Aji An ''aji'', ''anji'', or ''azu'' was a ruler of a petty kingdom in the

history of the Ryukyu Islands This article is about the history of the Ryukyu Islands southwest of the main islands of Japan. Etymology The name "Ryūkyū" originates from Chinese writings. The earliest references to "Ryūkyū" write the name as 琉虬 and 流求 () in the ...

. The word later became a title and rank of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It has been theorized to be related to the Japanese ''aruji'' ("master"), and the pronunciation varied throughout the islands. It ranked next below a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

among nobility. The sons of princes and the eldest sons of ''aji'' became ''aji.'' An ''aji'' established a noble family equivalent to a shinnōke of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The ''aji'' arose around the twelfth century as local leaders began to build ''

gusuku often refers to castles or fortresses in the Ryukyu Islands that feature stone walls. However, the origin and essence of ''gusuku'' remain controversial. In the archaeology of Okinawa Prefecture, the ''Gusuku period'' refers to an archaeologica ...

'' (Ryukyuan castles).

Shō Hashi was the last King of Chūzan and the first king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, uniting the three polities of Chūzan, Hokuzan, and Nanzan by conquest and ending the Sanzan period. Family * Father: Shishō * mother: daughter of Miiko * Wife: sister of I ...

was an ''aji'' who later unified

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

as king. The title ''aji'' variously designated sons of the king and regional leaders. During the Second Shō Dynasty, when the ''aji'' settled near Shuri Castle, the word came to denote an aristocrat in the castle town. A pattern for addressing a male ''aji'' began with the place he ruled and ended with the word ''aji'', for example, "Nago ''Aji''". For women, the suffix ''ganashi'' or ''kanashi'' (加那志) followed: "Nago ''Aji-ganashi''".

List of Aji (1873)

*Oroku Aji (Oroku Udun) *Yuntanza Aji (Yuntanza Udun) *Yoshimura Aji (Yoshimura Udun) *Yonashiro Aji (Yonashiro Udun) *Tomigusuku Aji (Tomigusuku Udun) *Osato Aji (Osato Udun) *Urasoe Aji (Urasoe Udun) *Tamagawa Aji (Tamagawa Udun) *Kunigami Aji (Kunigami Udun) *Omura Aji (Omura Udun) *Motobu Aji (Motobu Udun) *Misato Aji (Misato Udun) *Haneji Aji (Haneji Udun) *Nago Aji (Nago Udun) *Kin Aji (Kin Udun) *Uchima Aji (Uchima Udun) *Mabuni Aji (Mabuni Udun) *Nakazato Aji (Nakazato Udun) *Goeku Aji (Goeku Udun) *Ogimi Aji (Ogimi Udun) *Gushikami Aji (Gushikami Udun) *Mabuni Aji (Mabuni Udun) *Tamashiro Aji (Tamashiro Udun) *Gushikawa Aji (Gushikawa Udun) *Takamine Aji (Takamine Udun) *Kushi Aji (Kushi Udun) *Katsuren Aji (Katsuren Udun)

References

*Higashionna, Kanjun. (1957). ''Ryukyu no rekishi'', Tokyo: Shibundo. *Higashionna, Kanjun. (1964). ''Nanto fudoki'', Tokyo: Okinawa Bunka Kyokai Okinawa Zaidan. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aji (Ryukyu) Noble titles Military engineers

List of Aji (1873)

See also

References