, also known by the Chinese-style name , was a Ryukyuan aristocrat and bureaucrat in the royal government of the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

. Nago was born to an aristocrat family called Ba-uji Oroku Dunchi (), whose ancestor was Yuwan Ufunushi, a tribal chief from

Amami Ōshima , also known as Amami, is the largest island in the Amami Islands, Amami archipelago between Kyūshū and Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa. It is one of the Satsunan Islands, all of which belong to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 712.35 ...

. Both his father and grandfather been a member of the

Sanshikan The ''Sanshikan'' ( ), or Council of Three, was a government body of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, which originally developed out of a council of regents. It emerged in 1556, when the young Shō Gen, who was speech disorder, mute, ascended to the throne ...

, the king's closest advisors. In 1579, he went to

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

to pay

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

together with

Jana Ueekata (1549–1611), also known by the Chinese-style name (pinyin Zheng Dong), was a Ryukyuan aristocrat and bureaucrat in the royal government of the Ryukyu Kingdom. A member of the ''Sanshikan'', the king's closest advisors, Rizan was the only Ryuk ...

, whom later became his colleague. In 1592, at the age of 41, his father retired, and he became a member of the Sanshikan. At this time,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

was unified by the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

. Hideyoshi planned to invade Korea and China, and demanded that the Kingdom supply 10 months' rations for 7,000 troops to aid in his invasions through agents of

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a ...

. The court was split between pro-Chinese and pro-Japanese factions; Nago was pro-Japanese, suggested that king Shō Nei should obey, but this suggestion was strongly opposed by his colleague Jana. Jana suggested that all the demands should be rejected. However, both of their advice was not accepted by king

Shō Nei was king of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1589 to 1620. He reigned during the 1609 invasion of Ryukyu and was the first king of Ryukyu to be a vassal to the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, a Japanese feudal domain. Shō Nei was the great-grandson of Sh� ...

; the king sent a warning to China in 1591, and sent only half of the demanded supplies in 1593. Following Hideyoshi's death and after

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

came to power, king Shō Nei was ordered by

to pay tribute to the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the newly established government. Shō Nei ignored the demand, largely upon the advice of Jana Ueekata. In 1609, Ryukyu was invaded by Satsuma, in response to this and other refusals of Japanese demands on the part of the Kingdom. The war broke out on April 8, 1609; less than a month later, Satsuma troops landed on the

Motobu Peninsula The is a peninsula in the Yanbaru region of Okinawa Island. It is surrounded by Nago Bay to the east, the Haneda Inland Sea to the north, and the East China Sea to the west.Okinawa Island Guide " Nago City / Motobu Town / Nakijin VillageOkinawa ...

on northern

Okinawa Island , officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is ...

. Nago Ryōhō was sent by the king to reinforce

Nakijin Castle is a Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' located in Nakijin, Okinawa. It is currently in ruins. In the late 14th century, the island of Okinawa consisted of three principalities: Nanzan to the south, Chūzan in the central area, and Hokuzan in the north. Nakijin ...

, leading a force of a thousand soldiers. On April 30, Nago met the samurai at Nakijin, but lost half his force and was captured. Nago was brought to

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

harbor by the Japanese. After the surrender of king Shō Nei, Nago was released to control

Shuri Castle is a Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' castle in Shuri, Okinawa, Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was ...

, the capital of Ryukyu, under the watch of Satsuma

bugyō was a title assigned to ''samurai'' officials in feudal Japan. ''Bugyō'' is often translated as commissioner, magistrate, or governor, and other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given official's tasks or jurisdi ...

while the king and a number of other officials were brought to

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

, the capital of Satsuma Domain. Two years after the invasion, the king returned to Ryukyu, and Nago remained in his position. Nago retired in 1614, and died three years later.

References

*''

Rekidai Hōan The Rekidai Hōan (歴代宝案), Precious Documents of Successive Generations, is an official compilation of diplomatic documents of the royal government of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. Covering the period from 1424 to 1867, it contains records, writt ...

''. #1-18-03. *"Nago Ryōhō". Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People of Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 1996 *Turnbull, Stephen. ''The Samurai Capture a King: Okinawa 1609''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2009.
馬姓家譜（小綠家）
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryoho, Nago 1551 births 1617 deaths Ueekata Sanshikan 16th-century Ryukyuan people 17th-century Ryukyuan people