384 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 7 



most complete in the North Ryukyus which Japan had dominated 

 since the early seventeenth century. It was least complete in the un- 

 developed South Ryukyus, where much of the old culture still exists 

 today. 



Yet complete assimilation of the Ryukju people was impossible 

 since, despite official protestations of brotherhood, the islanders were 

 looked down upon as uncouth rustics by the Japanese. The Ryukyu- 

 ans had their own pride and according to Murdock (personal com- 

 munication) considered themselves a subnationality of the Japanese. 

 Thus they were Japanese in about the same way the Scots are British. 



Cultural changes under the Japanese. — Officially imposed changes 

 in Ryukyu culture were effected during the 74 years of full Japanese 

 rule. These changes were cataclysmic to the upper-class natives, but 

 were much more lightly felt by the commoners. And the smaller, 

 less accessible islands were affected the least. 



The Japanese commenced their assault on Ryukyu culture by lop- 

 ping off the top of the native social hierarchy. By the 1920's the rigid 

 and numerous class distinctions had disappeared. Almost everyone 

 was a commoner, except for the Japanese officials, who were strictly 

 top-dog. With the social reform, there was a reapportioning of arable 

 land. Under the Ryukyu monarchy, land had been granted in fief 

 to the upper classes, and the rest was divided communally among the 

 peasants. But beginning in 1899 the land was allotted in small plots 

 to independent farmers. Contrary to Japanese expectations, this did 

 not increase the over-all yield, but it distributed the food supply more 

 evenly among the people. 



The Japanese inheritance laws were properly designed to keep the 

 land within the family, but younger children did not receive a share. 

 Since the small plots could onlj support an expanding family with 

 difficulty, landless young men and women were often forced to seek 

 a livelihood elsewhere. This tended to weaken the family structure. 

 Although Japanese administrators were aware of this danger, they 

 merely resorted to palliative measures. 



The changes in planting of crops stimulated the food economy. In 

 the final centuries of the Ryukyu monarchy, heavy subsidies were paid 

 to wet-rice growers, and the number of flooded fields greatly increased. 

 At the same time sugarcane growing was restricted. Since Ryukyu 

 rice lacked hardiness and abundant yield, required scarce water, and 

 took a lot of work, this was an impractical plan. Under the Japanese, 

 sweetpotato and sugarcane raising were encouraged, and were, respec- 

 tively, the primary food and cash crops of the islands. 



Ryukyu food habits in the 1930's showed a strong shift to rice, but 

 only half the required amount could be produced locally. Conse- 

 quently, to reduce the necessary imports, Japanese agronomists 

 introduced Formosa No. 65 rice, which was hardier and had several 



