Okinawa Hontō

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Okinawa Hontō / Okinawa-jima
Satellite image, 2015
Satellite image, 2015
Waters East China Sea
Archipelago Okinawa
Geographical location 26 ° 29 '  N , 127 ° 57'  E Coordinates: 26 ° 29 '  N , 127 ° 57'  E
Okinawa Hontō (Okinawa Prefecture)
Okinawa Hontō
length 100 km
width 25 km
surface 1 206.96  km²
Highest elevation Yonaha-dake
503  m
Residents 1,230,000
1019 inhabitants / km²
main place Naha
Topographic map of Okinawa Hontō
Topographic map of Okinawa Hontō

Okinawa Hontō ( Japanese 沖 縄 本 島 , dt. "Okinawa Main Island"; also: Okinawa-jima , 沖 縄 島 ; Uchinā in the Okinawan language) is the largest of the Ryūkyū Islands and the main island of the Okinawa archipelago belonging to Japan . As an island of the Ryūkyū island arc , Okinawa Hontō also belongs to the Nansei Islands .

Naha is the capital of Okinawa Prefecture and, with 317,606 inhabitants, is also the largest city on Okinawa Hontō. The total population of Okinawa Hontō is around 1.23 million people, including US soldiers and their families. About 85 percent of the 1.45 million inhabitants of Okinawa Prefecture live on Okinawa Hontō.

The island, like the other Ryūkyū Islands , only officially became part of the Japanese state in 1871. Until then, it was the center of the Ryūkyū Kingdom , which had already lost its independence with the Satsuma invasion by the Shimazu clan in 1609.

Geography and climate

Okinawa Hontō is located between 26 ° 5 'and 26 ° 53' N and between 127 ° 38 'and 128 ° 20' E. It is about 515 km from the southern tip of Kyushu and about 580 km from Taiwan .

The island has a length of 106.6 km and a width of 3.0 to 31.2 km. Its land area is 1206.96 km².

The southern part of the island, in which the prefecture capital Naha is located, is extremely densely built, while the northern third of the island is comparatively untouched and sparsely populated. The US Marine Jungle Warfare Training Center used by the US military for jungle combat training is located there . The northwest coast is bordered by the Okinawa Kaigan ( 沖 縄 海岸 ) quasi-national park .

Okinawa Hontō and the surrounding islands are in the subtropical zone . The average annual temperature is 22.4 ° C. In summer 26 to 28 ° C, in winter months 16 to 18 ° C are normal, the thermometer does not drop below 10 ° C. Rain falls about half of the year, a total of over 2000 mm. Typhoons regularly hit Okinawa in summer and fall .

Flora and fauna

Okinawa Hontō and the waters surrounding the island have an amazing biodiversity , which is why sometimes one even speaks of the Galapagos of Japan in this context . A number of the species occurring on Okinawa are found nowhere else. Well-known endemic species are, for example, the Okinawa woodpecker (Sapheopipo noguchii) ( ノ グ チ ゲ ラ , noguchigera ), which is also the prefecture bird of the prefecture of Okinawa and the relatively recently discovered Okinawaralle ( Gallallaeirall ) ) ( ヤ ン バ ル ク イ ナ , yanbarukuina ), a crane bird that occurs only in Kunigami County , in the Yambaru forest area ( 山 原 ). The Okinawaralle and many other species are now threatened with extinction due to "land appreciation" and introduced enemies .

A few years ago, the dugongs , a globally endangered species of manatee native to Japan that is only native to the waters around Okinawa-Hontō , received great attention . A plan by the Japanese government foresaw ago before the district Henoko ( Nago located) coral reef a 1.5 times 0.6 km large offshore - Heliport to build on which the controversial Futenma airbase should be moved. Exactly this coral reef, whose waters have been classified by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment in the highest protection class, is the most important habitat of the Okinawan dugongs. The adoption of the plans in 1999 was followed by protests by the population and environmentalists for years. At the end of 2005, the plan for the offshore heliport was dropped. A new, old plan provides for the expansion of the US military facility Camp Schwab located on the nearby coast into the sea. This plan is also rejected by the population, but has a good chance of being implemented within a few years.

However, the US restricted areas also have some positive effects on the nature of Okinawa: The extensive area of ​​the US Marine Jungle Warfare Training Center (Camp Gonsalves) of the US armed forces, which is located in the northern part of Okinawa Hontō, is used extensively and is therefore similar to a nature reserve . As of September 15, 2016, 13,622 hectares in the Yambaru region around Camp Gonsalves and 3,670 hectares of the offshore marine area were assigned to the newly established Yambaru National Park .

On Okinawa, based on bone finds, one of the oldest well-dated evidence of the presence of modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) in East Asia was established. The best preserved skeleton is called Minatogawa 1 .

Culture and language

With Okinawa becoming part of the Japanese state, Japanese traditions also found their way to Okinawa. For example - as in the rest of Japan - the cherry blossom is an important event here, which is accompanied by festivals with music, dance and parades. However, while the cherry blossom front , which is pursued nationwide, does not begin until the end of March at the southern tip of Kyūshū , the cherry blossoms here already open at the end of January. The most important places on Okinawa are Nago Central Park below the remains of Nago Castle and Mount Yaedake, which is also near Nago.

The weapons ban, which was first introduced in the Ryūkyū kingdom and expanded under the rule of the Shimazu clan , led to the development of various martial arts in Okinawa , some of which circumvented the ban, some without weapons and some with the use of tools converted into weapons. Karate , Kobudō and Tōde are worth mentioning here .

