United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands
government agency
The United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands abbr. USCAR (Japanese: 琉球列島米国民政府, Hepburn: Ryūkyū-rettō Beikoku Minseifu) was the civil administration government in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan (centered on Okinawa Island), replacing the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands (itself created after World War II) in 1950, and functioned until the islands were returned to Japan in 1972. It oversaw the native Government of the Ryukyu Islands and could overrule any of its decisions.
History
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration describes USCAR's history thus:
Following signing of the Instrument of Surrender, 2 September 1945, Ryukyu Islands were administered by Department of the Navy, 21 September 1945 – 30 June 1946, with Commanding Officer, Naval Operating Base, Okinawa functioning as chief military government officer under authority of Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet. Transfer of administration from Department of the Navy to War Department authorized by Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) approval, 1 April 1946, of JCS 819/11, 5 March 1946, with added proviso of JCS 819/12, 22 March 1946. Pursuant to implementing instructions of General Headquarters U.S. Army Forces in the Pacific (GHQ AFPAC), Okinawa Base Command redesignated Ryukyus Command, effective 1 July 1946, by General Order 162, Headquarters U.S. Army Forces, Western Pacific, and made responsible for administration under a Deputy Commander for Military Government. Ryukyu Islands administered successively by Ryukyus Command, 1 July – 30 November 1946; Philippines-Ryukyus Command, 1 December 1946 – 31 July 1948; and Ryukyuan Command, 1 August 1948 – 15 December 1950. USCAR established, effective 15 December 1950, by a directive of Headquarters Far East Command (HQ FEC, formerly GHQ AFPAC), AG 091.1 (5 December 1950) RCA, December 5, 1950, implementing a JCS memorandum, SM 2474-50, 11 October 1950, directing Commander-in-Chief Far East, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, to organize a civil administration for the Ryukyu Islands in accordance with JCS 1231/14, 4 October 1950. USCAR continued to function under Department of the Army (formerly War Department), 1950–71.
“United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands” enters the record as government agency. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what United, States and Civil can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q55526. VIAF identifies the subject as 125482303. The Library of Congress control number is n79145746. Authority coordinates are 26.500, 128.000. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1950, 1972, 1945 and 1946.
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This entry incorporates text from “United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.