The Ryukyuan diaspora are the Ryukyuan emigrants from the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

, especially

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

, and their descendants that reside in a foreign country. The first recorded emigration of Ryukyuans was in the 15th century when they established an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

in Ming Dynasty (China). Later, there was a large wave of emigration to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

at the start of the 20th century, followed by a wave to various Pacific islands in the 1920s and multiple migrations to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

throughout the 20th century. Ryukyuans became

Japanese citizens Japanese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of Japan. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the 1950 Nationality Act. Children born to at least one Japanese parent are generally automaticall ...

when

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

annexed the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

in 1879; therefore Ryukyuan immigrants are often labeled as part of the

Japanese diaspora The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (日系) or as Nikkeijin (日系人), comprise the Japanese emigrants from Japan (and their descendants) residing in a country outside Japan. Emigration from Japan was recorded as ...

. Regardless, much of the Ryukyuan diaspora views themselves as a distinct group from the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

(

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

History

After Japan (

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

) legalized emigration from

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

, thousands of Ryukyuans started to settle in other countries. The first group of Okinawan emigrants arrived to

on January 8, 1900 under the leadership of

Kyuzo Toyama was an Okinawan political activist. He is commonly referred to as the "father of Okinawan emigration" due to his work in sending Okinawans abroad. Early life In 1868, Toyama was born in the town of Kin, Okinawa to a wealthy family. However, h ...

, who is often referred to as “the father of Okinawan emigration”. Today, there are 45,000 - 50,000 Hawaiʻi residents of Ryukyuan ancestry, totaling around 3% of the state's population.

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

received its first migrants from Japan at the port of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

on June 18, 1908. Half of these migrants were from Okinawa Prefecture, despite Okinawa having less than 2% of Japan's total population.

References

Sources

*Ethnic Studies Oral History Project and United Okinawan Association of Hawaii. ''Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawaii''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1981. *Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: History of an Island People''. Tokyo: Charles Tuttle Company, 2000. *Nakasone, Ronald. ''Okinawan Diaspora''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002. *Rabson, Steve. ''The Okinawan Disapora in Japan: Crossing the Borders Within''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2012. *Suzuki, Taku. ''Embodying Belonging: Racializing Okinawan Diaspora in Bolivia and Japan''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2010. {{Overseas Ryukyuan Ryukyuan people Asian diasporas Ethnic groups Emigration

History

See also

References

Sources