Commodore Perry visited Lew Chew five times during the year 1853 and -54. It is very interesting for us present-day Lew Chewans (Okinawans) to think how the then Lew Chewan Government and her people dealt with this foreign envoy from the most powerful country in the world. The Lew Chewan authorities received Perry and his suite very cordially and wisely, and fortunately they could ride over what was called a national crisis.

　After he went back home, Commodore Perry published in 1856 three bulky volumes entitled “Narrative of the Expedition of an American squadron to the China Seas and Japan” In the first volume he wrote about Lew Chew in detail including many pictures drawn by two American artists.

　The present writer is going to write how the compact between the Kingdom of Lew Chew and the United States of America was concluded, referring to the Perry’s books and the Lew Chewan history.

　The conversation between the two parties was carried on in the Chinese language between Ichirazichi of the Lew Chewan Government and Dr. Wells Williams on behalf of Commodore Perry. The former was a young Lew Chewan who was educated in Peking for several years, and the latter was a noted American scholar on Chinese literature who lived in Macao for many years. These two men conducted their conversation in Chinese first and then they translated it into their own language, English or Lew Chewan for the purpose of conveying the meaning of it to their respective party.

　No sooner had Perry arrived in Lew Chew than he dispatched an inland exploration party which consisted of 12 men through the interior of Great Lew Chew (=Okinawa), headed by geologist Jones. Bayard Taylor was among the party and he acted as a keeper of records. Taylor was a correspondent of the New York Tribune. He was famous as a world traveler. He wrote many traveling accounts and poems. It is a surprising fact that such an outstanding American author as Taylor came over to Okinawa on Board the Perry’s squadron more than a century ago and wrote so fascinating accounts about Okinawa. The writer introduces a certain part of Taylor’s accounts which he wrote during his traveling on foot through the interior of Lew Chew. The writer also introduces Heine and Brown who were both artists and took part in the exploration party. They drew many beautiful landscapes in Lew Chew and some portraits of high officials of the Lew Chewan Government.

　After World War II came to an end, the United States of America governed the Ryukyu Islands under high commissioner. The successive commissioners made efforts to keep the traditional cordial relations between the Ryukyus and the United States. High Commissioner Caraway erected Commodore Perry’s landing monument near Tomari harbor with the native people. The inscription of the monument “Prosperity to the Lew Chewans and may they and the Americans always be friends.” was a part of Perry’s address he made at the official banquet sponsored by the Government of Lew Chew on June 6,1853.

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After World War II, the painters in Okinawa tried to reconstruct the art world system and create a new style of painting. During the U.S. Military occupation period (from 1945 to 1972), the paintings in Okinawa were influenced by the memory of the War, the cultural policy of the U.S. Military, and the relationship with Japanese contemporary art. With these backgrounds, it is important to note the contribution of traditional culture to the modern expression of the paintings. To reveal the connection between modernity and tradition in post-war Okinawan art, this paper focuses on an artist, Adaniya Masayoshi, and his paintings and critiques. He is regarded as one of the earliest modernist painters in Okinawa by his abstract paintings. In his critiques, Adaniya also claimed the importance that modernist paintings created a new tradition in Okinawa. Adaniya’s effort was to find out a modernity in Okinawa, not as the imitation of the Western or Japanese one, but as Okinawa’s originality based on its tradition. In other words, he looked for Okinawan modernity, in that he reconsidered the tradition of Okinawa from his self-reflective perspective instead of the secondary information from the others.

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The main purpose of this paper is to clarify the process of how the Fundamental Law of Education was introduced to Postwar Okinawa, and how it took root there at a time when Okinawa was politically separated from Japan and was under the American occupation(1945-1972). Under the strict restrictions of the Occupational policies that had as their background American Far Eastern strategy, the Fundamental Law of Education and other educational laws were not realized in content as they really were intended in Japan proper, but rather were modified and changed within the framework established by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands. Furthermore, the Code of Education for the Ryukyus, 1952, was administered by the Americans similar to other legal ordinances, namely as a colonial law. Inspired resistance by people of Okinawa, a democratic movement led by the teachers association in Okinawa and represented by Choubyou Yara, tried to deal legally with the four educational laws(the Fundamental Law of Education, the School Education Law, the Board of Education Law, and the Social Education Law). Boldly opposing the Americans this protest movement succeeded in achieving the implementation of the enactment of the Four Educational Laws based on the principle of Japan's educational legal system, 1958. The educational legal system and administration of Okinawa under the American Occupation was characterized by adversarial relationship based on the two different system of occupational Force's Government and the Okinawa Government. Unlike the other area of Japan proper, the Okinawa's Fundamental Law of education was developed under such characteristics as the following:1)the stabilization process under the American Occupation;2)civilian movement for legislation against the Occupation's administration;3)the local history that was handed down and spread to each island of Okinawa;and 4)a gap between the principle of the Fundamental Law of Education and reality.

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