The question of Okinawan identity is a specific subject in contemporary Japan. In order to study it, the present article addresses the use of the body in Okinawan society, since dances and martial arts, which are important cultural points on these islands, are strongly connected to it. Firstly, I explain that the dances which feature martial arts moves have different functions according to the place to which they originate. In the rural environment, they are thought of as a distinctive cultural production, whereas in the cities, they are used to counter discrimination from central Japan. After this, I develop an analysis of these dances as techniques of the body and their educational significance in the hamlets, relying on the system of authority and imitation, all of which share a range of sociological and psychological aspects. In the development, emphazise the values conveyed by the body: some dances belong to classical culture and others to folk tradition.
Polka and polkomanie in the Bohemia of the 1830' and 1840' was first a manifestation of the energy of the young dynamic bourgeoisie profiting from all features, which could help to build the national identity and finally result in the creation of the national state. The proofs of the Czech and popular origin of the polka came out at the same time. Many of them were soon considered just a speculation while others played an important role. The aim of the study is to investigate what was the particular reason why polka has always been considered a Czech national dance and what features were picked up from music and dance for building the identity or the national look. This approach involves principal questions such as: when did polka become the national symbol in Bohemia, how, for whom and why and what the concept of polka in Bohemia was when it started to be meaningful in the national movement? To answer these questions we have to look at some crucial facts which enable us to follow polka as a cultural text in different strata of the 19th century society in Bohemia and to identify its power. Polka considered as a myth has to be seen in the socio-cultural context and in ideological and political discourse. Its look of the Czech national symbol was created in symbolic level as a mental representation of the national circle of intellectuels and artists.