This is Okinawa. Or is this Okinawa? This of course is not just the one island, but the entire Okinawa prefecture, which is made up of a good portion of the southwestern island chain in Japan. Or are they the Ryukyu Islands?
That name is derived from the name of the kingdom of seafaring merchants that traded with practically everybody across the East China Sea. The Ryukyu Kingdom sat right here, squarely in the middle of every major trade center in the region. with access to ports from kingdoms and city-states on every corner. While it was great that you could catch a Ryukyun trader at a port near you, the local trade spot was not the kingdom's main priority.
They most importantly traded with these guys, who were without a doubt the richest kids on the block. Trade with China was incredibly important for a number of reasons, mostly because it was such a hard thing to do. In order to gain access to the Chinese market, one had to earn the status of tribute state. A state vying for this position got it by sending gifts, i.e. tribute, to China every once in a while. If the royal court agreed to recognize you, not only did your status as a legitimate kingdom become all the more official, but China would in return grant you access to much more extravagant items than the relatively meager ones you initially brought.
Kind of like an arrogant rich friend who gives you nice things just to show you how much money they have. As you can imagine, there was a lot of competition for this status all across the region. even within the small, 70-mile-long island of Okinawa itself. For a while, the island was split into three separate kingdoms, each fighting for the title of rightful ruler of the land. Like three children competing to be mom's favorite on Mother's Day, the three kingdoms regularly sent tribute to the Ming Emperor in order to gain the prestigious honor of official recognition.
China, as you can imagine, wasn't too keen on picking a winner so quickly due to all the gifts. All the tribute was simply lumped together into a pile labeled Liuqiu, The name China gave the region. But eventually, the middle child, uh, I mean, middle kingdom, Chuzan, ended up on top.
With bonafide tribute state status, the newly united and newly rebranded Ryukyu Kingdom turned towards becoming the region's most popular middleman. Though they sometimes still used the name Chuzan for some reason. I don't know, maybe just an ego thing.
Anyway, The Ryukyu Kingdom began trading with kingdoms not fortunate enough to earn their membership card into China's exclusive warehouse, cementing their reputation as vital traders across the region. This remained the status quo of the region, until another island nation, one by the name of Japan, came into the picture. During the early modern era, Japan had sealed itself off from trade with the rest of the outside world.
What they didn't seal away was their desire to own nice and shiny things. The spot to get such exquisite goods in this era was of course the one and only China. While seclusion from most foreign trade was national policy, there was also the small fact that China had banned trade with Japan as well.
Something about how Japan couldn't call their emperor an emperor because the only real emperors were the ones in China? Semantics. Anyway, this meant the Japanese elite couldn't get their fancy Chinese goods even if they wanted to.
Well, legally they couldn't. One clan on the southern tip of Japan The Shimazu hatched a brilliant plan to circumvent all this petty bureaucracy. If they couldn't have access to trade with China, why didn't they just take over a place that did?
I mean, problem solved, right? The Shimazu sent their forces out searching to do exactly that. Unfortunately, as they embarked, they already had a candidate in mind. Their friendly local tribute state, the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Shimazu forces moved quickly through the small island, and within a few weeks, they gained control. The Ryukyu Kingdom became somewhat of a colony for the Shimazu. However, the process didn't follow the typical colonial script. For one, the Shimazu clan was in control of the Ryukyus, not Japan proper. In the aftermath of the invasion, the Shimazu had claimed the kingdom to be a feudal dependency of their domain and theirs only.
Second, no one could actually say the Ryukyu Kingdom was under anyone's control. See, the Japanese, due to their earlier mentioned high school drama, did not and could not trade with China. So if the Ryukyus were officially part of Japan, they could no longer give tribute, which would mean they could no longer have access to those sweet, sweet Chinese luxury goods everyone was after.
The Shimazu once again put their heads together and devised another bulletproof plan that every eight-year-old who has ever done something wrong while their parents were away would be proud of. Just don't tell China. If they pretended the Ryukyu traders sending tribute were still from the 100% independent and totally not Shimazu-controlled Ryukyu kingdom, then trade could go on relatively unhindered.
