Handicrafts Okinawa boasts a wide range of traditional handicrafts, many of which aren't found in mainland Japan. These probably came to Okinawa in the late fourteenth to sixteenth century--when the Ryukyu Kingdom prospered as a trading nation--through contact with the cultures of China, Southeast Asia, and India. Some of the best known of these handicrafts are dyed fabric known as bingata, a type of lacquerware known as Ryukyu shikki, and a distinctive style of pottery-making.