko Bay, Nago, the present study aims to highlight the engagement and key role of young activists in the strive against military bases. The documentaries selected to answer the research question are (i) the documentary “Our Island’s Treasure” (2019) by activist Kaiya Yonamine on the relocation of Futenma base to Henoko, (ii) the book “Occupied Okinawa” (2019) by activist Robert Kajiwara and the website of the Peace For Okinawa Coalition he is director of, (iii) the YouTube channel “Uchina Arinkurin TV” by young activist Yuzo Takayama and the youth statement recently published by University students Yuto Ishikawa, Keigo Nishio, and Kazu Nakamoto. The findings show that Okinawan youth activism represents a form of translocal activism because of its five core tenets: (i) autonomy and self representation, (ii) environmental protection, (iii) postcolonialism and democracy, (iv) decentralisation and spontaneous action, (v) contentious space. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the Okinawan youth is active and engaged in the military base struggle, albeit not having experienced the war personally. Ultimately, the present study sheds further light on the Okinawan activism and its relationship with global protest movements.Show less
Okinawa’s position within Japan has been historically regarded with ambivalence in Japanese mainstream discourse, which is particularly visible in Japanese cinema featuring the prefecture. Such...Show moreOkinawa’s position within Japan has been historically regarded with ambivalence in Japanese mainstream discourse, which is particularly visible in Japanese cinema featuring the prefecture. Such films have been predominantly produced by mainland Japanese directors, and have often been criticized for depicting Okinawa in stereotypical and essentializing ways. This thesis places Paradise View, the understudied first feature film of Okinawa-born independent director Takamine Gō, in the above-mentioned context and focuses on the film’s thematic and narrative analysis to put it forward as a case study of a film that actively evades and challenges such representations.Show less
There have been numerous instances of marginalization of the Okinawa people throughout history. Even to this day, the island has been overgrown by a very disproportionate amount of U.S. military...Show moreThere have been numerous instances of marginalization of the Okinawa people throughout history. Even to this day, the island has been overgrown by a very disproportionate amount of U.S. military bases and personnel. This comes with a lot of tension and friction which have frequently resulted in protests by the Okinawan people. Music is a strong form of protest, which has been the case in Okinawa as well. Providing a combination of resistance and resilience towards the U.S. military bases through messages that appeal on a different level than regular narratives, makes music an interesting aspect of culture to consider in this protest against the world's most powerful countries.Show less
When the reversion of Okinawa occurred in 1972, the island already was a complex amalgamation of various identities: heirs of indigenous Ryukyu culture, second-class Japanse citizens subjected to...Show moreWhen the reversion of Okinawa occurred in 1972, the island already was a complex amalgamation of various identities: heirs of indigenous Ryukyu culture, second-class Japanse citizens subjected to discrimination and war victims betrayed by its own government and colonised by a foreign force. Literally rising from the ashes, Okinawa has been reformulating its identity once again in face of challenges resulting from their marginal position amidst two greater powers. These include war trauma, economic rebuilding, continued discrimination by the mainland and persisting US base issues. Similar to a kaleidoscope, one can reposition individual elements to create a new constellation. Depending on the observer, different views and meanings can be constructed and interpreted. This thesis examines how Okinawans as a minority have emphasised and/or rearranged certain cultural symbols or narratives, creating new identities and using them as weapons, in order to negotiate a better standing within Japan following the period after the revision. Some developments that immediately come to mind are the emergence of civil society based on universal values of democracy, peace and ecology and the embedding of Okinawans as historical victims of the Japanese government and the mobilization of historical memory. I will be primarily focussing on contemporary post-reversion literature in my analysis, intending on researching the presence of these new identitities within contemporary novels. My objective is to observe if and/or how the ‘main model’ mentioned above is reflected and if the tendencies of modern literature have shifted accordingly.Show less
Using Okinawa as a case study, this thesis focuses on how U.S. military bases have spread American culture and values in East Asia during and after the Cold War. Due to how the U.S. military...Show moreUsing Okinawa as a case study, this thesis focuses on how U.S. military bases have spread American culture and values in East Asia during and after the Cold War. Due to how the U.S. military institution forms the context within which cultural transfer takes place between the host community and the military community, the main question posed is whether or not (American) culture may in this case be depoliticised.Show less
