Editing Ryukyuans (section)

==Culture==
{{main|Ryukyuan culture}}

===Language===
{{main|Ryukyuan languages|Okinawan scripts|Okinawan name}}
Similarities between the [[Ryukyuan languages|Ryukyuan]] and [[Japanese language]]s point to a common origin, possibly of immigrants from continental Asia to the archipelago.<ref>Heinrich, Patrick, [http://japanfocus.org/-Patrick-Heinrich/1596 "Language Loss and Revitalization in the Ryukyu Islands"], ''Japan Focus'', 10 November 2005; {{cite web |url=http://www.sicri-network.org/ISIC1/j.%20ISIC1P%20Heinrich.pdf |title=What leaves a mark should no longer stain: Progressive erasure and reversing language shift activities in the Ryukyu Islands |date=2005 |postscript=; |publisher=SICRI |work=The 1st international Small Island Cultures conference |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531130140/http://www.sicri-network.org/ISIC1/j.%20ISIC1P%20Heinrich.pdf |archive-date= 31 May 2021 }} citing [[Shiro Hattori]]. (1954) ''Gengo nendaigaku sunawachi goi tokeigaku no hoho ni tsuite'' ("Concerning the Method of Glottochronology and Lexicostatistics"), ''Gengo kenkyu'' (''Journal of the Linguistic Society of Japan''), Vols. 26/27.</ref> Although previously{{When|date=May 2022}} ideologically considered by Japanese scholars{{Who|date=May 2022}} as a Japanese dialect and a descendant of [[Old Japanese]],{{sfn|Dubinsky|Davies|2013|pp=13–16}}{{sfn|Bentley|2015|pp=39, 48}} modern linguists such as Thomas Pellard (2015) now classify the Ryukyuan languages as a distinct subfamily of [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] that diverged before the Old Japanese period (c. 8th century CE); this places them in contrast to Japonic languages that are direct descendants of Old Japanese, namely Japanese and [[Hachijō language|Hachijō]].{{sfn|Pellard|2015|pp=15–16}} Early literature which records the language of the [[Old Japanese language|Old Japanese]] imperial court shows archaisms which are closer to Okinawan dialects, while later periods of Japanese exhibit more significant [[Sinicization]] (such as [[Sino-Japanese vocabulary]]) than most Ryukyuan languages. This can be attributed to the fact that the Japanese (or [[Yamato people]]) received writing from the [[Sinosphere]] roughly a millennium before the Ryukyuan languages.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}}

As the Jōmon-Yayoi transition (c. 1000 BCE) represents the formative period of the contemporary Japanese people from a genetic standpoint, it is argued that the Japonic languages are related to the Yayoi migrants as well.{{sfn|Robbeets|2015|p=27}} The estimated time of separation between Ryukyuan and mainland Japanese is a matter of debate due to methodological problems; older estimates (1959–2009) varied between 300 BCE and 700 CE, while novel (2009–2011) around 2nd century BCE to 100 CE, which has a lack of correlation with archeology and new chronology according to which Yayoi period started around 950 BCE,{{sfn|Pellard|2015|pp=20–21}} or the proposed spread of the Proto-Ryukyuan speakers to the islands in the 10–12th century from Kyushu.{{sfn|Pellard|2015|pp=29–32}}{{sfn|Robbeets|2015|pp=28–29}} Based on linguistic differences, they separated at least before the 7th century, before or around [[Kofun period]] (c. 250–538), while mainland Proto-Ryukyuan was in contact with [[Early Middle Japanese]] until 13th century.{{sfn|Pellard|2015|p=23}}

The Ryukyuan languages can be subdivided into two main groups, [[Northern Ryukyuan languages]] and [[Southern Ryukyuan languages]].{{sfn|Pellard|2015|pp=16–20}} The Southern Ryukyuan subfamily shows north-to-south expansion,{{clarify|date=May 2022}} while Northern Ryukyuan does not, and several hypothetical scenarios can be proposed to explain this.{{sfn|Pellard|2015|pp=25–26}} It is generally considered that the likely homeland of Japonic—and thus the original expansion of Proto-Ryukyuan—was in Kyushu, though an alternate hypothesis proposes an expansion from the Ryukyu Islands to mainland Japan.{{sfn|Serafim|2008|pp=98–99}}{{sfn|Pellard|2015|pp=25–26}}{{sfn|Bentley|2015|pp=49, 54, 58}}

