Differences between Okinawa and Mainland Japan?

Question:

I'm just curious if theres any major differences between Okinawa and mainland japan. For example the people, dialect, food, customs.

Answer:

basically, on a daily basis, they are the same, however okinawa was once its own kingdom so there are huge differences once you dig deeper

okinawan dialect of japanese is only 70% the same as tokyo japanese. this means around 30% of whatever an okinawan says in okinawan dialect can't be understood by a tokyo dialect speaker.

okinawa has its own local cuisine but really most people just eat normal japanese food (rice based, office workers eat ramen or curry rice and drink beer after work, sushi, etc)

the people are racially distinct from japanese but it depends on the family. pureblood okinawans have more close connections with their chinese ancestors. only people who know asian faces well can spot the difference between an okinawan and a mainland japanese - full blood okinawans tend to look a little different - but again this can vary wildly between people

okinawa has its own homegrown folk music and martial arts and dance styles. one of the slowest dances in the world called yotsutake / yotsudake is from okinawa - it's beautiful, check it out on youtube.