Oroko Ryokyo

• Titles: 小禄親方 (Oroku ueekata)
• Japanese: 小禄良恭 (Oroku Ryoukyou)

Oroku Ryôkyô was a scholar-bureaucrat of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, who served in a number of prominent ritual and performing arts posts.

The grandson of Oroku Ryôei, Ryôkyô served as a dancer (gakudôji) in his youth, performing in particular for the reception of a Chinese investiture envoy in 1808, after being selected for that role the previous year. In 1832, he served as sangikan on a Ryukyuan embassy to Edo, and in 1837, he was named Vice Envoy for the upcoming 1840 mission to Edo. This 1840 mission was delayed until 1842, however, and in the meantime, in 1839, Ryôkyô was named to the Sanshikan. In the end, he did not take part in the 1842 mission, and was replaced by Ikegusuku peechin An'yû, who was later named to the Sanshikan as well.

Ryôkyô was appointed Vice Envoy (fukushi) on a planned 1855 mission as well, alongside Lead Envoy Prince Ie Chôchû. However, after the mission arrived in Kagoshima, the Great Ansei Earthquake struck Edo, forcing the mission to be delayed; they stayed in Kagoshima until the following year, and then returned to Ryûkyû. Several attempts were made to reschedule this mission, but events of the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods resulted in this last mission never materializing.

References

• Miyagi Eishô 宮城栄昌, Ryûkyû shisha no Edo nobori 琉球使者の江戸上り, Tokyo: Daiichi Shobô (1982), 49-50.