Although authors differ regarding [[Dialect#Dialect or language|which varieties are counted as dialects or languages]], one possible classification considers there to be five Ryukyuan languages: [[Amami language|Amami]], [[Okinawa language|Okinawa]], [[Miyako language|Miyako]], [[Yaeyama language|Yaeyama]] and [[Yonaguni language|Yonaguni]], while a sixth, [[Kunigami language|Kunigami]], is sometimes differentiated from Okinawan due to its diversity. Within these languages exist dialects of local towns and specific islands, many of which have gone extinct. Although the [[Shuri, Okinawa|Shuri]] dialect of Okinawan was historically a [[prestige language]] of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu]], there is no officially standardized Ryukyuan language. Thus, the Ryukyuan languages as a whole constitute a cluster of local dialects that can be considered [[Abstand and ausbau languages|unroofed abstand languages]].{{sfn|Heinrich|Miyara|Shimoji|2015|pp=1–2}}

During the [[Meiji period|Meiji]] and post-Meiji period, the Ryukyuan languages were considered to be dialects of Japanese and viewed negatively. They were suppressed by the Japanese government in policies of forced assimilation and into using the standard Japanese language.{{sfn|Caprio|2014|p=14}}{{sfn|Liddicoat|2013|pp=151–152, 209}} From 1907, children were prohibited to speak Ryukyuan languages in school,{{sfn|Dubinsky|Davies|2013|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Liddicoat|2013|pp=151–152}} and since the mid-1930s there existed [[dialect card]]s,{{sfn|Dubinsky|Davies|2013|p=16}} a system of punishment for the students who spoke in a non-standard language.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mary Goebel Noguchi|author2=Sandra Fotos|title=Studies in Japanese Bilingualism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDBCqwLfp8UC&pg=PA72 |access-date=9 June 2012|year=2001|publisher=Multilingual Matters|isbn=978-1-85359-490-8|pages=72–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Elise K. Tipton|title=Society and the State in Interwar Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pvoXnnI0Kf4C&pg=PA204 |access-date=9 June 2012|date=1997|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-15069-9|pages=204–}}</ref> Speaking a Ryukyuan language was deemed an unpatriotic act; by 1939, Ryukyuan speakers were denied service and employment in government offices, while by the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, the Japanese military was commanded to consider Ryukyuan speakers as spies to be punished by death, with many reports that such actions were carried out.{{sfn|Dubinsky|Davies|2013|p=17}} After World War II, during the United States occupation, the Ryukyuan languages and identity were distinctively promoted, also because of ideo-political reasons to separate the Ryukyus from Japan.{{sfn|Liddicoat|2013|pp=152–154, 209}} However, resentment against the American occupation intensified Ryukyuans' rapport and unification with Japan, and since 1972 there has followed re-incursion of the standard Japanese and further diminution of the Ryukyuan languages.{{sfn|Dubinsky|Davies|2013|p=17}}{{sfn|Liddicoat|2013|p=209}}

It was considered that contemporary people older than 85 exclusively use Ryukyuan, between 45 and 85 use Ryukyuan and standard Japanese depending on family or working environment, younger than 45 are able to understand Ryukyuan, while younger than 30 mainly are not able to understand nor speak Ryukyuan languages.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=20}} Only older people speak Ryukyuan languages, because Japanese replaced it as the daily language in nearly every context. Some younger people speak Okinawan Japanese which is a type of [[Japanese language|Japanese]]. It is not a dialect of the [[Okinawan language]]. The six Ryukyuan languages are listed on the [[UNESCO]]'s [[Red Book of Endangered Languages|Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]] since 2009, as they could disappear by the mid-century (2050).{{sfn|Heinrich|Miyara|Shimoji|2015|p=1}}<ref name="ryukyuan-tongue">{{cite web |author=Patrick Heinrich |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/08/25/voices/use-lose-theres-stake-language-reviving-ryukyuan-tongues/ |title=Use them or lose them: There's more at stake than language in reviving Ryukyuan tongues |publisher=The Japan Times |access-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107141707/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/08/25/voices/use-lose-theres-stake-language-reviving-ryukyuan-tongues/ |archive-date=7 January 2019|date=25 August 2014 }}</ref> It is unclear whether this recognition was too late, despite some positive influence by the Society of Spreading Okinawan.{{sfn|Dubinsky|Davies|2013|p=17}}

