Yaeyama: From Periphery of the Rykys to Frontier of Japan

摘要

In spite of growing interest in the formation of Okinawan identity, little attention has yet been paid to the internal divisions and diversity within the Ryky Islands, or to the pre-war history of Okinawa. This article focuses on the Yaeyama archipelago of the southern end of Okinawa prefecture. It explores the way the region shaped its own Yaeyama identity in the early twentieth century by developing Yaeyama Studies separate from Okinawa Studies. The article demonstrates how the Ryky Islands have accommodated diverse intellectual movements and how Yaeyama islanders constructed their regional identity as a local subject of Japan rather than as a marginal subject of the Ryky Islands.