Books from UH Press
Ancient Ryukyu: An Archaeological Study of Island Communities
Ancient Ryukyu explores 30,000 years of human occupation in the Ryukyu Islands, from the earliest human presence in the region up to A.D. 1609 and the emergence of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It focuses on the unique geopolitical position of the islands, their environment, and the many human communities whose historical activities can be discerned. Drawing on the impressive work of dozens of local archaeologists who have brought the islands’ early history to life, Richard Pearson describes explorers and sojourners and colonists who arrived thousands of years ago, and their ancient trade links to Japan, Korea, and China. Through analysis of work completed at about 120 sites described in dozens of rare Japanese government reports with limited circulation, Pearson is able to show that many modern features of the culture, politics, and economy of the Ryukyu Islands have very deep roots. The book concludes with a discussion of aspects of Ryukyu archaeology that are significant for world archaeology and the archaeology of islands. Ancient Ryukyu offers an up-to-date treatment of an unusually long span of human history in the Ryukyu Islands and will become the definitive work in English on the premodern era.
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A Brief History of Early Okinawa Based on the Omoro Sōshi
In 1987, history professor Mitsugu Sakihara introduced the English-speaking world to the wonders of the Omoro Sōshi, a collection of Old Okinawan poetry, when he published the original version of A Brief History of Early Okinawa Based on the Omoro Sōshi. The approximately 1,500 omoro poems were compiled between 1532 and 1623, the Golden Age of Okinawan (and Ryukyuan) political, economic, and cultural well-being. Through the careful analysis that Sakihara employed, the poems offer challenges to the sanitized official histories compiled during the period, providing insights into the “real-life” circumstances of the people, places, and actions (sometimes jarringly violent) from the early history of the late island kingdom. Details about historical figures emerge, encomiums are issued regarding rulers and the seats from which they ruled, life and daily activities in the villages are addressed, the role of the noro priestesses in the national life is celebrated, ships are launched to far-flung places, and prayers are offered; the whole of that rich historical period comes to life in this work by an esteemed scholar. This reissue of Sakihara’s classic work comes on the heels of the recent scholarship that builds on the themes that he addressed more than three decades ago.
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Basic Okinawan: From Conversation to Grammar
Basic Okinawan is a groundbreaking work that will help students develop conversational skills and build a solid foundational understanding of the language’s grammar and vocabulary. The lessons are geared for students learning in the classroom or on their own and do not assume knowledge of Japanese. The ten learner-centered units in Part I systematically and incrementally introduce grammar and vocabulary through the story of Niko, an American exchange student in Okinawa. Each unit offers authentic dialogues focused around cultural themes, followed by concise grammar and vocabulary explanations, ample exercises, and situation-based applications. Lessons conclude with cultural notes that advance the unit’s themes, linking language learning with a wide range of disciplines such as history, geography, literature, religion, and popular culture. Woven throughout the story are humorous and thoughtful anecdotes that will inspire students to explore Okinawan language and culture further. Part II’s eight sections explain the grammar introduced in Part I arranged by topic. This topical organization allows students to review grammar points from a fresh perspective that both augments and reinforces what was learned in Part I. In addition to the Appendix, which contains comprehensive vocabulary and construction lists with cross-references to sections in Part I.
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Early Ryukyuan History: A New Model
The Ryukyu islands have been inhabited by humans for over 30,000 years. Their modern population, however, did not come from stone-age ancestors, nor did distinctive forms of Ryukyuan culture, such as sacred groves or stone-walled castles, emerge from within the islands. Instead, different groups of people lived in the Ryukyu islands at various points in history. Starting with the earliest extant human remains and ending with the formation of a centralized state in the early 1500s, Early Ryukyuan History traces the people, culture, technologies, goods, and networks that entered different parts of Ryukyu over time. In the process, it synthesizes decades of research in archaeology and anthropology, recent advances in genetic evidence, and conventional documentary sources to advance a new model for the early development of the Ryukyu islands, thoroughly rewriting early Ryukyuan history. Taking a multidisciplinary approach grounded in archaeology, this resource presents an updated framework for understanding early Ryukyu along with a new narrative featuring a fascinating cast of characters.
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Islands of Protest: Japanese Literature from Okinawa
Literature is an important vehicle to further knowledge of other cultures, and English translations of Okinawan literary works have had a major impact on the field of Okinawan studies. Islands of Protest attempts to address this lacuna with this new selection of critically acclaimed modern and contemporary works in English. The anthology includes poetry, fiction, and drama, drawing on Okinawa’s distinct culture and subtropical natural environment to convey the emotions and tensions present in everyday life. Tōma Hiroko’s poem “Backbone” juxtaposes the natural environment of aquamarine beaches and subtropical flora and fauna with the built environment of America’s military bases. Stories by two of Okinawa’s most dynamic contemporary authors display wide breadth, from the preservation of island dances and burial practices in Sakiyama Tami’s “Island Confinement” and “Come Swaying, Come Swinging” to the bold, disquieting themes of violence and comfort women in Medoruma Shun’s “Hope,” “Taiwan Woman,” and “Tree of Butterflies.” The crown jewel of the anthology, Chinen Seishin’s play The Human Pavilion, is based on an infamous historical incident in which Okinawans were put on display during a 1903 industrial exhibition in Osaka. In his 1978 masterpiece, Chinen depicts the relentless pressure on Okinawans to become more Japanese.
