Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa (沖縄) is the southern most prefecture of Japan and the main island of the Ryukyu island chain. Although part of Japan, Okinawa has a culture and a language that are different from mainland Japanese. The Okinawan language, known locally as Uchinaguchi, is only used by older Okinawan people. Most of the younger Okinawan people prefer to speak Japanese.

The Battle of Okinawa was one of the last major battles of World War II, claiming the lives of an estimated 120,000 people. It was occupied as a result of World War II.

The 1972 reversion of Okinawa completed the United States' return of control of the main islands to Japan.

Okinawa is also considered the birth place of karate. This form of martial arts was originally brought to Okinawa from China and know simply as Te. American service men and woman stationed in Okinawa after the war learned Karate and took the style back to America where it grew in popularity.

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see: History of Japan