Ryukyu Islands

prefecture of Japan

smallest of the five main islands of Japan

chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan

language family

historical kingdom in parts of present-day Japan

The are a Japonic-speaking East Asian ethnic group indigenous to the Ryukyu Islands, which stretch from the island of Kyushu to the island of Taiwan. In Japan, most Ryukyuans live in the Okinawa Prefecture or Kagoshima Prefecture. They speak the Ryukyuan languages, one of the branches of the Japonic language family along with the Japanese language and its dialects.

island group

group of islands in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

island group

Japanese island group

noble family

punitive expedition to Formosa (Taiwan), first foreign military campaign after the Meiji Ishin (Meiji Restoration)

United States Air Force base in Japan, former Japanese WW2 airfield

geopolitical name for a group of islands that forms the northern part of the Ryukyu Islands

First Japanese to rule over the Ryūkyū Kingdom and lord of Satsuma

World Heritage site in Japan

killing of 54 Ryūkyūan sailors in Qing-era Taiwan who wandered into Taiwan after shipwreck, causing the Taiwan Expedition of 1874 by Japan

Japanese political movement

endangered Japonic languages of Okinawa prefecture, Japan

, also known as before the 18th century, located in the north of Okinawa Island, was one of three independent political entities which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century during Sanzan period. The political entity was identified as a tiny country, a kingdom, or a principality by modern historians, however the rulers of Hokuzan were in fact not "kings" at all, but petty lords with their own retainers owing their direct service, and their own estates.

was one of three kingdoms which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century. Okinawa, previously controlled by a number of local chieftains or lords, loosely bound by a paramount chieftain or king of the entire island, split into these three more solidly defined kingdoms within a few years after 1314; the Sanzan period thus began, and would end roughly one hundred years later, when Chūzan's King Shō Hashi conquered Hokuzan in 1419 and Nanzan in 1429.

island in Okinawa, Japan

island in Taketomi, Okinawa, Japan

aspect of history

island in Okinawa, Japan

, also known as before the 18th century, located in the south of Okinawa Island, was one of three independent political entities which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century. The political entity was identified as a tiny country, a kingdom, or a principality by modern historians; however, the rulers of Nanzan were not "kings", but petty lords with their own retainers owing their direct service, and their own estates.

200px|right|thumb|Sefa-utaki () is an Okinawan term for a sacred place, often a grove, cave, or mountain. They are central to the Ryukyuan religion and the former noro priestess system. Although the term is used throughout the Ryukyu Islands, the terms and are heard in the Miyako and Yaeyama regions respectively. are usually located on the outskirts of villages and are places for the veneration of gods and ancestors. Most have places of worship, and it is theorized that the origins of both and are closely related.

island in Okinawa, Japan

island in Okinawa, Japan

1872–1879 domain of the Japanese Empire

strait

paleoarchaeological site on Ishigaki, Yaeyama Islands, Japan

song

branch of the Southern Ryukyuan languages