Okinawans are losing patience with Tokyo's repeated vows to reduce the prefecture's burden of hosting U.S. military installations and other hollow pledges, and some are seriously looking into the possibility of having the territory secede from Japan.
On May 15, the 41st anniversary of Okinawa's belated 1972 reversion to Japan from U.S. control, five Okinawans established an academic society to study potential paths to regaining Ryukyu independence.
Before Japan took control of the territory in 1879 and incorporated it as Okinawa, the islands were known as the Ryukyu Kingdom, which had a thriving sea trade with China and Southeast Asia, as well as links with Japan.
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