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In addition to serving as the chief port for the kingdom, Naha was a major transshipment port, one of the most major trading hubs in the entire Southeast & East Asia region, during its height in the 15th-16th centuries. Many Japanese merchants operating within the ''[[shuinsen]]'' system made port here or even maintained homes and families in Naha, as did a small community of Korean merchants involved in trade with Java and Siam.<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 217.</ref> The port served as a transshipment point for a great many goods, including metals, aromatic woods, silks, porcelains, ivory, and the like, as well as for silver. Though the kingdom itself did not send its own trading ships anywhere in Southeast Asia after [[1570]] (the final trading mission to Siam), the government did hire or contract Japanese merchants (and presumably others) to perform both mercantile and diplomatic duties on behalf of the kingdom. To name just two examples, [[Taira Nobushige]] of Hakata traveled to Korea in [[1471]] as an envoy of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, and [[Kawasaki Rihee]]<!--川崎利兵衛--> of Sakai set sail for Southeast Asia in [[1598]] to engage in trade on behalf of the kingdom.<ref>Uezato. p71.</ref>

In addition to serving as the chief port for the kingdom, Naha was a major transshipment port, one of the most major trading hubs in the entire Southeast & East Asia region, during its height in the 15th-16th centuries. Many Japanese merchants operating within the ''[[shuinsen]]'' system made port here or even maintained homes and families in Naha, as did a small community of Korean merchants involved in trade with Java and Siam.<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 217.</ref> The port served as a transshipment point for a great many goods, including metals, aromatic woods, silks, porcelains, ivory, and the like, as well as for silver. Though the kingdom itself did not send its own trading ships anywhere in Southeast Asia after [[1570]] (the final trading mission to Siam), the government did hire or contract Japanese merchants (and presumably others) to perform both mercantile and diplomatic duties on behalf of the kingdom. To name just two examples, [[Taira Nobushige]] of Hakata traveled to Korea in [[1471]] as an envoy of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, and [[Kawasaki Rihee]]<!--川崎利兵衛--> of Sakai set sail for Southeast Asia in [[1598]] to engage in trade on behalf of the kingdom.<ref>Uezato. p71.</ref>

Trade declined dramatically in the 17th century, due to heavy restrictions imposed by Satsuma, the imposition of maritime restrictions (''[[kaikin]]'') in Japan (which brought a severe decline in Japanese maritime activity), and a variety of factors concerning trade relations with Southeast Asia. But Naha remained the chief port city, and along with Shuri, the chief economic, cultural, and political center in the Ryukyus, from that time through today. Major efforts to dredge the harbor and revitalize the port were undertaken in [[1717]]. It is said 70,000 men were involved in the effort, and a stone still stands today in honor and memory of the event.<ref>Hokama Masaaki 外間政明。”''Nahakō no seiritsu to sono kinō iji''” 那覇港の成立とその機能維持。''Shimatati'' しまたてぃ 13. Okinawa Shimatate Kyōkai 沖縄しまたて協会。July 2000. pp5-7.</ref>

Trade declined dramatically in the 17th century, due to heavy restrictions imposed by Satsuma, the imposition of maritime restrictions (''[[kaikin]]'') in Japan (which brought a severe decline in Japanese maritime activity), and a variety of factors concerning trade relations with Southeast Asia. But Naha remained the chief port city, and along with Shuri, the chief economic, cultural, and political center in the Ryukyus, from that time through today. Major efforts to dredge the harbor and revitalize the port were undertaken in [[1717]], under the direction of [[Tamagusuku Chokun|Tamagusuku Chôkun]] as ''waki bugyô''. It is said 70,000 men were involved in the effort, and a stone still stands today in honor and memory of the event.<ref>Hokama Masaaki 外間政明。”''Nahakō no seiritsu to sono kinō iji''” 那覇港の成立とその機能維持。''Shimatati'' しまたてぃ 13. Okinawa Shimatate Kyōkai 沖縄しまたて協会。July 2000. pp5-7.; "Monument of Construction of Naha Port," gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49599881326/sizes/l/]</ref>

Naha was home to one of four sets of scholar-aristocracies in the kingdom, along with Shuri, [[Tomari]], and Kumemura. Members of the Naha aristocracy were selected for certain governmental positions - largely those related to managing trade and the administration of Naha itself - often alongside scholar-officials from Shuri, while other positions were filled exclusively from the Shuri and Kumemura families. The highest position attainable for a member of the Naha scholar-aristocracy was that of ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', head of the [[Omonogusuku]], the royal storehouse located out in the harbor. The administration of the port town itself was headed by the [[Naha satonushi]] (O: ''Naafa satunushi''), who had under him some ten to twenty officials. Two Naha ''hissha'' and two Naha ''kari hissha'', whose position might be translated as "clerk" or "secretary," oversaw official records and archives, under the authority of the ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', and a number of Naha ''[[yokome]]'' served as inspectors, investigating local civil cases, under the jurisdiction of the ''[[Jito (Ryukyu)|jitô]]'' of the neighboring port town of Tomari.<ref>''Naha shizoku no isshô'' 那覇士族の一生 (Naha: Naha City Museum of History, 2010), 14.</ref>

Naha was home to one of four sets of scholar-aristocracies in the kingdom, along with Shuri, [[Tomari]], and Kumemura. Members of the Naha aristocracy were selected for certain governmental positions - largely those related to managing trade and the administration of Naha itself - often alongside scholar-officials from Shuri, while other positions were filled exclusively from the Shuri and Kumemura families. The highest position attainable for a member of the Naha scholar-aristocracy was that of ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', head of the [[Omonogusuku]], the royal storehouse located out in the harbor. The administration of the port town itself was headed by the [[Naha satonushi]] (O: ''Naafa satunushi''), who had under him some ten to twenty officials. Two Naha ''hissha'' and two Naha ''kari hissha'', whose position might be translated as "clerk" or "secretary," oversaw official records and archives, under the authority of the ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', and a number of Naha ''[[yokome]]'' served as inspectors, investigating local civil cases, under the jurisdiction of the ''[[Jito (Ryukyu)|jitô]]'' of the neighboring port town of Tomari.<ref>''Naha shizoku no isshô'' 那覇士族の一生 (Naha: Naha City Museum of History, 2010), 14.</ref>