Wendy Matsumura is Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies at Furman University.

Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1. The Birth of Okinawa Prefecture and the Creation of Difference 27

2. The Miyako Island Peasantry Movement as an Event 49

3. Reforming Old Customs, Transforming Women's Work 79

4. The Impossibility of Plantation Sugar in Okinawa 115

5. Uneven Development and the Rejection of Economic Nationalism in "Sago Palm Hell" Okinawa 146

Conclusion. Living Labor and the Limits of Okinawan Community 182

Notes 189

Bibliography 247

Index  265