From "Cycad Hell" to Sacred Landscapes: Tracing the Cultural Significance of Cycads in the Ryukyu Islands and Japan.

This article examines the cultural, utilitarian, and symbolic significance of Cycas revoluta (sotetsu) in Japanese culture, with a particular focus on the Ryukyu archipelago. It documents the millennial use of cycads in Ryukyuan agroecological systems, foodways, and rituals, highlighting their role as a famine food, a component of indigenous landscapes, and a symbol in folk songs and religious practices. The article also explores the incorporation of cycads into mainland Japanese temple and palace gardens, where they symbolize longevity and resilience, and discusses their representation in Edo-period art as markers of political integration. Finally, it situates Japanese cycad culture within broader regional and global patterns of cycad use, emphasizing the importance of further interdisciplinary research to preserve this endangered biocultural heritage and to deepen understanding of cycads’ roles in preagricultural subsistence and cultural systems.