===Religion===
{{Main|Ryukyuan religion|Ryukyuan festivals and observances}}
[[File:Kamekoubaka.jpg|thumb|right|The ''kamekōbaka'' ([[Turtleback tomb]]) is the traditional Ryukyuan family tomb.]]
Indigenous [[Ryukyuan religion]] places strong emphasis upon the role of the women in the community, with women holding positions as [[shaman]]s and guardians of the home and hearth. The status of women in traditional society is higher than in China and Japan.<ref>{{harvnb|Sered|1996|p=54}}: "Observers of the Ryukyu Islanders ... have also noted that the status of women in traditional Ryukyuan society is high—certainly higher than in China or Japan."</ref> Although the contemporary kinship system is patrilineal and [[Patrilocal residence|patrilocal]], until the 20th century it was often bilateral and [[Matrilocal residence|matrilocal]], with common village endogamy.{{sfn|Sered|1996|pp=54–55}} [[Shisa]] statues can often be seen on or in front of houses—this relates to the ancient Ryukyuan belief that the male spirit is the spirit of the outside and the female spirit is the spirit of the inside. Godhood is mimicked with many attributes, and its in ease without any underlying symbolic order.{{sfn|Røkkum|2006|p=219}}

The village priestesses, [[Noro (priestess)|Noro]], until the 20th century used the white cloth and [[magatama]] beads. The noro's duty was to preserve the generational fire in the hearth, a communal treasure, resulting with tabu system about the fire custodian in which they had to be virgins to maintain close communication with the ancestors. The office became hereditary, usually of the noro's brother's female child. The center of worship was represented by three heartstones within or near the house.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}} The belief in the spiritual predominance of the sister was more prominent in Southern Ryukyus.{{sfn|Sered|1996|p=41}}

The introduction of Buddhism is ascribed to a 13th century priest from Japan (mostly funeral rites{{sfn|Sered|1996|p=41}}), while the 14th century trade relations resulted with [[Korean Buddhism]] influences (including some in architecture), as well Shinto practices from Japan.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}} Buddhism and indigenous religion were ideological basis until 18th century, when [[Confucianism]] gradually and officially became government ideology during [[Shō On]] (1795–1802), much to the dismay of [[Kumemura]].{{sfn|Smits|2004|p=240}} It was mostly important to the upper class families.{{sfn|Sered|1996|p=41}} Among the Catholic converts was not lost the former religious consciousness.{{sfn|Sered|1996|p=41}}

Until the 18th century, the Ryukyuan kings visited the [[Sefa-utaki]] (historical sacred place) caves for worship. Another traditional sacred places are springs Ukinju-Hain-ju, where was placed the first rice plantation, and small island Kudaka, where the "five fruits and grains" were introduced by divine people, perhaps strangers with agricultural techniques.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}} The foremost account, which claimed common origin between the Japanese and Ryukyuans, was made-up by [[Shō Shōken]] in the 17th century, to end up the pilgrimage of the Ryukyu king and chief priestess to the Kudaka island.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=46}}

During the Meiji period the government replaced Buddhism with Shintoism as the islands' state religion,{{sfn|Caprio|2014|p=66}} and ordered; rearrangement of statues and redesign of shrines and temples to incorporate indigenous deities into national Shinto pantheon; Shinto worship preceded indigenous, Buddhist, or Christian ritual; transformation of local divinities into guardian gods.{{sfn|Rabson|2008|p=4}} In the 1920s was ordered building of Shinto shrines and remodelling of previous with Shinto architectural symbols, paid by local tax money, which was a financial burden due to the collapse of sugar prices in 1921 which devastated Okinawa's economy.{{sfn|Rabson|2008|p=5}} In 1932 were ordered to house and support Shinto clergy from the mainland.{{sfn|Rabson|2008|p=5}}

Most Ryukyuans of the younger generations are not serious adherents of the indigenous religion anymore. Additionally, since being under Japanese control, [[Shinto]] and [[Buddhism]] are also practiced and typically mixed with local beliefs and practices.

