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is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan. The island has an area of . It is roughly south of the rest of Japan, roughly the same distance off the coast of China, and 300 miles north of Taiwan. The Greater Naha area, home to the capital (or more accurately—prefectural seat) of Okinawa Prefecture on the southwestern part of Okinawa Island, has roughly 800,000 of the island's 1.3 million residents, while the city itself is home to about 320,000. The island hosts the majority of the US troops stationed in Japan, putting significant strain on civilian life.〔McCormack, Gavan; Norimatsu, Satoko Oka (2012). ''Resistant Islands: Okinawa Confronts Japan and the United States''. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 1442215623.〕 The island's population is known as one of the longest living people in the world,〔(Okinawa Exploration Backgrounds - Blue Zones )〕〔(Los secretos de la longevidad - National Geographic )〕 together with the Sardinians〔(Sardinia Exploration Backgrounds - Blue Zones )〕 whose island is located in the Mediterranean sea (22 centenarians/100,000 inhabitants); in fact, there are 34 centenarians per 100,000 people, which is more than three times the rate of mainland Japan. ==History== (詳細はmidden culture or shell heap culture is divided into the early shell heap period. In the former, it was a hunter-gatherer society, with wave-like opening Jomon pottery. In the latter part of Jomon period, archaeological sites moved near the seashore, suggesting the engagement of people in fishery. In Okinawa, rice was not cultivated during the Yayoi period but began during the latter period of shell-heap age. Shell rings for arms made of shells obtained in the Sakishima Islands, namely Miyakojima and Yaeyama islands, were imported by Japan. In these islands, the presence of shell axes, 2500 years ago, suggests the influence of a southeastern-Pacific culture.〔Arashiro Toshiaki ''High School History of Ryukyu, Okinawa, Toyo Kikaku'', 2001, p12,ISBN 4-938984-17-2 p20〕〔Ito, Masami, "(Between a rock and a hard place )", ''Japan Times'', May 12, 2009, p. 3.〕 After the midden culture, agriculture started about the 12th century, with the center moving from the seashore to higher places. This period is called the gusuku period. Gusuku is the term used for the distinctive Okinawan form of castles or fortresses. Many gusukus and related cultural remains in the Ryukyu Islands have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites under the title Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. There are three perspectives regarding the nature of gusukus: 1) a holy place, 2) dwellings encircled by stones, 3) a castle of a leader of people. In this period, porcelain trade between Okinawa and other countries became busy, and Okinawa became an important relay point in eastern-Asian trade. Ryukyuan kings, such as Shunten and Eiso, were considered to be important governors. An attempted Mongolian invasion in 1291 during the Eiso Dynasty ended in failure. Hiragana was imported from Japan by Ganjin in 1265. ''Noro'', female shaman or priests (as in shintoism), appeared. In 1429, King Shō Hashi completed the unification of the three kingdoms and founded one Ryūkyū Kingdom with its capital at Shuri Castle. The Chinese Ming dynasty sent 36 families from Fujian at the request of the Ryukyuan King. Their job was to manage maritime dealings in the kingdom in 1392 during the Hongwu Emperor's reign. Many Ryukyuan officials were descended from these Chinese immigrants, being born in China or having Chinese ancestors. They assisted in the Ryukyuans in developing their technology and diplomatic relations. In the 17th century, the kingdom was both a tributary of China and a tributary of Japan. Because China would not make a formal trade agreement unless a country was a tributary state, the kingdom was a convenient loophole for Japanese trade with China. When Japan officially closed off trade with European nations except the Dutch, Nagasaki and Ryūkyū became the only Japanese trading ports offering connections with the outside world. In 1879, Japan annexed the entire Ryukyu archipelago.〔''The Demise of the Ryukyu Kingdom: Western Accounts and Controversy''. Ed by Eitetsu Yamagushi and Yoko Arakawa. Ginowan-City, Okinawa: Yonushorin, 2002.〕 Thus, the Ryūkyū ''han'' was abolished and replaced by Okinawa Prefecture by the Meiji government. The monarchy in Shuri was abolished and the deposed king Shō Tai (1843–1901) was forced to relocate to Tokyo. Hostility against mainland Japan increased in the Ryūkyūs immediately after its annexation to Japan in part because of the systematic attempt on the part of mainland Japan to eliminate the Ryukyuan culture, including the language, religion, and cultural practices. The island of Okinawa was the site of most of the ground warfare in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II, when American Army and Marine Corps troops fought a long and bloody battle to capture Okinawa, so it could next be used as the major air force and troop base for the planned invasion of Japan. During this 82-day-long battle, about 95,000 Imperial Japanese Army troops and 12,510 Americans were killed. The Cornerstone of Peace at the Okinawa Prefecture Memorial Peace Park lists 149,193 persons of Okinawan origin - approximately one quarter of the civilian population - who either died or committed suicide during the Battle of Okinawa and the Pacific War.〔"The Cornerstone of Peace - number of names inscribed". Okinawa Prefecture. Retrieved 4 February 2011〕 During the American military occupation of Japan (1945–52), which followed the Imperial Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay, the United States controlled Okinawa Island and the nearby Ryukyu islands and islets. These all remained in American military possession until June 17, 1972, with numerous U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force bases there. In February 2010 an earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale, hit the island. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Okinawa Island」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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