Every aspect of Okinawa's history merits a detailed accounting. Consideration of space does not permit an exhaustive account of every relevant topic of its history nor comprehensive treatment of any single subject, so I have chosen to offer you an abbreviated reference of what I've gleaned from my readings. While some of my entries may be of great interest to you and leave you wanting for more, I shall be satisfied to know that your appetite for more expansive discovery and discussion on the subject has been whetted. My hope is that you will be inspired to do more independent research. Given the wide range of subjects represented, the reader may favor a particular factoid, event, or revelation immediately, while leaving others somewhat inconsequential. Not a problem. Don't be disappointed when you find that there are no exhaustive details in this work regarding whatever you find that piques your curiosity. Think of it as an overview and bear in mind that it represents what I have learned through my reading, most of which is derived from my personal library. This book represents a people for whom I discovered my passion back in the 1980s. Having collected and read so many books and papers about pre-war, war-time, and post-war Okinawa, it occurred to me that there is an almost endless array of publications, each offering abundant facts, opinions and definitely many uncertainties as to events, dates of events, and details of just about every aspect of the principalities, kingdom, province, then finally the prefecture of Okinawa-ken, including its 27-year interruption under U.S. occupation. A prime example of such uncertainties is trying to determine the date of construction of Shurei-mon, or for that matter Shuri-jo. Another conundrum is trying to determine which year(s) the Omoro Soshi was written. Some believe that the Omoro Soshi itself was entirely fabricated by Shuri elites who were rewriting or even embellishing or imagining their own history. There are many variables and many unknowns. I have no intent or desire to pose as an expert in any sense but do hope to serve you the reader a chronological organization of information - a compendium, if you will - relating to what has created the sub-tropical paradise that true Okinawaphiles treasure today. I don't know how many times I've been involved in a discussion about some aspect of Okinawa's history only to find myself rifling through books in search of details and answers. How often have been times that I thought I had the answer only to discover that someone, somewhere, in some other publication had presented information in contradiction to what I had previously read in another? In this volume I have endeavored to present a condensation and organization of what I have read and in some cases what I have learned from living in and exploring with my family and friends, or alone, the old Ryukyu Kingdom. As I have read and studied, I've discovered that something is missing - a definitive one-stop resource that has information in one place, between the covers of one book, that will give me everything I seek. If such a resource existed, Oh, what a tome that would be! This isn't that. But you hold in your hands a chronology of data gleaned from my reading of many books, papers, articles, brochures, and other devices in my Okinawa Library. Those resources are mostly limited to English-language publications so that fact in and of itself should lead you to conclude that my work, by leaving out other-than-English language publications cannot possibly be definitive. There is no way to present a comprehensive volume that covers all aspects of Okinawa's past and present without necessitating the use of a wheelbarrow to move it from one place to the next; it would be that big! This book's content is inspired by and is representative of what I've read and, to a lesser degree what I've researched on the Internet. Some of it is derived from personal experience or observation. If you can't find information on a particular subject, that just means that I haven't experienced it, don't have it in my library or perhaps I do but haven't read it yet. Most of the material in this book is derivative, but then, how can a history be anything but? Most of what is included in this volume is taken directly from myriad resources, some even generously cited verbatim. I have no intent to pass myself off as a wordsmith, and with a keen appreciation and respect for the work of others, no effort has been made by this writer to improve upon their works. Instead, I have expanded on much of what has already been written, derived from the knowledge, experience, and expertise of others. Some sources are more credible and reliable than the next and when there's doubt or conflicting accounts, I have related such inconsistencies. In some cases, I've done quite a bit of digging for facts and accounts that help to achieve, at the very least, consensus. Perhaps it would be more accurate if I were to identify myself as an editor in lieu of claiming authorship despite much of the content in this compendium being my own. Interpretations, opinions, and extrapolations have been exercised in the preparation of what you are invited to read but by no means is there a promise that all data is incontrovertible. I wasn't there. Sorely few folks have actually been on-site over the centuries to observe history in the making. Even fewer have been involved in the making of that history. With that said, I accept full responsibility for whatever inaccuracies may be found here. So, again, bearing in mind that a history is by its very name and nature a derivative exercise, please enjoy this for what it is intended. ... and with that: Where to begin? Imagine, You've just left the shore of your fishing village with your brothers in a rickety craft hoping to make a good catch and a decent profit. Out to sea, a storm's brewing and you decide to get back to shore in time, but it's too late - you've lost control. You're adrift and end up beached upon a rocky islet somewhere. You find ways to survive for months, waiting for a savior to appear on the horizon. That day finally arrives - you're spotted and taken aboard a foreign ship. But you're one man fewer than you were at the outset of your fishing expedition. One of your brothers has died. Aboard the ship you're on your way back home. Or are you? The ship, flying under a foreign flag is not allowed to enter a Japanese port in order to return you to your home island and, in fact, if you were to return to your home you would face nearly certain execution for no reason other than that you, for whatever reason, departed Japan in the first place. So, what do you do? You sail on with your seafaring benefactor to another world - a continent on the other side of the globe. You're well cared for. A fine education is provided. All other considerations aside, you're living a pretty good life. But you want to go home.