===Cuisine===
{{main|Okinawan cuisine}}
Okinawan food is rich in [[vitamin]]s and [[minerals]] and has a good balance of [[protein]], [[fat]]s, and [[carbohydrate]]s. Although [[rice]] is a [[staple food]] ([[taco rice]] mixes it with beef), [[pork]] (''[[Pig's ear (food)#Okinawan (Japanese) cuisine|mimigā and chiragā]]'', dishes [[Rafute]] and [[Soki]]), [[Edible seaweed|seaweed]], rich [[miso]] (fermented [[soybean]]) pastes and soups ([[Zosui|Jūshī]]), [[sweet potato]] and [[brown sugar]] all feature prominently in traditional cuisine. Most famous to tourists is the ''[[Momordica charantia]]'', ''gōya'' (bitter melon), which is often mixed into a representative Okinawan [[Stir frying|stir fry]] dish known as [[Chanpuru|champurū]] ([[Goya champuru]]). [[Kōrēgusu]] is a common [[hot sauce]] [[condiment]] used in various dishes including [[noodle soup]] [[Okinawa soba]]. Some specifically consumed algae include [[Caulerpa lentillifera]]. Traditional sweets include [[chinsuko]], [[hirayachi]], [[sata andagi]], and [[muchi]]. Local beverages include juice from ''[[Citrus depressa]]'', [[turmeric tea]] (''ukoncha''), and the alcoholic beverage [[awamori]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The weight-loss [[Okinawa diet]] derives from their cuisine and has only 30% of the sugar and 15% of the grains of the average Japanese dietary intake.<ref name="Willcox2007">{{Citation |last1=Willcox |first1=B. J. |last2=Willcox |first2=D. C. |last3=Todoriki |first3=H. |last4=Fujiyoshi |first4=A. |last5=Yano |first5=K. |last6=He |first6=Q. |last7=Curb |first7=J. D. |last8=Suzuki |first8=M. |title=Caloric Restriction, the Traditional Okinawan Diet, and Healthy Aging: The Diet of the World's Longest-Lived People and Its Potential Impact on Morbidity and Life Span |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |volume=1114 |issue=1 |pages=434–455 |date=October 2007 |doi=10.1196/annals.1396.037 |url=http://www.okicent.org/docs/anyas_cr_diet_2007_1114_434s.pdf |pmid=17986602 |bibcode=2007NYASA1114..434W |s2cid=8145691 |access-date=12 February 2017 |archive-date=7 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607210047/http://okicent.org/docs/anyas_cr_diet_2007_1114_434s.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Arts===
{{main|Okinawan martial arts|Karate|Ryukyuan music|Okinawan music|}}
The techniques of [[self-defense]] and using farm tools as weapons against armed opponents—called [[karate]] by today's martial artists—were created by Ryukyuans who probably incorporated some {{transliteration|zh|[[Chinese martial arts|gong fu]]}} and techniques from China into a complete system of attack and defense known simply as {{transliteration|ryu|ta}} (literally meaning "hand"). These martial arts varied slightly from town to town, and were named for their towns of origin, examples being [[Naha-te]] (currently known as Goju-Ryū), [[Tomari-te]] and [[Shuri-te]].

The [[Kabura-ya (Japanese signal arrow)]] still has a ceremonial use for house, village or festival celebration in Okinawa.
{{sfn|Kerr|2000}}

It is considered that the rhythms and patterns of dances, like [[Eisa (dance)|Eisa]] and [[Angama (dance)|Angama]], represent legends and prehistoric heritage.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}} [[Ryūka]] genre of songs and poetry originate from the Okinawa Islands. From the Chinese traditional instrument {{transliteration|zh|[[sanxian]]}} in the 16th century developed the Okinawan instrument {{transliteration|ja|[[sanshin]]}} from which the {{transliteration|ja|[[kankara sanshin]]}} and the Japanese {{transliteration|ja|[[shamisen]]}} derive.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lande|first=Liv|title=Innovating musical tradition in Japan: Negotiating transmission, identity, and creativity in the Sawai Koto School|year=2007|page=73|isbn=978-0-549-50670-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TukqhSzefPEC}}</ref>

Women frequently wore indigo tattoos known as ''[[hajichi]]'' on the backs of their hands, a sign of adulthood and talisman to protect them from evil. These tattoos were banned in 1899 by the Meiji government.<ref name="MasamiIto2009"/> In remote districts their ''katakashira'' off-center topknot, similar to that of the [[Yami people|Yami]] and some [[Filipinos|Filipino]] ethnic groups,{{sfn|Kerr|2000}} among men and women also disappeared in the early 20th century.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=59}}

The ''bashôfu'', literally meaning "banana-fibre cloth", is designated as a part of Ryukyu and Japan "important intangible cultural properties". The weaving using indigenous ramie was also widespread in the archipelago, both originated before the 14th century.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|pp=27, 64}}

Originally living in [[thatching]] houses, townsmen developed architecture modeled after Japanese, Chinese and Korean structures. Other dwellings suggest a tropical origin, and some villages have high stone walls, with similar structural counterpart in Yami people at [[Orchid Island]].{{sfn|Kerr|2000}}

For the categories of [[Cultural Property (Japan)|Cultural Properties]], see the following lists: [[List of Cultural Properties of Japan - archaeological materials (Okinawa)|archaeological materials]], [[List of Cultural Properties of Japan - historical materials (Okinawa)|historical materials]], [[List of Cultural Properties of Japan - crafts (Okinawa)|crafts]], [[List of Cultural Properties of Japan - paintings (Okinawa)|paintings]], [[List of Cultural Properties of Japan - sculptures (Okinawa)|sculptures]], [[List of Cultural Properties of Japan - writings (Okinawa)|writings]], [[List of Intangible Cultural Properties of Japan (Okinawa)|intangible]], and [[List of Tangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan (Okinawa)|tangible]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}