Ifa Fuyu

• Born: 1876/2/20
• Died: 1947/8/13
• Japanese: 伊波普猷 (Iha Fuyuu, or Ifa Fuyuu)

Iha Fuyû, or Ifa by the Okinawan language pronunciation of his surname, was a pioneer and leader in the field of Okinawan Studies. He was a fierce advocate for the idea that Okinawan and Japanese people, and cultures, came from the same origin, and that with Okinawa prefecture now being a part of Japan, assimilation was the best path.

Ifa was born on February 20, 1876, in the Nishi neighborhood of Naha; his family was part of the Gyo (魚) lineage of Naha aristocracy and their home was well-known locally as belonging to a family of wealth or status. In 1895, Ifa was attending Okinawa First Prefectural Middle School (on the former site of the Crown Prince's mansion) when a strike took place against the abolition of English-language classes; Ifa was identified as one of the ringleaders and was expelled from the school. He then traveled to Kyoto, where he attended Kyoto Third High School (today, Kyoto University). He entered Tokyo Imperial University in 1903, where he majored in linguistics.

He graduated in 1906 and returned to Naha, where he began to compose one essay after another on Okinawa-related subjects, joining the vanguard in Okinawan Studies. In 1910, he was named the first director of the Okinawa Prefectural Library; in addition to overseeing the collection of documents and other materials, he traveled around the islands giving more than 300 lectures.

Ifa published his first book, Ko-Ryûkyû ("Old Ryukyu"), in 1911, collecting up many of his earlier essays. From that time forward, he engaged with fellow Okinawa Studies scholars Majikina Ankô, Higashionna Kanjun, and others, pioneering the field.

Ifa wrote in his essay Ryûkyû jinshu ron ("On the Race/Ethnicity of Ryukyu") in 1910 or 1911 that the Ryukyuans were of the same race or ethnicity (J: jinshu) as the Japanese, and that for today's Ryukyuans, quick assimilation (J: dôka) with the Japanese was the best path.

A number of prominent anthropologists and folklorists (minzokugakusha) from the mainland visited Okinawa and met with Ifa and others beginning in the 1920s. This included Yanagita Kunio in 1921, and Orikuchi Shinobu, who visited Okinawa in 1921 and again in 1923. Yanagita convinced Ifa to travel to Tokyo in 1925, where he stayed for some time, devoting himself to the study of the Omoro sôshi, and taking part in symposiums and research meetings held by Yanagita. Ifa also attended meetings on Ainu Studies in Tokyo, and began his own colloquium to discuss the Omoro sôshi. Over the course of 1925-26, he published four books.

Ifa was an active and prominent participant in many of the significant scholarly debates of the early 20th century. In 1926, he argued that references to "Ryûkyû" in the Book of Sui (the earliest references to "Ryûkyû" in any written text) did in fact refer to Ryûkyû, against a number of scholars who asserted it referred to Taiwan.

Ifa fell ill and died in Tokyo on August 13, 1947, at the age of 72.

References

• Yokoyama Manabu 横山学, Ryûkyû koku shisetsu torai no kenkyû 琉球国使節渡来の研究, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (1987), 8-11.
• Plaque at the former site of Ifa Fuyû's first home, Naha Nishi 1-13-3.[2]