The dynamics of inclusion and exclusion have operated for centuries in the island chain that constitutes Japan's southernmost prefecture, Okinawa - otherwise known as the Ryukyu Islands. Are the people of Okinawa 'Japanese' or not 'Japanese'?

Answers to this puzzling question are explored in this richly-detailed volume, written by one of Japan's foremost public intellectuals, historical sociologist Eiji Oguma. Here, Oguma addresses issues of Okinawan sovereignty and its people's changing historical, cultural, and linguistic identity, over more than 150 years until its 1972 reversion to Japanese control, following its administration by the US from the end of the Pacific War.