Since the language originally spoken in Okinawa Hontō, Okinawa or Uchināguchi , was hardly passed on to descendants, especially during the occupation, it is now only spoken fluently by a small percentage of the population, mostly older people. However, the Japanese spoken in Okinawa also differs from standard Japanese in terms of local or regional vocabulary . Views are divided on how many Ryūkyū languages there are and whether the Okinawa Islands are different languages ​​or different dialects. The mutual understanding that is possible between the varieties spoken here suggests treating them as one language with different varieties. In recent years, the efforts of interest groups that are specifically striving to preserve and revitalize the Okinawan language and the associated cultural characteristics have increased.

As part of a veritable “Okinawa boom”, the culture and language of Okinawa - albeit often stereotyped  - have found their way into Japan's pop culture , for example in the form of rock and pop bands that actually or apparently come from Okinawa . These include artists from Begin , Amuro Namie , Gackt , Da Pump and Orange Range.

Attractions

Lying On Okinawa nine sites of the UNESCO - World Heritage "Archaeological sites (Gusuku) of the Kingdom of Ryukyu Islands":

  • Shuri Castle in Naha
  • Katsuren-jo ( Gusuku castle ruins) (Roman coins were found here in 2016)
  • Nakagusuku Castle
  • Nakijin castle ruins
  • Sonohyan stone gate
  • Shikinaen garden
  • Zakimi Castle
  • Tamaudun mausoleum
  • Sefa Utaki rock cave

Other tourist attractions are:

Economy and Transport

The Naha monorail

In addition to the US military facilities, which directly and indirectly give many people jobs, tourism is increasingly of economic importance on Okinawa Hontō.

On the agricultural areas of Okinawa mainly sugar cane, pineapple and a type of sweet potato called “Satsuma potato”, introduced after 1609, are grown.

Railway lines, an important means of transport in the rest of Japan, have not existed since the Battle of Okinawa , but since 2003 the Yuirail , a nearly 13 km long monorail, has connected the airport with Shuri, east of Naha . The main modes of public transport are buses and taxis.

Naha International Airport connects Okinawa Hontō with Taipei , Hong Kong , Shanghai and Seoul . Within Japan there are flight connections to Tōkyō , Osaka , Kagoshima , Nagasaki and Fukuoka, among others .

Passenger traffic by ferry , once the most important means of transport to and from Okinawa, has fallen sharply with the drop in the price of airline tickets. Ferry connections that were no longer profitable were discontinued. However, ships are still important for the transport of goods.

Political situation

The political situation on Okinawa Hontō is characterized by tensions that arise from the close coexistence of the population with the US troops . US soldiers have been permanently stationed on Okinawa since the Second World War . Around three quarters of the US military bases and around half of the US soldiers in Japan are concentrated on the island, which with a good 1200 km² only takes 0.3 percent of the area of ​​Japan. For the USA , Okinawa Hontō is an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" because of its proximity to Taiwan and North Korea, among other places, of great geostrategic importance. Therefore, despite repeated protests by the local population, it is not to be expected that the USA will return all of the land it has used - around ten percent of the island - in the foreseeable future.

The problem of the US bases divides Okinawa into supporters and opponents. Representatives of the Japanese government and locals who profit economically from the US bases, for example landowners who earn lease income, are interested in the continued existence of the military facilities. In contrast, large parts of the population of Okinawa Hontō, especially environmental and peace activists , want a complete withdrawal of US troops . The most frequently cited reasons are pollution of land, water and air, inner-city noise, accidents, violence and - especially since the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by US soldiers in 1995 - the danger posed by soldiers to women and girls.

The Japanese government makes economic development programs dependent on decisions in their favor in order to win over the population for their side. For example, the government granted its victorious candidate Keiichi Inamine, who emerged victorious in the prefectural gubernatorial elections, funds which his predecessor and opponent of the US bases, Masahide Ōta, had been denied.

In April 2006, Japan and the USA reached an agreement on plans to relocate some of the troops, which had been discussed since autumn 2005. Of the approximately 20,000 troops currently stationed on Okinawa - four of the five branches of the US armed forces , the US Army , the US Navy , the US Air Force and the US Marine Corps maintain bases - 8,000 US Marines are expected to be [obsolete] by 2014 and 9,000 relatives are relocated to the Pacific island of Guam , part of the American Oceania . Of the estimated cost of US $ 10 billion, Japan will provide around US $ 6 billion, some as credit.

See also

literature

  • Hook, Glenn D./Siddle, Richard (Eds.): Japan And Okinawa. Structure and Subjectivity , 2003, ISBN 0-415-29833-4
  • Ukita, Tsuneyoshi (Ed.): Atlas Japan , 1989, ISBN 4-8071-2705-5
  • Yagasaki, Noritaka (Ed.): Japan. Geographical Perspectives on an Island Nation , 3rd Edition, 1997, ISBN 4-8071-5113-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 統計 デ ー タ 地勢 . 沖 縄 本 島 の 大 き さ . Okinawa Prefecture , archived from the original on June 25, 2013 ; Retrieved August 2, 2016 (Japanese).
  2. ↑ 島 面積 . (PDF; 136 kB) (No longer available online.) Kokudo Chiriin , October 1, 2015, archived from the original on June 15, 2016 ; Retrieved August 2, 2016 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gsi.go.jp
  3. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany: Spectacular find: How do Roman coins get to Japan? In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved September 28, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Hook / Siddle 2003 (see literature), pp. 125, 248