Botanizing with the Okinawans 



By Egbert H. Walker 



Department of Botany, U. S. National Museum 



[With 10 plates] 



Okinawa Island first became a real place in the minds of the people 

 of the United States in April 1945, when our Armed Forces made there 

 the last significant island invasion of World War II. With that in- 

 vasion the United States Government assumed responsibility for 

 another native population. It was my good fortune to spend over 

 three months in the summer of 1951 botanizing in the Ryukyu Islands x 

 southwest of Japan, of which chain Okinawa is the largest and most 

 important island. My mission was to aid the United States Civil 

 Administration in solving some of its economic problems through 

 botanical investigation. 



The war left these islands in an impoverished condition. They 

 had been governed by Japanese officials, though the people of the 

 Ryukyus are not strictly Japanese. With the departure or subsequent 

 removal of the former officials, the Ryukyuans were left with inex- 

 perienced leaders. A third of Okinawa Island, the most important 

 part, was devastated by the violent battles of the war. Sugar re- 

 fineries were gaunt spectres, shipping facilities were wiped out, and 

 even the markets for the possible exports from these islands were 

 gone. Postwar rehabilitation of Ryukyuans, especially of Okinawans, 

 from the Pacific Islands, South America, and elsewhere increased 

 the population of the islands from about 839,000 in 1940 to over 

 940,000 in 1952, too many for the land to support as it was then being 

 farmed ; and the requirements of an occupying force, still engaged in 

 extensive military operations, even today seriously hamper recovery. 



It is the task of the United States Civil Administration of the 

 Ryukyus, a part of the United States Army, to make these islands 



1 The confusing multiplicity of names of these islands is due to the variant translitera- 

 tions of the original Japanese and Chinese names by peoples of many western as well as 

 eastern countries. Among the principal variants are : Lew Chew, Lewchew, Lieucbieux, 

 Liu Chiu, Liu Ch'iu, Liuchiu, Liukiu, Liu-Kiu, Loo Choo, Loo-Choo, Loochoo, Luchu, 

 Riu-kiu, Riu-Kiu, Riu Kiu, Riukiu, Ryukyu, and Ryukyus. The last two are accredited 

 by the Board on Geographic Names, U. S. Department of the Interior. 



236639—53 24 359 



