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"Ryukyu" is an other name from the Chinese side, and "Okinawa" is a Japanese cognate of Okinawa's indigenous name "Uchinā", originating from the residents of the main island referring to the main island against the surrounding islands, Miyako and Yaeyama. [27] Mainland Japanese adapted Okinawa as the way to call these people. [citation needed]
Circa 2007, in Okinawa, people under the age of 40 have little proficiency in the native Okinawan language. [13] A new mixed language, based on Japanese and Okinawan, has developed, known as "Okinawan Japanese". Although it has been largely ignored by linguists and language activists, this is the language of choice among the younger generation ...
The policy of assimilation, coupled with increased interaction between Japan and Okinawa through media and economics, has led to the development of Okinawan Japanese, which is a dialect of Japanese influenced by the Okinawan and Kunigami languages. Japanese and Okinawan only share 60% of the same vocabulary, despite both being Japonic languages ...
The statistics also do not take into account minority groups who are Japanese citizens such as the Ainu (an aboriginal people primarily living in Hokkaido), the Ryukyuans (from the Ryukyu Islands south of mainland Japan), naturalized citizens from backgrounds including but not limited to Korean and Chinese, and citizen descendants of immigrants ...
Ryukyu was a tributary state of China, and since Japan had no formal diplomatic relations with China, it was essential that China not realize that Ryukyu was controlled by Japan. Thus, Satsuma—and the shogunate—was obliged to be mostly hands-off in terms of not visibly or forcibly occupying Ryukyu or controlling the policies and laws there.
The modern inhabitants of Okinawa are mainly ethnic Okinawan, Japanese, half Japanese and mixed. Okinawans are known for their longevity. This particular island is a so-called Blue Zone, an area where the people live longer than most others elsewhere in the world. [34] Five times as many Okinawans reach 100 years old compared to the rest of Japan.
The Ryukyuan diaspora are Ryukyuan emigrants from Japan's Ryukyu Islands, especially Okinawa Island, and their descendants.The first recorded emigration of Ryukyuans was in the 15th century when they established an enclave in Fuzhou, in the Ming dynasty (China).
Thousands of Okinawan speakers were killed for "spying", as the Japanese soldiers were unable to understand them and thus were suspicious. [9] The Ryukyuan languages continued to decline even after the Battle of Okinawa and into the American occupation period. Today, Ryukyuan languages mainly persist among elderly inhabitants, with the majority ...