You and your brothers work hard to earn money to buy a small boat then arrange to take that boat aboard a trade ship that you know will be sailing back into your part of the world. When you get to where you're pretty sure you are near home, and that it's not likely that you'll lose your head to a flashing sword - the captain of the trade ship bids you farewell as his crew helps you lower your little boat over the side. In you go and off you go, rowing against the wind or maybe with the tide. Exhausted, you reach shore and find yourself on the small island of Okinawa. From a Mabuni beach you manage, in time, to make your way back to your beloved village. Or maybe, You suddenly appear in a strange town from out of nowhere, uninvited, and demand of your host that he provide you with free room and board. That demand denied, you hopefully appeal to the humane side of the authority and gesture to your children and wife, begging that they be given at the very least a place to stay for one night. The woman and the children are dreadfully weary. Oh, but if only your family might rest after a long and arduous voyage. Your host, indeed, a gentle and not a haughty person, relents and offers you the use of a temple in which to rest your weary bones. You gratefully accept his offer to allow your family to stay for one night – but in the morning you toss out all of the temple furnishings (they are beneath your dignified self), unpack your own stuff, make yourself at home and stay for seven or eight years, all the while haranguing the townsfolk to accept your own religious teachings. You make daily demands of your host that are grudgingly accommodated. You have made of yourself something that cannot be described as anything better than a mendo kusai hito (real pain in the ass). Eventually someone else comes along in a big black ship and your host begs - nay, pleads with that ship's captain to carry you away. Or maybe, You're a poor farmer, working your fingers to the bone every day just to feed yourself and your family. A bully barges into your village, takes over your farm and all the farms of your friends. And … he makes you work that farm just as hard as you ever did before. Ah, but that's not enough for the bully. On top of taking your home, your land, and your labor he demands that you give him a sizable portion of your crop yield. The bully expects prompt payment-in-full from your village and farms and doesn't really care how your village comes up with it. What if you get sick and can't work your farm to contribute your share of the ransom? Everyone else in the village must work harder to make up for what you are unable to produce. The bully doesn't care how he gets his cut; only that he gets his cut. Or maybe, You're plugging along, living your life - not an affluent life but at least it's peaceful and for the most part easy-going. In a matter of weeks, you're no longer farming. You have been conscripted by unwelcomed forces who have occupied your land and have forced you to build bunkers, harbors, and airfields in preparation for war. A war that's not even of your own doing. Your children have been ripped away from what once was their schools and stuck into labor units with promises of them being divinely rewarded for their sweat - and for their lives that should be so proudly and so willingly sacrificed for the interlopers' emperor. Before long, all Hell breaks loose and your family and your life, and the land that you once knew - the land you tended so lovingly, - your homes and temples, your entire culture disappears before your very eyes. If you are among those unfortunate 150,000 or so countrymen who will lose their lives, then you won't grieve the loss. Because you won't survive to realize it. Or maybe, It's election day and for the first time in your life you are among the first in your entire nation to be told that you have just as much right as your husband, brother or uncle to cast a ballot. Or maybe you will find many adventures, stories of victories, stories of defeat, and tales of great sadness as you peruse these pages. I can only hope that you will enjoy the ride! Oh, one more thing - you're going to find inconsistencies in the manner in which I refer to Okinawa. I have tried to use a reference appropriate to the date, era or period of time in which the event existed. For a time prior to 1429, the main island of Okinawa was home to three principalities with Chuzan as the predominant power center, but Chuzan shouldn't be interpreted as all of the archipelago. There have been so many different names given in various publications, many of which depend upon who wrote the text. For example, the Portuguese called it Lequios, the French called it Likeujo, etc. Throughout most of the book I refer to the islands as Ryukyu or, after 1879, simply Okinawa. Maybe one more thing to think about: is it proper to say, "in Okinawa" or "on Okinawa?" I believe that if one is referring to the main island it is proper to say "on" Okinawa but if referring to the entire archipelago I would say "in" Okinawa, as "in" the prefecture. Similarly, one would say that they are "on" Maui but "in" the State of Hawaii. - -

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