The Ryukyuan languages , also Lewchewan or Luchuan, are the indigenous languages of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago. Along with the Japanese language and the Hachijō language, they make up the Japonic language family.
Traffic safety slogan signs in Kin, Okinawa, written in Japanese (center) and Okinawan (left and right).
Imōre (いもーれ), Amami
Menshōri (めんしょーり), Kunigami (Okinoerabu)
Mensōre (めんそーれ), Okinawan
The Ryukyu Islands , also known as the Nansei Islands or the Ryukyu Arc , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands, with Yonaguni the westernmost. The larger are mostly volcanic islands and the smaller mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island.
The last sunset in Japan is seen from Yonaguni.
Okinawa Islands during the Sanzan Period
Ryukyu delegates in Peking in 1761. 万国来朝图
Harimizu utaki (Harimizu Shrine), a Ryukyuan shrine in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture