ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an anthropological analysis of shamans -'Yuta' - in present-day Okinawa, rewritten for the present volume to include a broad contextual exploration of the cultural and medical history of the islands. She looks at the historical scarcity in this part of Japan of modes of treatment for the mentally ill seen elsewhere in early modern and modern Japan, such as confinement, isolation, and Western-style hospitals. The chapter argues that the view commonly found elsewhere, that insanity should be isolated, confined and ostracized, is not a major feature of the history of insanity in Okinawa. The combination of this folk societal background and Okinawa's unique psychiatric history help to explain why spirit possession in Okinawa has been insulated from the standard critiques of western modernity. It remains possible for people in Okinawa to consider seeking medical help 'half from doctors and half from yuta', and their society remains one that is unusually accepting of spirit possession.
