I’ve tried to read much about Okinawa as a whole (mostly relating to Ryukyuan people and not Ainu people), but I’m stumped in his background and if it isn’t offensive.
His name is 宮城 建人 (Kento Miyashiro) … (I also want to know if that’s correct or if it even makes sense.)
A little info about him that my story takes place in the 2000s, and most of my characters were born in the 80s (except him, who was born in 1978. He’s also a secondary character who was the ex-husband of one of the MCs—he plays a major role later.)
My only confusion and concern is whether it would be right to say he’s a Japanese immigrant—because if I’m not mistaken, people from Okinawa don’t consider themselves Japanese, but some do (there’s division)—it’s my first time writing in this subreddit so I don’t know what opinions people have about that statement. He considers himself obviously asian and most importantly ryukyuan because his parents make sure he remembers where his roots but overall he does consider himself American because he spent his 10th year onwards in New York.
TL;DR: Is it correct to say he ISN’T japanese? If not, please inform me.
EDIT 1: Didn’t expect to have many in-depth answers. Thank everyone :3! I’ll change the Kanji used for his name, and I believe he would consider himself Okinawan (without saying the specific of Ryukyuan descent—it will be canon though specified in his info plate.) but he would say he’s Japanese if asked, really. His parents are more connected to the culture than he is as he kind of slowly grew apart from it. He does visit Okinawa from time to time though, but that is in his adulthood.
by ComprehensiveSun773