Ryukyuan diaspora

The Ryukyuan diaspora are the Ryukyuan emigrants from the Ryukyu Islands, especially Okinawa Island, and their descendants that reside in a foreign country. The first recorded emigration of Ryukyuans was in the 15th century when they established an exclave in Fuzhou in Ming Dynasty (China). Later, there was a large wave of emigration to Hawaii at the start of the 20th century, followed by a wave to various Pacific islands in the 1920s and multiple migrations to the Americas throughout the 20th century. Ryukyuans became Japanese citizens when Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879; therefore Ryukyuan immigrants are often labeled as part of the Japanese diaspora. Regardless, some of the Ryukyuan diaspora view themselves as a distinct group from the Japanese (Yamato).

History
After Japan (Meiji era) legalized emigration from Okinawa Prefecture, thousands of Ryukyuans started to settle in other countries, incl. the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile.

The first group of Okinawan emigrants arrived to the United States on January 8, 1900 under the leadership of Kyuzo Toyama, who is often referred to as “the father of Okinawan emigration”. Today, or as of late 2023, there are more than 100,000 Hawaiʻi residents of Ryukyuan ancestry, totaling around 7% of the state's population.

Brazil received its first migrants from Japan at the port of São Paulo on June 18, 1908. Half of these migrants were from Okinawa Prefecture, despite Okinawa having between 1% and 2% of Japan's total population.

As of 2022, about 580,000 Ryukyuans live in the United States, followed by about 480,000 in Japan, about 260,000 in Brazil, about 90,000 in Argentina, about 70,000 in Mexico and about 60,000 in Chile.