Prefectures Of Japan Codexery

Okinawa Prefecture

Japan's southernmost and westernmost prefecture, made up of the Okinawa, Sakishima and Daitō island groups.

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Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, consisting of three main island groups spread across a large maritime zone.[1] Warm temperatures and abundant rainfall year-round define the subtropical climate of the prefecture.[2]

Last updated 2026-10-13 from the source article.

Geography and history

Of its 160 islands, 49 are inhabited, with the largest and most populous being Okinawa Island, which hosts the capital city of Naha.[2] Historically the center of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawa served as a maritime trading hub and participated in the Chinese tributary system with the Ming and Qing dynasties.[3] The kingdom retained distinct statehood until it was incorporated into Japan as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879 following the Ryukyu Disposition.[3] After the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, the islands were under U.S. administration until reversion to Japan in 1972.[3]

Human activity in Okinawa is first evidenced by the Yamashita Cave Man, whose remains are roughly 32,000 years old.[4] A fishhook, identified as the oldest known globally, was unearthed in 2012 at the Sakitari Cave site located in Nanjo City.[4] Starting in the 12th century, the Gusuku period began in Okinawa, marked by the rise of farming communities and the building of fortified residences known as Gusuku.[5] During 1609, the Satsuma Domain's Shimazu clan launched an invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom, after which the kingdom became a vassal state under Satsuma's authority.[6]

What the cited sources add

A 1999 article by Robert S. Norris and colleagues in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists documented that between 1954 and 1972, 19 different types of nuclear weapons were deployed in Okinawa.[7][8] According to the same source, ammunition bunkers at Kadena Air Base were the alleged storage locations for the majority of these weapons.[7][8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Okinawa Prefecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Okinawa-shi" in (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Okinawa Prefecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Okinawa Prefecture; Okinawa Prefecture; Nussbaum, "Naha" in; {{cite book |author= |script-title=ja:角川日本地名大辞典 47 沖縄県 |trans-title=Kadokawa Nihon Chimei Daijiten 47: Okinawa Prefecture |year=1986 |publisher= |location=Tokyo; www.city.ishigaki.okinawa.jp; 沖縄県; www.city.amami.lg.jp; {{Cite web |date=July 20, 2023 |script-title=ja:全ゲノム配列解析により見えてきた沖縄島と宮古諸島の集団の形成過程 琉球大学 |url=https://www.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/news/47334/ |access-date=May 13, 2025 |lan; {{Cite web |script-title=ja:南九州・薩南諸島・奄美諸島における琉球系民俗芸能の研究: 境界領域における民俗的異文化イメージの形成と伝承 NDLサーチ 国立国会図書館 en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Okinawa Prefecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ryukyu Islands", Encyclopædia Britannica; Lin, "The Ryukyus and Taiwan in the East Asian Seas: A Longue Durée Perspective", The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, October 2, 2006; "Information Portal of Military Bases on Okinawa", Okinawa Prefectural Government DC Office; "In Okinawa, an independence movement finds an unlikely ally", The World (PRX), November 20, 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Okinawa Prefecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yamakawa Publishing, 2004; Yamakawa Publishing, 2004; "Excavation Report of the Sakitari Cave Site, Nanjo City, Okinawa", National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Okinawa Prefecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 東洋企画 (Toyo Planning), 2007; 東洋企画 (Toyo Planning), 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Okinawa Prefecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yamakawa Publishing, 2004; 東洋企画 (Toyo Planning), 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Okinawa Prefecture" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Journal, ""Herbicide Stockpile" at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa: 1971 U.S. Army report on Agent Orange The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus", apjjf.org, January 7, 2013; Norris, "Where They Were", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November 1999, p. 26–35; Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins", (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019), (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Robert S. Norris, "Where they were", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (1999), doi:10.2968/055006011. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Okinawa Prefecture (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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