THE SYNTHETIC STUDY OF OKINAWAN YAEYAMA ISLANDS

1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 06305011
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 総合
• Research Field: 広領域
• Research Institution: Hosei University
• Principal Investigator: MUSYA Eiji FACULTY OF ENGINEERING HOSEI UNIV.PROFESSOR, 工学部, 教授 (10090664)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): UMEKI Tetsuto NAGAOKA NATIONAL COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY PROFESSOR, 教授 (20185060) ; NAKAMA Mitsunari FACULTY OF EDUCATION RYUKYU UNIV.PROFESSOR, 教育学部, 教授 (30155808) ; YASUE Takashi FACULTY OF GENERAL EDUCATION HOSEI UNIV.PROFESSOR, 第一教養部, 教授 (40061197) ; NAKAMATA Hitoshi FACULTY OF LETTERS HOSEI UNIV.PROFESSOR, 文学部, 教授 (60135895) ; AZUMA Yoshimochi SHIRAUME GAKUEN COLLEGE PROFESSOR, 教養科, 教授 (10113284)
• Project Period (FY): 1994 – 1996
• Keywords: SYNTHETIC STUDY OF YAEYAMA ISLANDS / BIBLIOGRAPHY OF YAEYAMA ISLANDS / STRUCTURE OF FOLK ARCHITECTURE IN YAEYAMA ISLANDS

Research Abstract

Since 1994, Our team has been conducting comprehensive field reseach into the language, history, folklore, literature and architecture of the Yaeyama region, which is located at the southern end of the Japanese cultural sphere.
The location of the Yaeyama islands has made them a meeting point between Japan and Southern China, the countries of southeast Asia, and other cultures to the south. Yaeyama has historically served as a bridge between these various cultures and Japan.
Extant research has concentrated on the Northern Ryukyuan region and has largely overlooked the Soutuern Ryukyus, which borders these cultures to the south of Japan. We belive that a comprehensive study of the Yaeyama region can make significant contributions to the understanding of Japanese culture.
Indeed, our research team found that the number of historical records, architectural structures, and other materials of histrical interest that survived the Pacific War far exceeds our expectations. Whereas the title deeds in other Okinawan islands were largely lost during the war, the ample documemts which remain in Yaeyama will enable us to clarify not only the Ryukyuan system of land ownership but also the details of forced emigration by both the Satsuma Clan and the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Our team surveyed and described a range of folk architecture in settlemants such as kabira in Ishigaki Island, and settlements on the islands of Taketomi, Hatoma and Iriomote. We expect this data to be of great benefit in deepening our understanding of traditional domestic architecture in the Ryukyu and Japan.