Toma Juchin

• Born: 1591
• Died: 1676
• Other Names: 伊地知 太郎兵衛 (Ijichi Tarôbei)
• Japanese: 当間 重陳 (Touma Juuchin)

Tôma Jûchin was a Shimazu clan retainer who became a member of the Ryukyuan royal court and who is known for his role in currency reform within the Ryûkyû Kingdom.

Originally born and raised as Ijichi Tarôbei in Ôsumi province, he relocated to Ryûkyû around the age of 20 (c. 1610-1611) and changed his name to Tôma Jûchin, becoming "in effect, a naturalized Ryukyuan." Though other specific individual known examples are few, Ijichi/Tôma was not the only individual to change "ethnic" or "national" identities in this way around this time, and stands as an example of the fluidity of identity at the time, in a handful of notable marginal cases at least.

References

• Gregory Smits, Maritime Ryukyu, University of Hawaii Press (2019), 240.