What is the status of Okinawan music in Japanese traditional music

Okinawan music is not part of Japanese traditional music because Okinawan music is the music of the Ryukyu people, the aboriginal people of the Japanese archipelago, and it is only classified as Japanese traditional music because the Ryukyus were occupied by the Kazus.

Okinawan music (Okinawa Prefecture) and Amami music (Kagoshima Prefecture) belong to the same Ryukyuan music, and the scale and meter of Okinawan music is 8886, while that of Japanese traditional music is 5757.Nowadays, Okinawan music is sung in Okinawan-style Japanese interspersed with Ryukyuan words.

There are several types of Okinawan music, broadly speaking, including classical, folk, and contemporary, with strong Edo and Southeast Asian and Hokkien influences.