So now, the Ryukyu Kingdom was no longer the Ryukyu Kingdom, but still kind of was? Anyway, the Shimazu's brilliant scheme worked for a few hundred years, and with maybe a few reservations, everything went relatively smoothly all the way up until, well, it didn't. After a while, Japan decided it was done with the whole Warlord thing, and all the clans in Japan had to declare loyalty to the new but not that really new emperor.
Because of this new system, our friends the Shimazu were forced to give up control of their little secret pseudo colony. The new imperial government was not quite sure what to do with the island chain that was kinda sorta Japanese, but not really. What they did know was they wanted to keep it theirs.
China didn't share this sentiment. Well, to be fair, it also didn't know this sentiment even existed. The Shimazu's well-devised plan apparently worked so well that, for all China was concerned, the Ryukyus were still a tribute state. All this confusion came to a head when Ryukyu traders shipwrecked off the coast of the Chinese territory of Taiwan, where they were summarily executed by an indigenous tribe living in the area.
The Chinese were subsequently puzzled when Japan demanded compensation for the loss of what they now claimed were their countrymen. With that, the cat was now out of the bag, and the islands were officially annexed and incorporated as the new Okinawan prefecture. The imperial government was quick to emphasize that Okinawans were fully Japanese as a prefecture of the empire.
yet they were simultaneously encouraged to civilize and modernize themselves to mainland Japanese standards. Okinawa became the black sheep of the Japanese Empire, technically a prefecture of the empire, but not really considered part of the crowd. Okinawans were often viewed under the same lens as Japan's colonies. Elements of the old seafaring Ryukyuan heritage were downplayed in favor of a more streamlined Japanese culture. Ryukyuan traditions and even the Okinawan language were heavily discouraged.
Of course, it was hard to forget about Okinawa during a certain world war and a certain famously horrendous battle. The US military, hopping from island to island, began closing in on the Japanese mainland. One of the last, yet one of the most important areas to seize was the incredibly well-situated island of Okinawa.
The gruesome Battle of Okinawa lasted several months, with over 100,000 Okinawan lives being lost in the process. The battle eventually came to a close, with the war following soon after. The US military had spent such an enormous amount of resources capturing the island that it certainly wasn't ready to give it back. See, all the things that made Okinawa optimal for becoming a center for trade were additionally what made it an ideal location for military operations.
The peace treaty signed between Japan and the United States was drafted with this in mind. In the treaty, the US military was given full control of the island with a promise to return it eventually. Right. Okinawa was once again a pseudo-colony.
but this time under an American military about to enter the world's most dangerous tearing contest. On top of converting old Japanese installations, the US was quick to set about constructing its own bases. However, a lot of the land set aside for base building had one minor issue.
People were living on it. The military solved this issue by seizing just a little bit of land, and by little I actually mean a ton, from Okinawan villagers. Many Okinawans were understandably not sold on this game plan, and repeatedly asked well, mainly protested, for two things.
One, to be returned to Japanese sovereignty, and two, to have their land stop being seized. Seeing these mounting protests, American officials came up with a solution. Continue seizing land.
They also decided they should try to make that rather sizable pill a little easier to swallow. The military attempted to convince the Okinawan population that being under US control wasn't so bad. They claimed their club was much cooler than Club Japan, and that they shouldn't want to be a part of them anyway. because they totally weren't even Japanese. The U.S. began promoting images of old Ryukyu and heritage with small acts such as setting up museums throughout the island in order to punctuate this point.
Okinawans, again not satisfied with this resolution, continued their polite requests, read, protests for sovereignty to be reverted. After a few decades of feet-dragging, the U.S. relented and finally returned the island, but not before assembling a few more military bases in the process. Okinawa was welcomed back into Japan as the Okinawan prefecture. But all the bases got to stay for some reason. And now we have the Okinawa we know today.
So, this is Okinawa. And this. And this.
And this. And so on. Though the statement sounds simple enough, it can certainly be one with many layers to unpack. So, the next time you see a mention of Okinawa, with its white, sandy beaches, and its delicious shikwasa fruit, just remember there's so much more to it.
From skilled traders, to geopolitical potsters, to loud and persistent protesters. Okinawa can certainly be a tropical paradise with an incredible story to tell.