{"id":1295,"date":"2025-09-02T17:35:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/living.okinawa.halekulani.com\/?p=1295"},"modified":"2025-09-02T17:35:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:35:51","slug":"%e5%b8%8c%e6%9c%9b%e3%81%a8%e8%a9%a6%e7%b7%b4%e3%81%ae%e7%8b%ad%e9%96%93%e3%81%a7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/living.okinawa.halekulani.com\/en\/%e5%b8%8c%e6%9c%9b%e3%81%a8%e8%a9%a6%e7%b7%b4%e3%81%ae%e7%8b%ad%e9%96%93%e3%81%a7\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope and Hardship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We all have a story about where we came from, one that is the byproduct of a swirling combination of geopolitical, economic, and other forces that have collectively shaped us and wherever we call home. The more than 50,000 people of Okinawan descent living in the state of Hawai\u2018i today can trace this trail through the narrow gate of one man: Kyuzo Toyama, a young Okinawan who lived and worked over 120 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in 1868 in the town of Kin on Okinawa\u2019s eastern coast, Toyama arrived in a world on the precipice of change. Until 1879, the Ry\u016bky\u016b Kingdom ruled the chain of sandy, volcanic islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. Following the Meiji Restoration in mainland Japan, the \u2028Japanese government sought to quickly modernize and expand\u2014annexing Okinawa as a prefecture shortly thereafter. A young Toyama, 11 years old at the time, would go on to witness his island home change dramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnderstanding Toyama\u2019s place in history is also understanding the history of discrimination and colonization from Japan,\u201d explains Norman Kaneshiro, co-director of Ukwanshin Kabudan, an O\u2018ahu-based group dedicated to Okinawan classical arts. This colonial relationship could be felt \u2028throughout Okinawan society: in the instalment of government officials from other Japanese prefectures in high-ranking Okinawan positions, in the banning of the Okinawan language in schools, in the sentiment toward Okinawan traditions like raising pigs and practicing hajichi, the tattooing of a \u2028woman\u2019s hands, which were looked down upon by mainland Japanese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was while studying in Tokyo for two years that Toyama formulated a theory of economic improvement for his home island. Influenced by his friendship with Okinawan civic leader Noboru \u2028Johana, along with his own independent studies, Toyama theorized that Okinawan migrant laborers could fortify the Okinawan economy by working abroad and sending money home\u2014spurring growth for the struggling island beleaguered by an expanding population and scant resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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