390 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 7 



plate 4, upper. The simple rural houses were usually rectangular with 

 thatched roofs and walls made of two layers of bamboo lattice with a 

 straw filler in between. No windows were used, sometimes even a smoke 

 hole was lacking, and the floors were often packed earth. Better rural 

 homes had more rooms, paneled walls, raised board flooring, and even 

 tiled roofs, but this was more the urban style. In these homes the 

 family shrine occupied an important place in one of the rooms. It 

 was a highly stained and polished waist-high cabinet with frames and 

 sliding panel of elaborately cut lattice. Within were at least two steps 

 housing family name plates and other objects. The rest of the house 

 might be very plain, but the family shrine was as exquisitely made as 

 the household could afford. 



Kural dwellings were almost always surrounded by a live hedge, a 

 stone wall, or both, if money permitted. As can be seen in plate 3, up- 

 per, the entrance to the compound was sometimes guarded by a short 

 wall just within. In addition to the main dwelling, there was a stable, 

 small storage house, and a pigsty directly under the latrine. A cistern 

 or well usually completed the farmstead structures. 



In the urban homes, sliding paneled walls, board flooring, and 

 hipped tile roofs were used where they could be afforded. Usually 

 these homes were surrounded by a high stone wall. Within the court- 

 yard, small storage structures and pigsties were usually present. 



The most unusual feature of Ryukyu architecture was the womb- 

 shaped tomb of South Chinese inspiration. (See pi. 3, lower.) Most 

 tombs were set into steep banks and hillsides unsuitable for farming, 

 but were by far the most costly family edifices. The approach was 

 through an outer courtyard walled by hewn rock. These walls 

 joined the lateral abutments of the tomb. The tomb itself, carefully 

 constructed of concrete or cut stone, was pear-shaped with a flat or low- 

 domed roof. The entrance to the funerary vault was large enough to 

 admit a coflS.n. Within the vault the remains of recently deceased fam- 

 ily members lay in coffins, while the carefully cleaned bones of the long 

 dead were deposited in elaborate pottery jars of native make. 



The burial customs were part of the ancestor worship, an integi-al 

 part of the old Ryukyu religion, embellished by Chinese customs. 

 Currently the Japanese cremate their dead, and have disseminated 

 this practice to the North Ryukyus. Cremation was rare, however, 

 in the South and Central islands, although not every family could 

 afford a burial tomb. Poor families were more likely to place their 

 dead in caves or cemeteries. 



A fine family tomb was a prized possession, and took great sacrifice 

 to construct. Often a family might live in a hovel, but would labor 

 lifetimes to possess a suitable resting place for its dead. A fine tomb 

 was considered much more important than a fine home. 



Transportation and communication. — The larger and more heavily 



