RYUKYU PEOPLE — NEWMAN AND ENG 385 



times the yield of local varieties. As a result, in the few years before 

 World War II, Ryukyu farmers were shifting back to wet rice where- 

 ever the land permitted. 



Direct economic ties with Japan also stimulated local industries, 

 especially sugar and silk production. This brought money and goods 

 to the Ryukyus, but having part of the economy geared to world 

 markets rendered the islands more susceptible to depressions. This is 

 especially true when a country exports only two major products. So 

 the drop in sugar prices after World War I caused widespread suffer- 

 ing in the Ryukyus, and large numbers left for lands of better 

 opportunity. 



Although industrial development never proceeded far in the Ryu- 

 kyus, there was enough to threaten the old system of household crafts. 

 This forced a shift in certain manufactures from the household to the 

 factory, and required some workers to leave their homes and villages 

 in pursuit of work. The Japanese-style mutual benefit associations, 

 which appeared to be eagerly seized by Ryukyu craftsmen, did not 

 compensate for the threat to the household. 



A corollary change was the decline of native arts and crafts which 

 the local market could not support and Japanese consumers did not 

 care for. As an example, Ryukyu lacquerware of considerable artistic 

 excellence used to be made, but the traditional designs lost out to 

 Japanese styles. The native theater, dances, and music, formerly 

 sponsored by the upper classes, disintegrated with their disappear- 

 ance. The folk art of the peasants in the rural and more isolated areas 

 is all that remains. 



The effects of the assault on the old-time native religion are hard 

 to gage, although no foreign creed ever had a large popular following 

 in the Ryukyus. With the social and land reforms of this century, 

 however, the native priestesses or "noros" lost their hereditary lands. 

 Lacking their former wealth, these priestesses lost some influence, but 

 were said to be still powerful in out-of-the-way places. With the rise 

 of Japanese nationalism, official efforts were made to impose state 

 Shintoism on the Ryukyus. This met with greater success in the 

 North Ryukus than elsewhere. 



Under Japanese rule, the population of the Ryukyus increased tre- 

 mendously. From about 600,000 in 1890, it reached a peak of almost 

 880,000 in 1935. The natural increase was actually greater than this 

 since about 200,000 Ryukyuans left the islands between 1920 and 1940 

 in search of better opportunities. Since immigration to the Ryukyus 

 has been negligible within historic times, this rise in population meant 

 an increased live birth rate, a lowered death rate, or both. Whatever 

 the exact reasons for this gain, it was surely the most compelling 

 reason for the great exodus of people to other lands. Out-movement 

 became essential to the economic balance of the overcrowded islands. 



