Shibushi

• Japanese: 志布志 (Shibushi)

Shibushi is a port city on the eastern side of the Ôsumi peninsula, in Kagoshima prefecture. Originally a major port within the Shimazu shôen estate in the Heian period, it served for a brief period as the seat of the Ôshû Shimazu clan in the 14th century, before the clan relocated to Kagoshima. The city remained an important port, however, as an intermediary point for commercial shipping between Ryûkyû and Osaka.

One significant site within the city is the Rinzai Zen temple of Daiji-ji. In the 14th century, a head priest of Daiji-ji served as Shimazu Ujihisa's envoy to Ming Dynasty China, though in the end he failed to establish a long-term trade relationship. A number of Ryukyuan monks studied at Daiji-ji during the Edo period, and several Ryukyuan graves can still be found on the grounds today.

References

• "Shibushi," Kaiyô kokka Satsuma, Shôkoshûseikan official website.