Japan: Proud to be Okinawan · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Superyuko at Nachikasanu Koiuta describes the first time she became aware of her Okinawan identity. 10 years ago, in Tokyo, where she came to live and to attend university, she was asked: “Are you Japanese? Because you don't look very Japanese”, and innocently answered: “I think I am Japanese”. She was asked the same questions many times, and this brought her to wonder: “what does being Japanese really mean?”. It was after meeting many other people from minority groups during a period of study abroad that she came to her answer; she learned that, by freeing herself from the need to define herself as belonging to somewhere in particular, she was able to accept Okinawa [en] and take it on as a part of herself.