THE SYNTHETIC STUDY OF OKINAWAN YAEYAMA ISLANDS

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Since 1994, Our team has been conducting comprehensive field reseach into the language, history, folklore, literature and architecture of the Yaeyama region, which is located at the southern end of the Japanese cultural sphere.The location of the Yaeyama islands has made them a meeting point between Japan and Southern China, the countries of southeast Asia, and other cultures to the south. Yaeyama has historically served as a bridge between these various cultures and Japan.Extant research has concentrated on the Northern Ryukyuan region and has largely overlooked the Soutuern Ryukyus, which borders these cultures to the south of Japan. We belive that a comprehensive study of the Yaeyama region can make significant contributions to the understanding of Japanese culture.Indeed, our research team found that the number of historical records, architectural structures, and other materials of histrical interest that survived the Pacific War far exceeds our expectations. Whereas the title deeds in other Okinawan islands were largely lost during the war, the ample documemts which remain in Yaeyama will enable us to clarify not only the Ryukyuan system of land ownership but also the details of forced emigration by both the Satsuma Clan and the Ryukyu Kingdom.Our team surveyed and described a range of folk architecture in settlemants such as kabira in Ishigaki Island, and settlements on the islands of Taketomi, Hatoma and Iriomote. We expect this data to be of great benefit in deepening our understanding of traditional domestic architecture in the Ryukyu and Japan.