Okinawa

Okinawa , island (1990 pop. 1,222,458), 454 sq mi (1,176 sq km), W Pacific Ocean, SW of Kyushu; a part of Okinawa prefecture, Japan. It is the largest of the Okinawa Islands in the Ryukyu Islands archipelago. Naha is the largest city and chief port. Okinawa is a long, narrow, irregularly shaped island of volcanic origin with coral formations in the southern part. The northern part is mountainous, rising to 1,657 ft (505 m), and has dense vegetation. Most of the island's population is in the south. Okinawa has a humid subtropical climate. Sugarcane, sweet potatoes, and rice are grown, sugar is refined, cattle are raised, and fishing and tourism are important. There is some light industry in Naha.

Okinawa was the scene of the last great U.S. amphibious campaign in World War II. U.S. army and marine forces landed there on Apr. 1, 1945, and fought one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war, while the navy offshore suffered heavy damage in resisting attacks by suicide planes (see kamikaze ). The Japanese garrison, having lost 103,000 of its 120,000 men, ended organized resistance on June 21, 1945. U.S. casualties were 48,000, one fourth listed as dead. Okinawa was placed in Aug., 1945, under a U.S. military governor and remained under U.S. control until May, 1972, when it was returned to Japan. U.S. military bases were allowed to remain on the island; about three quarters of the American forces based in Japan are in Okinawa. Opposition to the bases from local residents grew in the mid-1990s, and in 2006 the United States and Japan agreed on a plan to redeploy 7,000 U.S. marines to Guam.

Bibliography: See J. Belote and W. Belote, Typhoon of Steel: The Battle for Okinawa (1970).

Okinawa Largest island of the Okinawa archipelago, sw of mainland Japan, part of the Ryukyu Islands group in the w Pacific Ocean; the major settlement is Naha. The n is mountainous, densely forested and sparsely populated. Economic activity, such as agriculture and fishing, is concentrated in the s. In April 1945, US troops landed, and met fierce Japanese resistance. Okinawa surrendered in June 1945 after many casualties. Area: 1176sq km (454sq mi). Pop. (2000) 1,318,000.

Okinawa, Japan Ryukyu An island, a prefecture, and a city, previously called Koza, with a name meaning ‘Chain (of islands) in the Open Sea’ from oki ‘open sea’ or ‘offshore’ and nawa ‘rope’ or ‘chain’. Okinawa is the largest island in the Ryukyu Islands archipelago and was the Kingdom of Ryukyu from the 15th century to 1879. Annexed as a vassal state by Japan in 1854, the island was captured by American troops towards the end of the Second World War in 1945. It was returned to Japan in 1972.