Ryukyu-kan
- Japanese: 琉球館 (Ryuukyuukan)
Ryûkyû-kan were institutions serving as homes and bases of operations for Ryukyuan missions in early modern Fuzhou (Fujian province, China) and Kagoshima (Satsuma province, Japan).
Kagoshima
The Ryûkyû-kan in Kagoshima was located below the castle, on the site occupied today by Nagata Middle School and governmental food provisions offices.
It played a central role in relations between the Kingdom of Ryûkyû and the han to which it was a vassal, serving a function not unlike a modern-day embassy. Visiting dignitaries lived and worked in the Ryûkyû-kan, as did students studying classic subjects in preparation for careers in the kingdom's bureaucracy, and a number of Ryukyuan permanent residents of the city. Satsuma's control over the Ryukyuan officials was tight, however; wandering or loitering in the area around the building was forbidden, and guards posted at the entrance checked visitors in and out[1]. Ryukyuans could travel around the city, and to other parts of the country, only on official business, and under tight supervision and strict regulations. Similarly strict policies applied to Japanese visiting the institution.
Fuzhou
The other Ryûkyû-kan (Liuqiu guan in Chinese pinyin), was located in the Chinese city of Fuzhou. Built around 1430-1440, and originally known as the rouyuan yi (J: jûen-eki),[2] this was one of a number of stations established by the Chinese to cater to foreign visitors. Fuzhou became the official site for Ryukyuan business in China in 1470, and for a Maritime Trade Office, or shibosi previously located in Quanzhou. The rouyuan yi or Ryûkyû-kan in Fuzhou, though already in operation for several decades at this time, now more officially took on a more official status as the chief Ryukyuan headquarters in southern China, as the laiyuan yi (J: raien-eki, lit. "station for [those who] come from faraway"), a similar institution in Quanzhou, declined. Custom dictated that establishments for foreigners, such as this one, be placed outside the city gates, so as to prevent visiting foreigners from spying on formal goings-on within the city; to that end, the Ryûkyû-kan was built just beyond the city gates (specifically, the Suibumen).
Along with the nearby Kaido-kan and Kokushi-kan[3], the Ryûkyû-kan housed visiting dignitaries and scholars en route between Ryûkyû and the Chinese capital of Nanjing or Beijing. In addition to officials sent by the kingdom to engage in formal diplomatic matters, Ryūkyū regularly sent a small number of students to study a variety of traditional Chinese subjects in the capital, primarily in preparation for careers in the kingdom's government and bureaucracy.
The Ryûkyû-kan was often used to store goods being gathered or prepared to be given as tribute, and contained offices as well for liaising with the Fuzhou shiboshi Maritime Trade Office.
場外に設けるのは進貢する外国人に省城内部を窺わせないための昔からの慣例という。館の敷地面積は約5600平方メートルで、内には前庁・後庁・臥房などの施設の他、天妃（媽祖）及び土地神の廟、中国で客死した琉球人の霊を祭る位牌堂（崇報祠）、中国人スタッフの公館などがあった。柔遠駅は初め庁舎として設けられたが、後には琉球館の名が示すように、琉球人が独占使用する宿館となった。琉球人の日中の出入りは自由で、その滞在費は基本的に中国側が負担した。清代に七回大規模な改修が行われたが、現在その遺構は全て失われている。琉球王国崩壊の後、一時亡命琉球人の住処になったが、その後は明治末から昭和初期にかけて沖縄出身者が茶工場を営んでいた。現在の建築物は1992年に建てられたもので、福州の民居の様式で、壁が部屋より高く防火・防犯の機能を重視したものである。中は小さな博物館になっており、清代に福州で死亡した琉球人の墓石などが展示してある。なお、琉球館は閩江の支流である瓊河（けいが）のほとりにあったが、現在は河の大半は地下にもぐり、僅かに万寿橋近辺に面影を留めるのみである。
References
- "Jûen-eki 柔遠駅." Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典. Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.
- "The Rekidai Hoan: An Introduction to Documents of the Ryukyu Kingdom." Editorial Office of Rekidai Hoan, Okinawa Archives, Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education (trans.). Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia 3 (March 2003). 15 pages.
- Sakai, Robert K. "The Satsuma-Ryukyu Trade and the Tokugawa Seclusion Policy." Journal of Asian Studies. 23:3 (May 1964). pp391-403.
- 『薩摩と琉球』。鹿児島県の県立図書館。("Satsuma and Ryukyu." Kagoshima Prefectural Library Official Site.) http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/kentosho/shiryo/kityou-490.html Accessed 10 October 2007. (Source in Japanese.)
- Watanabe Miki. "Nihon ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki 日本における琉球史跡." (personal webpage).
- Watanabe Miki. "Chûgoku ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki - Fuzhou-shi-nai 中国における琉球史跡・福州市内." (personal webpage).
