ended rule of the independent Ryukyu Kingdom (1429-1879) and made it into the prefecture of Okinawa. But there are few surviving slice-of-life photos like these from the time. The woman walking ...

We have our own kingdom.” Chibi refers to the Ryukyu ... we’re not any other country,” he declared. “We are Ryukyu.” The post In Okinawa, an independence movement finds an unlikely ...

The 19th century massacre occurred after a boat with 69 Miyakojima officials returning to their island from the Ryukyu kingdom base on the main Okinawa island was blown off course in a storm and ...

NAHA -- Two posthumous painted portraits of rulers of the Ryukyu Kingdom -- now Japan's Okinawa Prefecture -- have been returned after being discovered in the United States, the Okinawa ...

A Ryūkyū man dressed in a traditional bashōfu (芭蕉布 / banana plant cloth) kimono lies on the beach looking out to the sea. As he lies there, we witness the passage of time on the islands.

It was a center of politics, foreign affairs and culture at the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Shuri Castle was built about 500 years ago, when Okinawa was known as the independent Ryukyu Kingdom.

Okinawa is historically richer than its sun-kissed demeanour initially suggests. From the 15th to 19th Centuries, this southernmost prefecture of Japan formed most of the Ryukyu Kingdom ...

Okinawa Prefecture, previously the independent Ryukyu Kingdom, was annexed by Japan in 1879, and the Diaoyu Islands were not included in that annexation. "Japan calls these islands inherent ...

along with the ruins of other castles of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Okinawa. Okinawa's biggest industry is tourism, with people pouring in from Japan and overseas. Nearly 3 million people visited Shuri ...

Okinawa is Japan's southernmost prefecture. Once an independent Ryukyu Kingdom, this beautiful chain of subtropical islands has its own traditions of dance, crafts, music, and karate. The ancient ...

Less than 750 kilometres from Taiwan and home to nearly 30,000 US troops, the Japanese islands of Okinawa would play ... of what was then the independent kingdom of Ryukyu in 1879.