Contradictions in the Perceptions of Ryukyuans

Schwartz, Henry B. In Togo's country Loo Choo--Pigs going to market.png

Ryukyuan women displaying their signature technique of carrying things on their heads

Schwartz, Henry B. In Togo's country - Loochoo Gentlemen.png

Henry Schwartz’s depiction of Okinawa is written about three decades into the Meiji Restoration. At this point, Okinawa or the former Ryukyu kingdom has been formally absorbed into the territories held by the Meiji Empire. Indeed, the Emperor proclaimed in 1872 that “Ryukyu is now our southern border, its territory is the same as ours and its language differs not” (Hellyer 238). Additionally, by 1873, it was no longer as clearly under control of Satsuma, which had been converted into the Kagoshima prefecture, and affairs regarding Ryukyu were shifted from the Foreign Ministry to the Ministry of Home Affairs (239). These changes all reflect that the Ryukyu islands were formally recognized as part of Japan early in the Meiji years.

And yet, the Schwartz continues to draw many cultural differences between the Japanese and the Ryukyuans. Speaking of the Ryukyuan boats, he notes that they have “nothing in common the Japanese sampan” and are more like “the typical canoe used everywhere in the islands of the Pacific” (117). Additionally, he mentions that “[t]he islands are also quite unlike Japan in their geological formation, and in their climate and vegetation” (118). Drawing from those differences in climate, he notes that “the difference in the customs and habits of the two peoples is quite as marked as the geological and geographical differences of the two countries” (143). In this, and in his depictions of the various traditional customs and habits of the Ryukyuans, Schwartz draws a depiction of a Ryukyu that is still very much a foreign country.

And yet, for all those differences, he notes that “[t]he Japanese themselves say they can not recognize a Loo Chooan man except by his speech and dress” (127). Indeed, amongst the more privileged of the Ryukyuans, many have adopted more Japanese customs. In noting the dietary habits of the island people, Schwartz says that the Satsuma sweet potato, known in the region as the Chinese potato, is the more common staple amongst the commoners than is rice, while the richer populace in the cities “are more and more adopting Japanese food and Japanese cooking” (121). With these changes comes his statement that the complete assimilation of the islands to the Japanese language and customs is only a matter of years” (141).

Thus, Ryukyu under Meiji rule, despite official pretenses, still appears to be very much in a state of transition between a political and cultural body distinct from that of Japan (traditionally drawing more heavily from China) to one that is truly “the same as” the rest of Japan.

 

References

Schwartz, Henry B. In Togo's Country: Some Studies in Satsuma and Other Little Known Parts of Japan. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham; New York: Eaton and Mains, c. 1908. Web.

Hellyer, Robert I. Defining Engagement: Japan and Global Contexts, 1640-1868. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Print.

Contradictions in the Perceptions of Ryukyuans