A brief historic of Okinawa
Okinawa, the Japanese name of the islands was first seen in the biography of Jianzhen, written in 779. The chinese name was Ryukyu.
During the 8th century, agricultural societies slowly developed until the 12th century. Later the Ryukyu Kingdom became a prosperous trading nation thanks to its location near China, Japan and Taiwan.
In the 15th century, the Ryukyu Kingdom became subordinate to the Chinese Empire and had to regularly pay a tribute.
In 1609 the Satsuma clan from what is now the Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan, took control of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
The Kingdom was forced to start a tributary relationship with them in addition to the one with China.
Whereas the Satsuma clan controlled a major part of the trades of the islands the political power was still under the Ryukyus Kingdom. By not invading the Kingdom, the Satsuma clan avoid any conflict with the Chinese Empire.
In 1872, four years after the Meiji Restoration, Japan annexed the kingdom and renamed it Ryukyu han. Ryukyu han became the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan in 1879.
Okinawa was a strategic place during the World War II.
After the war, the prefecture became under the United States administration for 27 years. During this years numerous US army bases were created.The islands were returned to Japan in 1972 but many army bases are still maintained.