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Military of the Ryukyu Kingdom (view source)
Revision as of 07:45, 13 January 2020
, 07:45, 13 January 2020→Early Military
==Early Military==
==Early Military==
A [[1462]] account by a group of shipwrecked Koreans provides insights into the organization of the Ryukyuan military at that time. Conscripts served for a year at a time, with new soldiers being conscripted once a year. A member of the royal family was charged with overseeing each new group of recruits. Military forces were organized into groups of 100 men; several such groups guarded [[Shuri castle]], working in five-day rotations. When the king left the castle, a group of 300 mounted warriors accompanied him.
A [[1462]] account by a group of shipwrecked Koreans provides insights into the organization of the Ryukyuan military at that time. Conscripts served for a year at a time, with new soldiers being conscripted once a year. A member of the royal family was charged with overseeing each new group of recruits. Military forces were organized into groups of 100 men; several such groups guarded [[Shuri castle]], working in five-day rotations. When the king left the castle, a group of 300 mounted warriors accompanied him.
Another Korean account from roughly the same period indicates that soldiers based at Shuri castle at that time were equipped with arms and armor extremely similar to that used in Japan; it's believed that most arms and armor used in premodern Okinawa were produced in Japan. This same account indicates that the king's personal bodyguard consisted of some one hundred female officials, armed with swords, who patrolled the palace or remained with the king.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 93-94.</ref>
==Shô Shin and Shô Nei==
==Shô Shin and Shô Nei==