The center of the former Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawa Main Island (沖縄本島, Okinawa Hontō) is by far the largest and most populous island in Okinawa Prefecture and the regional transportation hub. The prefectural capital Naha and most of the US military bases are located on Okinawa Honto.
While much of the central part of Okinawa Honto is urbanized, the southern tip of the island is less densely populated, and the northernmost Yambaru area remains mainly covered by forested hills and small fishing and farming villages.
The time when human beings first appeared in Okinawa remains unknown.
Okinawa midden culture or shell heap culture is divided into the early shell heap period. In the former, it was a hunter-gatherer society, with wave-like opening Jomon pottery. In the latter part of Jomon period, archaeological sites moved near the seashore, suggesting the engagement of people in fishery. In Okinawa, rice was not cultivated during the Yayoi period but began during the latter period of shell-heap age. Shell rings for arms made of shells obtained in the Sakishima Islands, namely Miyakojima and Yaeyama islands, were imported by Japan. In these islands, the presence of shell axes, 2500 years ago, suggests the influence of a southeastern-Pacific culture.[citation needed][7][8]
After the midden culture, agriculture started about the 12th century, with the center moving from the seashore to higher places. This period is called the gusuku period. Gusuku is the term used for the distinctive Okinawan form of castles or fortresses. Many gusukus and related cultural remains in the Ryukyu Islands have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites under the title Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. There are three perspectives regarding the nature of gusukus: 1) a holy place, 2) dwellings encircled by stones, 3) a castle of a leader of people. In this period, porcelain trade between Okinawa and other countries became busy, and Okinawa became an important relay point in eastern-Asian trade. Ryukyuan kings, such as Shunten and Eiso, were considered to be important governors. An attempted Mongolian invasion in 1291 during the Eiso Dynasty ended in failure. Hiragana was imported from Japan by Ganjin in 1265. Noro, female shaman or priests (as in shintoism), appeared.
In 1429, King Shō Hashi completed the unification of the three kingdoms and founded one Ryūkyū Kingdom with its capital at Shuri Castle. The Chinese Ming dynasty sent 36 families from Fujian at the request of the Ryukyuan King. Their job was to manage maritime dealings in the kingdom in 1392 during the Hongwu Emperor's reign. Many Ryukyuan officials were descended from these Chinese immigrants, being born in China or having Chinese ancestors. They assisted in the Ryukyuans in developing their technology and diplomatic relations.[citation needed]
In the 17th century, the kingdom was both a tributary of China and a tributary of Japan. Because China would not make a formal trade agreement unless a country was a tributary state, the kingdom was a convenient loophole for Japanese trade with China. When Japan officially closed off trade with European nations except the Dutch, Nagasaki and Ryūkyū became the only Japanese trading ports offering connections with the outside world.
The last King Shō Tai
Hostility against mainland Japan increased in the Ryūkyūs immediately after its annexation to Japan in part because of the systematic attempt on the part of mainland Japan to eliminate the Ryukyuan culture, including the language, religion, and cultural practices.
The island of Okinawa was the site of most of the ground warfare in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II, when American Army and Marine Corps troops fought a long and bloody battle to capture Okinawa, so it could next be used as the major air force and troop base for the planned invasion of Japan. During this 82-day-long battle, about 95,000 Imperial Japanese Army troops and 12,510 Americans were killed. The Cornerstone of Peace at the Okinawa Prefecture Memorial Peace Park lists 149,193 persons of Okinawan origin - approximately one quarter of the civilian population - who either died or committed suicide during the Battle of Okinawa and the Pacific War.[10]
During the American military occupation of Japan (1945–52), which followed the Imperial Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay, the United States controlled Okinawa Island and the nearby Ryukyu islands and islets. These all remained in American military possession until June 17, 1972, with numerous U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force bases there.
In February 2010 an earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale, hit the island.
There are 32 U.S. military bases[17] located on Okinawa Island. In total, these bases occupy approximately 25% of the island's area. The major bases are Futenma,[18] Kadena, Hansen, Torii, Schwab, Foster, and Kinser. The bases primarily exist to serve Japanese and U.S. strategic interests, but are unpopular with most local residents[19] despite recent efforts to move the bases out of core areas following incidents involving military personnel and resultant protests (including 1995 Okinawa rape incident).[citation needed]
Economically, the bases have been of declining importance especially after Okinawan sovereignty returning to Japan, recently accounting for 4 to 5% of the island economy, but the economic impact may be double edged, the presence of the bases may be hampering investment (and tourism potential).[17][20] In 2012, an agreement was struck between the United States and Japan to reduce the number of U.S. military personnel on the island moving 9,000 personnel to other locations and moving bases out of heavily populated Greater Naha, but 10,000 marines will remain on the island, along with other U.S. military units.[18][21] Attempts to completely close bases on the southern third of the island, where 90% of the population lives (all but about 120,000 people) has been impeded by both the U.S. desire that alternative locations be found where bases subject to closure could move to (e.g. Henoko Peninsula roughly mid-island), as well as by local Okinawan opposition to any suggested locations on the island (who demand no US troops at all anywhere on the island).[19] There exist also a smaller contingent of Japanese military bases on the island, to whom the local Okinawans also view as colonizers. Tokyo itself has a strikingly different view of the situation from that of local residents, who complain that despite being home to less than 1% of Japan's population and area, have to put up with the majority of Japan's U.S. military occupation.[22]
In late December, 2013, the governor of Okinawa, Hirokazu Nakaima, gave permission for land reclamation to begin for a new U.S. military base at Henoko reneging on previous promises, furthering the effort to consolidate American troop presence on the island, though away from urban Naha.[23] This resulted in his loss of the governorship.
