Ryukyuans are not a recognized minority group in Japan, as Japanese authorities consider them just a subgroup of the Japanese people, akin to the Yamato people and Ainu. Although unrecognized, Ryukyuans constitute the largest ethnolinguistic minority group in Japan, with 1.3 million living in Okinawa Prefecture alone. There is also a considerable Ryukyuan diaspora. As many as 600,000 more ethnic Ryukyuans and their descendants are dispersed elsewhere in Japan and worldwide; mostly in Hawaii[7] and, to a lesser extent, in other territories where there is also a sizable Japanese diaspora. In some countries, the Ryukyuan and Japanese diaspora are not differentiated so there are no reliable statistics for the former.

Source: Islam in Japan………..