okinawa has been referred to as the prefecture of emigration. Many Japanese emigrants abroad are Okinawan or of Okinawan descent, and their number has now reached about 200,000. The main reason for going to other countries was because of the poor living conditions of the late 1800s. It was seldom that Okinawans were given high-ranking posts in government or in public agencies under the Japanese Meiji Government during the period 1868-1912. Most appointments to top positions in okinawa Prefecture were given to mainlanders.

Under such social and economic circumstances, a man named Kyuzo Toyama encouraged the younger generation to go abroad to seek financial gain as well as to succeed in their dreams. Mr. Toyama was born in Kin Village in 1868. Although born to a very poor farm family, he received a relatively high education to become a teacher. He became a school principal and later a member of the okinawa Prefectural Legislature. Deciding to engage in social reform, he moved to Tokyo where he met Mr. Noboru Jahana, a social reformist and now recognized as a founder of the human rights movement. After discussions with Mr. Jahana, Mr. Toyama decided to solve Okinawas problems by sending people abroad.

In 1899, Mr. Toyama sent 27 emigrants to Hawaii, and led a group of forty there in 1902. The first emigrants experienced very severe hardships working in sugarcane fields. However, their migration set an historical precedent.

When Mr.Toyama left Kin Village for Hawaii, he sang the following verse, Our home is on the five continents, and we shall go there. For his great achievement, he was called the father of Okinawan emigration.

A statue of Toyama as a memorial to his work stands in Emigration Hall in Kin Village. His right hand is stretched towards the east, to Hawaii.