From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Amami Islands
(
奄美諸島
,
Amami Sh?t?
)
is a group of
islands
in
Kagoshima
prefecture
in the
Ky?sh? region
of
Japan
.
[1]
It is also known as the
Satsunan Islands
(
薩南諸島
,
Satsunan Sh?t?
)
.
The name of the islands comes from the mythological figure of
Amamiko
.
[2]
It was attacked by the
Ry?ky? Kingdom
in 1570, but was invaded by
Satsuma Domain
in 1609.
Amami was occupied by the
United States
from 1945 to 1953.
[1]
The native people of the Amami Islands are the
Amami people
, who are a subgroup of a larger
Ryukyuan ethnicity
.
The
Amami language
belongs to the Ryukyuan languages, all of which are endangered because in the past, Japan suppressed them. This is also why most younger Amamians speak
Japanese
instead, as it was enforced in schools.
The largest island in the group is
Amami Island
.
[3]
Other islands include
Kikai Island
,
Tokunoshima
,
Okinoerabu Island
,
Yorontou
and some small islands make up the
Amami Islands
.
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