Land of Happy Immortals, the Central Ryûkyûs remained effectively de-
militarized until expansion by the Yamato after 616.
Shortly after 616, the Kami jidai (Age of the Gods) was established in
the Central Ryûkyûs with the arrival of a group of Yamato on Seifa Utaki
on the Chinen Peninsula. The exact nature of the Yamato mission is un-
known, but it is obvious that they had planned an extended occupation.
The Yamato from Nara brought with them a rice-based agricultural sys-
tem, as well as iron implements to both farm and defend themselves. Folk
history declares that it was on Seifa Utaki that the first rice was planted in
the Ryûkyûs by the kami(gods) Shinerikyo and Amamikyo, who had de-
scended from Heaven. That Heaven was probably Nara is evidenced in the
Yamato chronicles by Shôtoku Taishi’s appellation as Tennô (Ruler of
Heaven). Amamikyo was impregnated by a divine wind and gave birth to
two boys and a girl, who defined the Ryûkyûan social hierarchy into rulers
(first son), priestesses (daughter), and farmers (second son), and began the
Kami jidai. The sister or daughter of the king at Shuri, on Okinawa, served
as the chief noropriestess (the chief priestess was called “kikoe-ôgimi”) for
the royal family until Shô Tai’s abdication to the Japanese in 1879. To-
gether with the divine gifts of iron tools and weapons came the quasi–Zen
Buddhist teachings promulgated by the pious Shôtoku during his reign.
Both the weapons and the religiosity influence Ryûkyûan martial arts to
this day. And it is most probable that the martial art known as tewas
brought to Okinawa at this time.
Although teliterally means “hand,” the art has always been inti-
mately associated with the use of weapons, so much so that the advanced
empty-hand forms precisely correspond to applications with weapons. The
primary weapons of te are the sword (katana), spear (yari), and halberd
(naginata), which were also the principal weapons of the Japanese bushi
(warrior). Te footwork and taijutsu(techniques for maneuvering the body)
also suggest a Japanese origin of the art.
The belief that the Ryûkyûan martial arts were divinely influenced
and intimately associated with royalty, itself of divine origin and establish-
ment, is evidenced in the oral history of the art of te. The first mention of
te occurs after the Satsuma invasion and subjugation of Okinawa in 1609.
The Satsuma domain was based in Kagoshima, that is, Satsuma. They
launched their invasion and subsequent conquest of the Ryûkyûs from their
home in southern Kyûshû. King Shô Nei sent Jana Ueekata (Japanese;
counselor) to negotiate the occupation treaty with the Japanese. Appalled
by the terms set forth in the document and the general treatment of the
Okinawans, Jana refused to ratify the agreement and was subsequently ex-
iled to Kagoshima, home of the Satsuma, where he was sentenced to be
boiled alive in oil. On the day of his execution, Jana requested that as a364 Okinawa