Its Influence on Okinawan Identity Development and Social Justice

• In Event: 31.031 - Advancing Social Justice by Bridging the Cultural Worlds of Students, Families, Communities, Schools, and Universities

Abstract

Currently, Okinawa is a part of Japan, although it was once an independent sovereignty called Ryuukyuu Kingdom that was annexed by Japan in 1879 (Higa, 1970). Since annexation, Japanization of Okinawan identity is perpetuated through education (Kondo, 2006), newspaper accounts (Ryuukyuuan Government, 1966), and language policies (Arazato & Ōshiro, 1972; Ishihara, 2004). For example, after annexation, speaking in Japanese and wearing Japanese clothes were promoted in Okinawan schools.
Lim (2010) proposed that young people in Okinawa have a complex dual identity that includes Okinawan and Japanese. Hawai‘i is an important place to study Okinawan identity because students have opportunities to learn about Okinawan history and culture (Ishigaki, 2011) from a different cultural perspective than what they have learned at home.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how Okinawan international students studying in Hawai‘i become more conscious of and reconstruct their Okinawan identity.

Theoretical Framework
We employed Bridging Multiple Worlds (Cooper, 2011) to examine how studying in Hawai’i influences students’ exploration of their “Okinawanness” and greater awareness of Okinawa and their Okinawan identity. Bridging Multiple Worlds has been used to investigate students’ developing cultural identities as they cross boundaries to school and universities (Cooper, Gonzalez, & Wilson, 2014).

Methods
Participants. Participants included seven international graduate students of Okinawan ancestry who grew up in Okinawa and were studying at the University of Hawai‘i. We conducted interviews and demographic surveys.
Data sources. Interview questions focused on students’ Okinawan and Japanese identities and their activities in an Okinawan club. Using grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 2008), we identified themes and concepts regarding generating Okinawan consciousness and identity.

Results
The key themes included: accessibility to be Okinawan; becoming minority; Hawai‘i as a place to learn about Okinawa; and the Okinawan community in Hawai‘i. Regarding accessibility to be Okinawan, Okinawan international students described themselves as Okinawan to people in Hawai‘i because many people in Hawai‘i recognized Okinawa more often than on the continental U.S. As one student explained, “Because I expect or think that people in Hawai‘i would know about Okinawa. If they do not know, I would explain. But…when I was actually on the mainland, I said that I was Japanese.” One student became more conscious of being Okinawan by being and categorizing Okinawan as an ethnic minority group, in contrast to Okinawans being the majority group in Okinawa. In addition, students had opportunities in Hawai‘i to recognize their lack of knowledge about Okinawa and to learn more. Finally, interactions with Okinawan Americans strengthened students’ Okinawan consciousness and identities.

Significance and Implications
Results indicated that studying abroad might provide opportunities for increasing the salience of students’ Okinawan consciousness and identity. This is similar to American students who reconstructed their national identities through their study abroad experiences (Charleston & Rogers, 2012). If Japanization of identity is considered as psychological colonization among Okinawans in the (post)colonial era since its annexation, unveiling mechanisms by which students’ Okinawan consciousness and identity become more salient holds great significance for praxis and policy for psychological decolonization.

Authors

• Kazufumi Taira, University of Hawaii - Manoa

• Lois A. Yamauchi, University of Hawaii - Manoa