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Taketomi is a small island just to the southwest of [[Ishigaki Island]], in the southern [[Ryukyu Islands]]. The island is known for its traditional architecture, festivals, and traditional culture otherwise.
Taketomi is a small island just to the southwest of [[Ishigaki Island]], in the southern [[Ryukyu Islands]]. The island is known for its traditional architecture, festivals, and traditional culture otherwise.
==History==
Archaeological excavations have uncovered Chinese ceramics from the 12th-14th centuries in an area in the northern portion of the island identified as the ancient Shinzato village. Beginning in the 15th century, ''[[maransen]]'' trading ships connected Taketomi and other parts of the [[Yaeyama Islands]] with [[Okinawa Island]] and the [[Miyako Islands]].<ref>Explanatory plaques on Taketomi Island.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/53891112789/sizes/k/]</ref>
===Modern History===
The island is today home to just over 300 people; as in many other rural and peripheral areas in Japan, Taketomi is struggling with problems of depopulation as many of the island's young people go elsewhere for school and/or for work and then stay there, leaving largely only older generations remaining on the island. Along with the rest of the [[Yaeyama Islands|Yaeyama]] and [[Miyako Islands]], Taketomi also struggles with processes of assimilation into a larger "[[Okinawa prefecture|Okinawan]]" culture and identity.<ref name=amanda>Amanda Stinchecum, "Changing Parameters, Expressions, and Meanings of a Simple Sash from Yaeyama Islands," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.</ref>
Immediately following World War II, Taketomi suffered from a different problem, however: overpopulation. While there are about 300-350 residents of the island today, in late 1945 Taketomi found itself struggling to support over 2200 people, many of whom had moved (or returned) to Taketomi from [[Taiwan]], [[Nanyo|Nan'yô]] (the South Pacific), Southeast Asia, and elsewhere following the fall of the Japanese Empire.<ref name=amanda/>
==Culture==
==Culture==
The island is home to at least 27 ''on'' ([[Ryukyuan religion|traditional Ryukyuan sacred spaces]], known as ''[[utaki]]'' in the [[Okinawan language]]).<ref>"聖地 Sacred Spaces," map on display on Taketomi.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/53889857342/in/photostream/]</ref>
The island is home to at least 27 ''on'' ([[Ryukyuan religion|traditional Ryukyuan sacred spaces]], known as ''[[utaki]]'' in the [[Okinawan language]]).<ref>"聖地 Sacred Spaces," map on display on Taketomi.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/53889857342/in/photostream/]</ref>
A folk culture / tourist site known as the Taketomi Mingeikan was established at one time to serve as a center for traditional weaving, supporting both tourism and a revival of local craft traditions. However, as a result of economic incentives driving the great majority of people to pursue other work, the Mingeikan sits largely empty today, with only one or two people typically present working on one or two of the several tens of looms in the hall.<ref name=amanda/>
A folk culture / tourist site known as the Taketomi Mingeikan was established at one time to serve as a center for traditional weaving, supporting both tourism and a revival of local craft traditions. However, as a result of economic incentives driving the great majority of people to pursue other work, the Mingeikan sits largely empty today, with only one or two people typically present working on one or two of the several tens of looms in the hall.<ref name=amanda/>