Okinawa kaiga dokokai

• Japanese: 沖縄絵画同好会 (Okinawa kaiga dôkôkai)

The Okinawa kaiga dôkôkai was a subscription-style Okinawan painting association. Members paid membership fees which were pooled to send paintings to members. The association was supported by Narahara Shigeru and other Okinawa prefectural officials, as well as by a number of Nihonga painters. No Okinawans were listed among the key supporters; it seems to have been a group aimed at Japanese membership, but played a notable role in inspiring and influencing Okinawan painters such as Higa Seisei.

The group was founded in part because of a belief on the part of Narahara and others that while assimilation policies were important for national unity, they were damaging to Okinawan heritage and so there was a need to record Okinawan traditions before they were lost.

References

• Junko Kobayashi, "The Demise of Ryukyuan Painting," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.