Kamakura Yoshitaro

A photo of Nakagusuku udun, taken by Kamakura in the 1920s

• Born: 1898/10/9
• Died: 1983/8/3
• Japanese: 鎌倉芳太郎 (Kamakura Yoshitarou)

Kamakura Yoshitarô was a 20th century traditional textile artist, designated a Living National Treasure for his skill at the traditional art of katazome, or resist-dyeing. Kamakura was also an influential scholar of Okinawan history, publishing works on bingata (Okinawan resist-dyeing textile arts) and other aspects of Okinawan culture and history, as well as numerous photographs of historical sites in Okinawa. He also amassed a very significant collection of historical documents and artifacts. Much of his original handwritten notes remain in the Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts (Okinawa Geidai) Library or other collections today; much of these, a mixture of direct transcriptions of Ryûkyû Kingdom documents and Kamakura's own thoughts or interpretations, have also been published in modern type, as Kamakura Yoshitarô shiryôshû.

Originally from Kagawa prefecture, Kamakura graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and later became a teacher at the Okinawa Prefectural Number One Girls' High School & Normal School. Beginning in 1924, he played an active role in efforts to conserve Shuri castle.

References

• "Kamakura Yoshitarô," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.