This paper examines the roles of cultural activities undertaken by local youth groups in promoting the spontaneity of young people in Okinawa. The paper focuses particularly on the groups' handing down of the tradition of folk arts and analyzes how this activity contributes to the cultivation of the spontaneity of young Okinawan people. At the same time, the impact of local history, culture and social changes are also discussed in the paper. Generally speaking, young Okinawan people are hometown-oriented and seek a job in Okinawa. Even amongst those youngsters who leave their islands, or shima, at one stage of their life, many wish to come back later to their native islands, or umarishima, and settle there for the rest of their life. The paper's original aim was to find an explanation for this spontaneous decision made by many Okinawan young people to return to their native islands, and to illustrate how this will to return was nurtured in their local community. The unemployment rate of Okinawa has consistently been above the national average, indeed, consistently recording the worst figure in Japan since the archipelago's reversion to Japanese sovereignty in 1972. Looking from a different angle, however, Okinawa potentially has a great supply of young labor including new graduates and those young people who wish to return to their local communities. The prefectural income for Okinawa can be misleading because it does not necessarily take into account the high birth rate in Okinawa which tends to cause a high unemployment rate, and does not reflect the sense of high contentment or spiritual richness such as 'yuimahru' seen in Okinawa. In fact, although young people sometimes leave their communities due to financial motives, an increasing number of young people have been choosing life in their home communities, preferring cultural richness with their families and relatives to materialistic riches. This is despite concerns that Okinawa 'could become the most underpopulated area in Japan' during the period of economic emigration when many young people sought jobs on the mainland just before the reversion. The numbers preferring island to mainland life increased in spite of the aims of the 'look to the mainland' policy in operation after the reversion. As mentioned above, Okinawa is equipped with the human resources that are required for its endogenous development. A major challenge is the development of these human resources : how to make best use of the potential talents of those young people, and encourage their spontaneous involvement. In a way, the increased number of young returnees to Okinawa may be an expression of their love for their homeland. In order for Okinawa to achieve spontaneous, autonomous and sustainable development, while addressing the issues of the U.S. military bases, and in consideration of Okinawan history and culture, strong human relationships and mutual support among residents need to be re-established in the local communities. Above all, the active involvement of young people in local politics is indispensable. The paper discusses in detail youth group activities and the commitment of young people that can accommodate the needs and challenges of local communities. Specifically, the community of Yaeyama is taken as a case study. The youth group activities and community cohesiveness in Yaeyama demonstrate what kinds of roles young people can play. The paper also analyzes, by referring to the social changes undergone in postwar Okinawa, how the degree of young people's commitment has changed. At the same time, the paper argues that it is an educational challenge to ensure that young people are acquiring the skills, or waza, of their local fork arts, and become actively involved in the process of preserving and inheriting the tradition of their local cultures.