Introduction to some aspects of acculturation on Okinawa

Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree M.A. in Anthropology at the University of Washington.That any cultural system is in a continuous state of change is a valid assumption. This change can be induced by internal forces, but more often culture change is a result of contact of one autonomous cultural system with another. This thesis is primarily concerned with culture change in the Ryukyu Islands and particularly on Okinawa, It proposes to describe commercial and military contact between Okinawa and China, Japan, and the West, and to show the processes of acculturation developing out of these relations of the island with the outside world