社会学者による沖縄研究の幕開けは, 九学会連合社会学班によって日本復帰前後の1971～73年に行われた調査である. それらは沖縄村落社会の特質の理解と日本における沖縄村落の位置付けについての暗中模索であった. その時に持ち込まれたのが「家」を単位として村落構造をとらえる研究手法と理論仮説であったが, それは沖縄の村落では通用せず, 門中研究についても多くの課題が残った. しかしその時に, 寄生地主制が発達せず, 比較的平等で相互扶助的・自治的機能が高いという沖縄村落共同体像の基礎が形作られたといえよう.

その後, 門中研究が深化する一方で, 社会学者たちの興味は, 基地や経済的自立問題へとシフトしていく. 他方で沖縄在住の社会学者は, ウェーキ・シカマ関係 (隷属的生産関係) や共同店, 沖縄村落の停滞性に重点をおいた研究を行ってきた.

2000年代以降は, 日本やアジアとの比較の中で沖縄村落社会の特質を明らかにすることよりも環境や地域自治などをテーマとした研究の事例としての沖縄村落がとりあげられることが多くなっていく. その一方で, 隣接する歴史学や経済史, 法社会学等では, 近世沖縄村落における共同関係の脆弱さが強調されるようになってきた.

近世村落における強固な共同体を前提に展開し, ある種のユートピア的共同体像を描いてきた社会学における沖縄村落共同体研究も現在その見直しが迫られている.

    This paper discusses how neighborhood associations in Naha City were formed and termed jichi-kai after World War II (WWII), and it explores the role of the administrative area, which is referred to as gyohsei-ku, for forming jichi-kai associations. Jichi-kai is a new type of local entity and is expected to take the place of existing long-established local communities, often referred to as Aza.
    After WWII, many people from all over the Okinawa islands hurried to get jobs in Naha, which caused the Naha population to grow and urbanize. This, in turn, lead to the development of new associations called kyohyu-kai. Not surprisingly, association with a kyohyu-kai is based on a person's origin, which makes membership in these organizations exclusive. Eventually, some kyohyu-kai associations arose that were essentially equivalent to the jichi-kais.
    By the same token, membership in the Aza communities has been restricted since ancient times, and this system has since been renamed jichi-kai, which is also restricted. Aza communities exclude people from different neighborhoods from joining because some Aza communities have particular assets, such as shared land, that they can use to generate financial benefits, like renting land for military bases.
    That is why the participation rate in Naha City associations is unusually low―20-30％―compared with the participation rates for neighborhood associations in other Japanese cities.
    From this background information, this paper extracts four types of associations. The first two are authorized neighborhood associations: one is here referred to as “Aza-type jichi-kai” and the other is referred to as the “Non Aza-type jichi-kai.” The third type is simply called kyohyu-kai, in which people are able to mutually receive comfort and assistance. Finally, the fourth is known as an assent-management entity, which gives large sums of financial support to neighborhood associations.