The Culture and Belief Requirement/Request

Read the article first: http://www.japanupdate.com/2014/04/royal-crown-making-single-appearance-this-year/

Granted, this helps us understand a bit more of the Okinawa culture but in reality the impetus behind the particular look and feel of the crown would tell us more. For instance, what appears to be a hairpin like piece piercing the crown at a certain point must have some meaning behind its implementation as ornamentation on the crown. Knowing that may shed a better understanding of Okinawan culture.

When you look at the yellow garment that only royalty wore, why yellow? It is known that various colors indicated the level of court standing was one indication. But, the choice of yellow as the highest levels being worn must have some particular significance so that would let us know a bit more about the culture, yes?

Just knowing they have a crown and that it was worn by Okinawan kings of old does not necessarily denote what a culture they had or what it means.

In our system of karate it was a request by the master and creator of said style that we Americans try to understand his culture and belief system. He felt that understanding the culture and beliefs of Okinawans would provide a inter-connectedness, a link, to the history of the what, when, where and now karate came into being.

To take on a culture of a people means a lot more than visiting monuments and places that tourists would visit or would attract tourists. It is more about learning the essence that makes a people like Okinawans the people they are and the people they were. 

What an article like this might do is provide a key, a means to develop a desire to seek out more about the deeper essence that makes up a culture.

It is well known that the Okinawans received a huge influence from the Chinese so understanding how the Chinese did things and how that translated to Okinawan culture would go a long way to understanding Okinawan culture and beliefs.

It is also worth knowing and remembering that the Okinawans, like the Japanese, tended to absorb things from other cultures as well. They were in the business of import and export with China and other Asian nations of those times. So, their culture may be a mix and match of those cultures and beliefs as well.

You have to also ask how much the Japanese influenced the Okinawans especially since they were annexed into the Japanese country around the early 1600's but we should not forget that trade was going on with Japan even before the occupation of Japanese in that era, circa 1600's.

Get a good introduction to all this and other stuff from the book written by Andreas Quast titled, "Karate 1.0."