RYUKYU PEOPLE — NEWMAN AND ENG 401 



does not extend to that which is no longer valuable" (ibid, p. 395). 

 As an Okinawan might have expressed it in a United States Navy 

 hospital (see p. 392) , "Why should I give blood to a countryman whom 

 I don't know, and who will probably die anyway?" In terms of this 

 realism, and the in-group solidarity which blots out other ties, there 

 would be no answer to him. 



The possession of a sometimes ruthless realism did not render the 

 Ryukyuans "almost devoid of religious sentiments," as Leavenworth 

 (1905, p. 38) would have it. To be sure, few natives were converted 

 to Buddhism or Christianity, but in their own way they made strong 

 identifications with the supernatural. It is important to note that 

 these identifications were on a practical level. The old-time religion 

 held that all of nature was alive and endowed with spirits. Because 

 the people realized their helpless dependence upon nature, fire, moun- 

 tain peaks, groves, rivers, and the sea were construed as vague but pow- 

 erful friendly or unfriendly forces. The prayers and ceremonies were 

 to please the friendly forces, and, insofar as their feeble powers per- 

 mitted, placate the unfriendly ones. There are no indications that the 

 belief in inimical spirit forces made for a fear-ridden society. Possi- 

 bly the popular attitude was rather one of resignation, which might be 

 expressed as "We will do what we can, and observe all the proprieties. 

 Then come what may." In their practice of ancestor worship, the 

 elaborate funerary procedures were also carried out to the letter. 

 Apparently there was deep satisfaction to be derived from properly 

 honoring the dead. A fine tomb for this purpose was a prime goal in 

 Ryukyu culture. 



THE WAR AND THE FUTURE 



The assigned task of the Ryukyus during World War II was to 

 provide military conscripts and war workers to the Empire and to 

 tighten the belts at home. As the Japanese military position became 

 desperate, more and more Ryukyuans were fed into the war machine. 

 And beginning with the heavy United States air strike on October 10, 

 1944, bombed-out natives fled to southern Japan. So by the time of 

 the invasion, the civilian population of the Ryukyus was as low as 

 it was about 1900. 



Okinawa and adjacent islets felt the smashing effect of a shooting 

 invasion, while only the military areas of other islands were bombed 

 and shelled by American and British forces. On Okinawa itself, 

 some 30,000 able-bodied native men were pressed into the Japanese 

 defense force of some 120,000. In many cases their families went with 

 them and were caught in the bitter fighting. Most of the civilians, 

 however, hid out in the hills and in caves under overcrowded and 

 difficult conditions until they were brought out by the Americans. 

 In addition to the injuries of war, the lack of food, warm clothing, 



