Island sustainability and inclusive development: E case of Okinawa (Ryukyu) Islands

Abstract

Okinawa, the only island prefecture in Japan, hosted the Pacific Leaders Meetings (PALM) three times in the past. The PALM-3 adopted “the Okinawa Initiative on Regional Development Strategies for a More Prosperous and Safer Pacific. Okinawa shares many common development issues with the Pacific island countries/regions including their history and cultural heritages, isolation, fragmentation, resource limitation and vulnerability to natural disasters and outside economic and political impacts beyond their control. As such Okinawa’s situation and experiences can be very useful regarding developing appropriate island models for sustainable and inclusive development. This paper intends to respond to the challenges and opportunities raised in the PALM Okinawa Island Initiative. Particular focus will be on the roles of island culture, tourism and technologies for sustainable and inclusive development. The paper demonstrates that Okinawa’s champuru culture represents not only cultural diversity but also it empowers the local people through healthy lifestyle and warm yuimaru (mutual help) spirits. Okinawa is the only local prefecture in Japan whose population is still growing. There is a no-nonsensical joke that Okinawans will be the last Japanese to survive in the 25th century if the current depopulation on the mainland continues.