Okinawa: The History of an Island People

Well, my title says it all. It is an excellent piece of scholarship on a historically very fascinating island group in the interface between the Southern Seas, Japan, Korea and China on which normally you could expect very little research and scholarly literature. Okinawa's history, its monuments and archives were all destroyed, burned and bombed during the horiffic battle of April-June 1945 (however senseless this invasion may have been in strategic terms for Japan's ultimate surrender), yet the author manages to rescue out of the ruins so to speak- for Western readers at least - the essence of Okinawan history, social life and customs. This is a wonderful achievement. And it is even better that he is such an engaging and straight forward writer. Simply put, this is a perfect example of literate scholarship, which we normally could not expect on such a "marginal" territory and which remains unsurpassed ever since.

Once upon a time there was not much written about Okinawa. Now there’s more out there and its refreshing to see young people taking an interest. For my 96 year old mother it helps her recall the “old days”

My goodness! When this tome of a book crashed on to my doormat, my immediate thoughts were, 'Oh no! Text book; too demanding, too wordy, too much to bother with today and put it on the coffee table because if nothing else it actually looks pretty impressive. Not that I'm desperate to impress. HONESLTLY!I've been researching Okinawa and in particular the 1609 Satsuma invasion and had already read the excellent "The Samurai Capture A King" which at times became quite a chore to study with the huge amount of dates, names etc etc etc.When I finally picked up this book I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that it was written in an extremely simple and understandable way and not at all in the high faluting fashion I had been expecting. I've only read-up what I've needed so far and have discovered some wonderful facts about the Ryukus, their people and in particular their mythical beliefs and deities; The Dragon Castle, The Sun Goddess to name but two, which I found fascinating.I'm greatly looking to working further into the book to read about another historical event that has always fascinated me: The Battle for Okinawa in 1945. WhenI get to it I'll tell you all about it but it could take a long and very interesting whileIf you, like me are a Karateka interested in discovering more about the place of your arts origin; or if you just have an interest in the amazing history between, Okinawa and it's great influences, China and Japan, this book is simply a MUST HAVE.EXCELLENT!!

I am currenty writing a book on Okinawan martial arts and felt that a better overview of the history of Okinawa would better enable me to write my own book. There is little to nothing on Okinawan martial arts in this book, but it is an extremely readable book on the history of Okinawa up to the end of WWII. There are also a couple of addtional small sections at the end of the book with corrections and a brief history of Okinawa from the end of WWII to the end of the twentieth century. I learned a lot from this book and found it to be easy to read and easy to understand. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Orient in general and Okinawa in particular.

There are few books in English of the history of this island state. Okinawa has a proud history, despite being dominated by the Chinese, Japanese, and Americans. It was an independent kingdom for hundreds of years and the Okinawan people are still proud of that heritage. I read the first edition of Kerr's book and still have it somewhere on my shelf. This newer edition adds some post-WWII information and deals with the issues of modern Okinawa. A must read for anyone looking beyond the resorts, beautiful beaches, and omnipresent military bases of present day Okinawa.

Written really well; doesn't read like a boring history book. Hard to put down -- well, with the first half bc the history gets depressing with Western involvement. There is a lot of info when it comes to all the names of the ships and what not. Gets a little blurry. Ends a pretty abruptly with Battle of Okinawa. Nothing really about rebuilding of Okinawa and post-WWII. But if you want to know pre-WWII history of the island, this is the book you want.

Researched and written by George H. Kerr, I believe that this book is accepted as the premiere text of authority with regard to the history of pre-war Okinawa.I've read and re-read this book and have a much greater understanding of the people of the Ryukyu Islands - and I also have a much deeper regret for having not known this history while living among the Okinawans. "...this is the history of a little-known people whom events have made it necessary to know well. It is also one of those all-too-rare books that happily combine solid scholarship and detailed accuracy with a forthright, enjoyable literary style that does justice to the storybook quality of many of the episodes. It will long remain the standard history of Okinawa and the Ryukyus."

Read the book just before a recent visit to Okinawa. I wanted to understand the history of the island(s) and the people that live there. It was comprehensive and very revealing and greatly enhanced my experience. It opened my eyes to the cultural differences between Okinawa and the main Japanese islands and I was able to better understand the subtleties I observed. It also helped me understand the transformation of feudal, isolationist Japan to Imperial power. It was all very much worth it when I first saw my first ancient mausoleum and I had an idea of what I was looking at and what it meant. Great stuff.

Very comprehensive and compelling reading - highly recommended!

very good source to know the comprehensive history of this beautiful island!

Prehistoryから、戦後までの沖縄の歴史を、外からみた沖縄のイメージを交えながら書いてあります。英語では厚い本だと始めは感じていましたが、意外と読みやすかったです。

An excellent complete explanation of Okinawa. Nothing else like it. I never realised it had such a rich history. The ancient history is particularly noteworthy.