Gushiken or Gusicin () is an Okinawan surname of Okinawan (

Ryukyu 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 ...

an) origin. Often taken to mean "strong willed" or "of firm determination", a meaning taken from the combination of the three

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

characters in the name. Gu ( 具) means roughly ingredients/utensil/means, Shi ( 志) means will/motive/bear in mind, and Ken ( 堅) means hard/resolute/unyielding. This surname is rare among Japanese surnames in that it is one of the few that are composed of three kanji characters, where most Japanese surnames are either composed of one or two kanji characters. The Gushiken surname is one of many family names of the Okinawan bureaucrat class (Okinawan

scholar-official The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

s, also known as

Shizoku The was a social class in Japan composed of former ''samurai'' after the Meiji Restoration from 1869 to 1947. ''Shizoku'' was a distinct class between the ''kazoku'' (a merger of the former ''kuge'' and ''daimyō'' classes) and ''heimin'' (commo ...

Pechin , or , historically ''Opoyakomoi'', was a rank among the Yukatchu class of the former Ryukyu Kingdom (modern-day Okinawa, Japan), above the rank of Satunushi and below the rank of Ueekata. As scholar-officials The scholar-officials, also known ...

). In recent history there have been some notable Gushiken who have excelled in such fields as

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

, politics, sports, education, and entertainment. Some members of former-Scholars families began their migration from Okinawa in the early 20th century. Years earlier, in the late 19th century, government pensions to

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

had been cancelled. Then, in 1920, Okinawa was hit hard by a major economic downturn. The price of cotton and silk fell by 70% in some areas and it was still recovering from a major epidemic that had swept through the islands. Many in the warrior class found the adjustment difficult and left Okinawa to seek their fortunes in places like

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

See also