This thesis aims to investigate whether there is a connection between improved US-Japan security relations and Okinawan base opposition in the period 2010-2014. Security relations between the...Show moreThis thesis aims to investigate whether there is a connection between improved US-Japan security relations and Okinawan base opposition in the period 2010-2014. Security relations between the United States and Japan are for a large extent shaped by the 1960 Treaty of Mutual Security and Cooperation, which permits the continuous presence of US military bases in Japan to maintain peace and safety in East Asia. Nowadays Japan still hosts approximately 50,000 US forces. About 50 percent of these forces are stationed in Okinawa, which consists of only 0.6% of Japan’s territory. Furthermore, 75 percent of the US military facilities in Japan are also located in Okinawa, demonstrating the unequal US military burden between Okinawa and mainland Japan (Okinawa Prefectural Government 2011). The United States, as well as Japan, agree on the importance of stationing a large amount of US military forces in Okinawa because of the strategic location of the island for maintaining Japan’s peace and safety in East Asia. However, large anti-base protests in Okinawa illustrate that a significant part of the local population opposes the security norm of the Japanese government to host US forces. Improved political ties, joint disaster relief operations and increasing external security threats have resulted in enhanced military cooperation between the United States and Japan in the period 2010-2014. Also, during this period Japanese favorable views on the United States were with an average of 71.6% also somewhat higher than between 2006 and 2009 (58.25%) (Pew Research Center 2015). Nevertheless, it is not clear whether US-Japan security collaboration also resulted in a better image of America among the people in Okinawa. Therefore, the main research question is: to what extent has enhanced military cooperation between the United States and Japan led to a decline of Okinawan base opposition?Show less
In this thesis two forces contributing to a changing language ideology in Japan, adopting the Okinawan case as an example, are examined. The first factor is a political one, namely the influence of...Show moreIn this thesis two forces contributing to a changing language ideology in Japan, adopting the Okinawan case as an example, are examined. The first factor is a political one, namely the influence of international human rights treaties, that also guarantee linguistic rights, and its enforcement bodies on the Japanese government. The second one is a social factor: the (re)emergence of pride in Okinawan identityShow less
This thesis tries to combine characteristics of identity building in a community with the existence of gotōchi hīrō ご当地ヒーロー (local heroes) in Japan. Throughout Japan, almost every prefecture and/or...Show moreThis thesis tries to combine characteristics of identity building in a community with the existence of gotōchi hīrō ご当地ヒーロー (local heroes) in Japan. Throughout Japan, almost every prefecture and/or city has its own hero that represents the specific traits of the region it belongs to. The heroes speak in dialect, visit famous locations and constantly use and refer to local products. One of the primary reasons for creating these heroes is to strengthen the regions community identity. Television plays an important role in the distribution of imagery surrounding the local heroes. Because of cultural proximity, local television programmes are often very popular and consequently, so are the local heroes. To exemplify this connection between identity construction and local heroes, this thesis analyses Ryūjin Mabuyā 琉神マブヤー, a local hero from Okinawa prefecture. By looking at the locations, language, cultural references used and the intentions of the creators of the programme, it becomes clear that Ryūjin Mabuyā was created to introduce and emphasize Okinawan community identity.Show less
Minority languages worldwide are threatened with extinction as speakers shift to the majority language. The Ryukyuan languages spoken on the Ryukyu Islands, the most southern part of Japan,are no...Show moreMinority languages worldwide are threatened with extinction as speakers shift to the majority language. The Ryukyuan languages spoken on the Ryukyu Islands, the most southern part of Japan,are no exception. This thesis aims to foresee and advice on the future of one of these languages: uchināguchi, spoken on the largest island of the archipelago. Through interviews and (participant) observation the motives and goals of those learning the language in Tokyo are categorized and compared to those studying uchināguchi on the island itself. Applying theories from the field of language planning and sociolinguistics, the conclusion aims to help teachers and students alike, shaping the future of this particular minority language.Show less
