ABSTRACT

Following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the rulers of the principality of Chūzan, located at the centre of Okinawa Island, and the founders of the Ming dynasty in China in the late fourteenth century and until its forcible dissolution by the Meiji government in 1879, the kingdom of Ryukyu had maintained a semi-autonomous political status. During its first heyday prior to the invasion of Ryukyu by an army from the province of Satsuma in the far south of Kyushu in 1609, the kingdom consisted of the island groups of Amami, Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama. Although each possesses a distinct cultural and musical identity, these four groups continue today to sHare linguistic and cultural traits that merit their consideration as a single sub-sphere within the overall framework of Japanese culture.