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Lucky Come Hawaii: A Novel of December 7, 1941
In the opening chapter of this classic novel set in Hawai‘i, news of the attack on Pearl Harbor has just reached rural Maui. Miscommunication, confusion, and rumors of war aggravate the already tense relations among the diverse immigrant communities, Native Hawaiians, and the American military. As told through the perspective of a poor Okinawan family, Lucky Come Hawaii vividly captures the emotions and trauma at this momentous turning point in Island history, which will change the fate of individuals, ways of life, and the land itself forever. First published in 1965 to national acclaim but long out of print, Lucky Come Hawaii is a tale of love, intrigue, humor, and Island families torn apart and reunited by the events of December 7th. The novel also anticipates the changes overtaking Hawai‘i, from Territory to Statehood, from small towns to a militarized Pacific metropolis. Lucky Come Hawaii should be required reading for anyone who cares deeply about the untold stories of the Islands’ multi-ethnic communities and the struggle of individuals to find a place and sense of identity in their American home.
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Maritime Ryukyu, 1050–1650
Why do Ryukyu’s official histories locate the origins of its early dynastic founders in Iheya and Izena, small islands located northwest of Okinawa? Why did the Ming court extend favorable trade terms to Ryukyuan rulers? What was the nature of Okinawa’s enigmatic principalities, Sannan, Chūzan, and Hokuzan? When and how did the Ryukyu islands become united under a single ruler? Was this Ryukyuan state an empire, why did it go to war with the powerful Japanese domain of Satsuma in 1609, and what actually happened during that war? Answers to these and other key questions concerning early Ryukyuan history can be found in this bold reappraisal by a leading authority on the subject. Conventional portrayals of early Ryukyu are based on official histories written between 1650 and 1750. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Gregory Smits makes extensive use of scholarship in archaeology and anthropology and leverages unconventional sources to present a fundamental rethinking of early Ryukyu. Instead of treating Ryukyu as a natural, self-contained cultural or political community, he examines it as part of a maritime network extending from coastal Korea to the islands of Tsushima and Iki, along the western shore of Kyushu, and through the Ryukyu Arc to coastal China.
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Okinawan-English Wordbook: A Short Lexicon of the Okinawan Language with English Definitions and Japanese Cognates
The Okinawan-English Wordbook, written by the late Mitsugu Sakihara, historian and native speaker of the Naha dialect of Okinawa, is an all-new concise dictionary of the modern Okinawan language with definitions and explanations in English. The first substantive Okinawan-English lexicon in more than a century, it represents a much-needed addition to the library of reference materials on the language. The Wordbook opens to lay user and linguist alike an area heretofore accessible almost exclusively in Japanese works and adds to the general body of scholarship on various Ryukyuan languages and dialects by providing a succinct but comprehensive picture of modern colloquial Okinawan. The current work comprises nearly 10,000 entries, many with encyclopedic discussion, drawn from a wide variety of sources in addition to the author’s native knowledge and from numerous areas of interest, with emphasis on the cultural traditions of Okinawa. Entries reflect both contemporary Naha usage and archaisms and areal variants when these are of cultural, historical, or linguistic interest. Thus, in addition to being a comprehensive portrait of the modern Okinawan language, the Wordbook serves as an implicit introduction to the rich field of Japanese dialect studies.
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The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia
This English translation of a key work by one of Okinawa’s most respected historians, Mamoru Akamine, provides a compelling new picture of the role played by the Ryukyu Kingdom in the history of East Asia. Okinawa Island, from which the present-day Japanese prefecture derives its name, is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, an archipelago that stretches between Japan and Taiwan. In the present volume, Akamine chronicles the rise of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when it played a major part in East Asian trade and diplomacy. Then Ryukyu was indeed the cornerstone in a vibrant East Asian trade sphere centered on Ming China, linking what we now call Japan, Korea, and China to Southeast Asia. With historical and cultural connections to both Japan and China, Ryukyu also mediated diplomatically between the two nations, whose leaders more often than not refused to deal with each other directly. But eventually the kingdom became a victim of its own success. Political developments in China and Japan starting in the sixteenth century brought great changes to the region, and in 1609 Ryukyu was invaded by Satsuma, Japan’s southernmost domain. The China-Japan geopolitical rivalry would in time be acted out within Ryukyu itself, as one faction strove to maintain ties with China while another supported union with rapidly modernizing Japan.
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