Director's Message

Haitai gusūyō. Welcome to the Center for Okinawan Studies (COS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. 

It is a tremendous honor for me to be serving as the interim director of the center. The UHM-COS is a truly unique institution, and indeed the only one of its kinds outside of Japan. The Center is devoted to deepening scholarly and public understanding of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands, along with its various diaspora communities. We represent scholars across the UH System who are involved in research and /or teaching related to Okinawa. We work closely with and receive tremendous support from the Uchinanchu community in Hawaiʻi, something for which we are ever grateful. We also collaborate extensively with academics and academic institutions in Okinawa. 

The wide-ranging activities of the center are described in more detail below and throughout the various pages of this website. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance to you. 

Lonny E. Carlile