The administrative divisions of the Ryukyu Kingdom were a hierarchy composed of districts, ''magiri'', cities, villages, and islands established by the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

throughout the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

Divisions

There were three or ''hō'': , , and , which roughly correspond to the borders of the three Okinawan kingdoms during the

Sanzan period The is a period in the history of the Okinawa Islands when three lines of kings, namely , and , are said to have co-existed on Okinawa Island. It is said to have started during King Tamagusuku's reign (traditional dates: 1314–1336) and, accord ...

. There were 57 throughout the kingdom including the Amami Islands. In concept they were similar to present-day

Japanese prefecture Japan is divided into 47 prefectures (, ''todōfuken'', ), which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They include 43 prefectures proper (, ''ken''), two ...

s, but in size they were closer to Japanese cities, towns and villages. There were four cities: , , , and . They were comparable to Japanese urban prefectures. There were over 600 throughout the kingdom including the Amami Islands. There were approximately 24 or "outlying islands", but only including islands that weren't already part of a ''magiri''.

History

The three districts are based on the three kingdoms of

Hokuzan , also known as before the 18th century, located in the north of Okinawa Island, was one of three independent political entities which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century during Sanzan period. The political entity was identified as a tiny co ...

Chūzan was one of three kingdoms which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century. Okinawa, previously controlled by a number of local chieftains or lords, loosely bound by a paramount chieftain or king of the entire island, split into these three more so ...

, and

Nanzan Nanzan (), also known as Sannan (山南) before the 18th century, located in the south of Okinawa Island, was one of three independent political entities which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century. The political entity was identified as a tiny ...

. The origin of the ''magiri'' system is unclear, but was solidified by the beginning of the reign of

Shō Shin was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the third ruler the second Shō dynasty. Shō Shin's long reign has been described as "the Great Days of Chūzan", a period of great peace and relative prosperity. He was the son of Shō En, the founder of the dyn ...

, the third king of the Second Shō Dynasty of the

who ruled between 1477 and 1526. The ''magiri'' were originally controlled by individual ''

aji Aji or AJI may refer to: Location *Aji (town), Tieling County, Liaoning, China *Aji Island, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan *Aji, Kagawa, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan * Aji River (disambiguation), rivers with the same name Other * Aji (Go), a latent tr ...

'', but as the Ryukyu Kingdom centralized at the turn of the 15th century the ''aji'' relocated to the capital of the kingdom at Shuri. After this period the title of ''aji'' became symbolic, and low-ranking officials were assigned the day-to-day administration of the ''magiri''. Each ''magiri'' had several villages, sometimes referred to as ''shima'', which represented an administrative unit similar to the ''mura'', or village, in feudal Japan. Each ''magiri'' had five to ten villages. Ryukyuan commoners were registered to a particular village, and movement to or from the administrative areas was generally not permitted. Under the system of Shō Shin the central government at Shuri assigned each village a ''

noro Noro may refer to: * Noro, Solomon Islands * , in the Cíes Islands, Spain * Noro (priestess), within the Magiri system of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands * "Noro", a song on the 2009 album '' Daisy'' by Brand New People with the surname ...

'' priestess to carry out the religious functions of the settlement. The ''magiri'' system continued to varying degrees in the Amami Islands even after they were ceded to

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, ...

in 1624. On Okinawa Island, there were 27 ''magiri'' at the turn of the 17th century, but by the 19th century Misato, Kushi, Motobu, Ginowan, Oroku, Onna, Ōgimi, and Yonagusuku were created, bringing the total to 35. The ''magiri'' system continued after the end of the

and annexation of the islands by Japan in 1879. In 1907, under , the Japanese administrative system of cities, towns, and village organization was extended to Okinawa. The ''magiri'' system was officially abolished on April 1, 1908.

List of ''magiri''

The following is a list of ''magiri'' by district:

Kunigami District

, also known as in Okinawan and

Kunigami is a village in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the north tip of Okinawa Island, with the East China Sea to the west, Pacific Ocean to the east, and villages of Higashi and Ōgimi to the south. As of 2015, the village ...

or in

Kanbun A is a form of Classical Chinese used in Japan from the Nara period to the mid-20th century. Much of Japanese literature was written in this style and it was the general writing style for official and intellectual works throughout the period. A ...

, ''Chūzan Seifu'', preamble roughly correspond to the territory of

during the

Nakagami District

, also known as in Okinawan or in Kanbun, roughly correspond to the territory of

during the

Shimajiri District

, also known as in Okinawan or in Kanbun, roughly correspond to the territory of

during the

Sakishima Islands

Northern Amami Islands

References

{{reflist, 2, refs= {{cite encyclopedia, encyclopedia=Dijitaru Daijisen , title=間切り , url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ , accessdate=2013-05-02 , year=2013 , publisher=Shogakukan , location=Tokyo , language=Japanese , trans-title=Magiri , oclc=56431036 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ , archivedate=2007-08-25 {{cite encyclopedia, encyclopedia=Nihon Kokugo Daijiten , title=間切 , trans-title=Magiri , url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ , accessdate=2013-05-02 , year=2013 , publisher=Shogakukan , location=Tokyo , language=Japanese , oclc=56431036 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ , archivedate=2007-08-25 {{cite encyclopedia, encyclopedia=Kokushi Daijiten , title=間切 , url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ , accessdate=2013-05-02 , year=2013 , publisher=Shogakukan , location=Tokyo , language=Japanese , trans-title=Magiri , oclc=683276033 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ , archivedate=2007-08-25 {{cite journal , last1 = Takara , first1 = Kurayoshi , date=Winter 1994–1995 , title = King and Priestess: Spiritual and Political Power in Ancient Ryukyu , journal = The Ryukyuanist , issue = 27 , pages = 1–2 , location = Naha, Okinawa Prefecture , publisher = International Society of Ryukyuan Studies , url = http://www.uchinanchu.org/uchinanchu/ryukyuanist/ryukyuanist27.pdf Ryukyu Kingdom

Geographic history of Japan

Divisions

History

List of ''magiri''

Kunigami District

Nakagami District

Shimajiri District

Sakishima Islands

Northern Amami Islands

See also

References