Kyan Chofu

• Japanese: 喜屋武 朝扶 (Kyan Choufu)

Kyan peechin Chôfu was a Ryukyuan aristocrat and scholar-official prominent in the final years of the kingdom.

In 1872, Kyan was appointed to serve as secretary (nicchô nushidori) on an embassy to Tokyo, ostensibly dispatched to congratulate the Meiji Emperor on the restoration of imperial rule. Several years later, after returning to Ryûkyû, Kyan played a prominent role as an official of the court in receiving and dealing with Matsuda Michiyuki, the chief official appointed by the Meiji government to handle the absorption of the Ryûkyûs into Japan.

Once Japan's overthrow and annexation of the kingdom was complete, Kyan became a steward at the Tokyo mansion of the Shô family, the former royal family of Ryûkyû.

Remaining in Tokyo for some time, Kyan eventually returned to Okinawa, where he turned to making sanshin.

References

• Kawabata Megumu 川端恵, Shô Tai: Saigo no Ryûkyû ô 尚泰：最後の琉球王, Yamakawa shuppan (2019), 21.