As my title states, do Okinawans look different from the Japanese that lives in like the main lands of Japan? Such as prefectures like Osaka, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Tokyo etc
Been having this conversation with a friend from Sapporo lately and we're very curious after we searched up the history of Okinawa and how before it was annexed by Japan, it was the Ryukyu kingdom that had it's own culture and languages.
by Which_Revolution4970
23 comments
Okinawa face!
Yes, they look a bit different. They have stronger facial features compared to mainland Japanese.
On average, no.
Most Okinawans born and bred in Naha and Okinawan city has very very similar physical appearances to mainland Japanese like the ones in Tokyo.
Okinawans also has about 10.5% to 12% higher Jomon blood/DNA than the average Tokyoite, which while it has a higher chance of genetically creating people that looks closer to what an ethnic ryukyuan would look like due to the higher concentration of Jomon blood, their yamato blood which takes up at least 70% of their genetics more often than not birth them with very mainland Japanese-esque physical appearances and facial structures.
I am talking about this from a purely genetical level, by blood. I am not talking about whether Okinawans and mainland Japanese are ethnically distinct, because in which case, they are. The ryukyu kingdom had their own culture, religion, languages before being annexed by mainland Japan. So ethnically, Okinawa (formerly Ryukyu Kingdom) is different from mainland Japan.
But since you are talking about “looks” here, this touches on a genetical level. In which case, modern day Okinawans on average barely look different from the average mainland Japanese you’d find either in Tokyo or rural parts of Japan.
10.5% to 12% just isn’t that big of a gap to create a very easily distinguishable physical/visual traits. You can only find subtle differences, such as more rounder faces, but then again is a moot argument because that trait is also very present across all the prefectures in mainland Japan, it doesn’t make it feel exclusive enough to be seen as Ryukyuan origin.
The average Japanese person from mainland Japan won’t be able to differentiate the average Okinawan person you’d find on the street, this is also supported if you go to Okinawa city/Naha city yourself to see how the citizens look like, you can also make this observation by typing “Okinawa walking tour” in youtube and see it for yourself, a lot of their physical and facial traits align closely to what you’d see all across mainland Japan.
DISCLAIMER: I am not negating the fact that there are Okinawans that do look different from modern mainland Japanese look, they do, and they do exist all across Okinawa, but they are quite literally a minority and logically so because Okinawans biological makeup is still dominated by at least 70% to 72% Yamato japanese DNA, which only means the people born there would more often than not, bear majority/overwhelming yamato japanese-esque traits than Ryukyuan-esque traits.
Shorter with “bigger” eyes. Typically a bit darker.
Some Okinawans have a Pacific/Polynesian look. I know an Okinawan girl who gets constantly asked on mainland if she is a foreigner or a Filipina. Some Okinawans look very much like mainland Japanese.
They are from a different origin: Aiyoi people.
And up in the very north Hokkaido people have their origins in the Ainu.
Yes , there are exceptions but they tend to be shorter, darker skin , hairy , have rounder faces and have double eyelids .
My wife is an Myaakunchuu ( native of Miyako-jima ) she mentioned on her profile she was Japanese but I noticed that she didn’t have the typical Japanese look . She always mention that people tend to think that she’s a Filipina , I made the connection that Okinawans tend to look like Filipinos or Indonesians . She also mentions she can tell 95% of the time if someone is from Okinawa Perfecture or the Mainland.
Great place to see wide array of Okinawans is to watch RBC News Link on YouTube
Yes and no. But sometimes get mistaken as Filipino.
Sunburned
They look somewhat different on average, but probably not big enough for the people looking without to recognize it much.
The fact is modern Okinawans migrated from mainland Japan about 1000 years ago (though people lived in Okinawa islands as far as 32,000 years ago), which was when the indigenous Japanese population, called the Jomon people were mixing with the Yayoi people that migrated from North-East Asia.
Since the mixing wasn’t as “strong” 1000 years ago, Okinawans on average have slightly higher indigenous Japanese Jomon DNA than mainland Japanese.
As for Sapporo/Hokkaido, the Ainu population are much more distinctly Jomon, as they’ve never really mixed with Yayoi people, but rather they mixed with the Okhotsk people from the Okhotsk region in currently Russia.
As a 4th generation Okinawan-American from Hawaii now living in Tokyo, I had been aware of the differences since a young age, especially since like 25% of the Japanese-Americans in Hawaii came from Okinawa.
It’s subtle but as others have mentioned: darker skin, rounder face, thicker hair (especially eyebrows), stockier build. A few times I was told that I sort of look like Saigo Takamori (Kagoshima). Over the years in Tokyo the tan has faded but I was really dark as a child as were most Asian/Polynesian kids growing up in ahawaii.
It’s difficult to cite famous people with Okinawan genes as good examples since many of the ones that are famous don’t look that different than typical Japanese.
I was showing my Japanese friend recent pictures of and Okinawa trip and when I showed him one of my pictures with an Okinawan friend he innocently asked “What country is he from? When I said Okinawa he said “Oh!.. yeah..” and quietly dropped the topic. The same friend in Okinawa had quietly said “We are not Japanese…” when I had made a broad statement about Japanese people that included Okinawa.
Also, in Okinawa, if you look at the faces of Okinawan people there are certain similarities between groups of people. A lady sat next to me in Tokyo the other day and I really wanted to ask her if she was from Okinawa because she had a certain look.
This also is one of those topics that comes up quite a lot, so you may find some other very [detailed answers in previous posts](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Areddit.com+inurl%3A%22Okinawa%22+jomon).
Many Okinawan looks Filipino, Cantonese, Malay, Viet…
We are all the same race . Hunan race
Many Okinawans I know commonly get asked by mainland Japanese people what country they’re from, told they’re good at speaking Japanese, or even get approached in English, so it’s safe to say to many Japanese people they don’t even look Japanese.
Okinawan guys have hairy arms?
Its obvious to tell who is from Okinawa. Very different from Mainland Japan.
There is an obvious difference in facial features. Another giveaway is how they dress.
Having grown up in Sunabe, I had friends who looked islander and also looked like they were from the mainland. My Okinawan friend got mad at her husband when he told me that she was part Filipina. Lately it’s hard to tell the difference. My other friend from Okinawa is super fair with dark hair but doesn’t speak a lick of hōgen.
not sure about okinawans
but people in different areas of japan do indeed look differently:
when you travel from kyuushuu or shikoku to kansai you can’t but to notice how much more “yayoi” people around look
I’m part Okinawan and I always feel like I have a darker tan, bigger eyes, and more body hair compared to mainland Japanese
Sometimes yes sometimes no but you wouldn’t be able to tell in most cases just be looks alone and it’s easier to tell by the way they speak.
Okinawans have a bit more Jomon genes than most mainlanders but genetically Okinawans are the same as mainlanders but they have a bit less Yayoi genes with Okinawa being more isolated than mainland Japan.
Yup, obviously. A Google search would tell you that.
They look happier and less autistic to me, but what do I know