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The [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]] is known to have possessed firearms as early as the 1450s, if not earlier. They used a variety of gunpowder hand-weapons and cannon obtained from the Chinese, but did not make use of European-style [[arquebus]]es or [[cannon]].
Ryûkyû enjoyed extensive trade with China, including trade in weapons, up until the 1450s, when a ban was placed on Fujian merchants selling weapons overseas, as these were needed to defend the coasts against ''[[wako|wakô]]'' raids. Yet, Koreans visiting Ryûkyû around that time noted that Ryûkyû possessed firearms akin to their own.<ref name=turnbull>Turnbull, Stephen. ''The Samurai Capture a King: Okinawa 1609''. Oxford: Osprey Press, 2009. pp26-27.</ref> A Ryukyuan envoy in [[1466]] demonstrated one of these firearms before the [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga shogun]] and his court; [[Stephen Turnbull]] describes this as the first gunpowder explosion to occur in Japan since the [[Mongol invasions]],<ref>Turnbull. p58.</ref> when the Mongols made use of a sort of grenade or bomb.
The European [[arquebus]], introduced to Japan in [[1543]], never caught on in Ryûkyû, and the gunpowder weapons used were adapted from Chinese technology. Known as ''hyaa'' (火矢), or "fire arrows,"<ref name=champloo>Kadekawa Manabu. ''Okinawa Chanpurû Jiten''. Tokyo: Yama-kei Publishers, 2001. p194.</ref> they had short barrels, and essentially consisted of short, slightly conical iron tubes attached to wooden shafts. Some had three barrels. The weapon was held under the left arm while the right hand was used to light it. The Japanese made use of such weapons as well, as late as in the [[1548]] [[battle of Uedahara]], but the superior European-style arquebus became more widely used after that.<ref name=turnbull/>
These Chinese-style weapons, or heavier versions of the same, were used extensively in castle defenses, not only at Shuri, but also at, for example, [[Nakijin gusuku]], where gunports were explicitly installed above the castle's gates, and presumably at other ''[[gusuku]]'' (castles/fortresses)v as well.<ref>Turnbull. p33.</ref>
Turnbull surmises that techniques of firing in volleys were unfamiliar in Ryûkyû, contributing to their unpreparedness in the face of the [[invasion of Ryukyu|samurai invaders]] from [[Satsuma han]] in [[1609]], who made extensive use of arquebuses and of volley-firing tactics.<ref name=turnbull/>
Ryûkyû also made use of a form of cannon called ''ishibiya'', a term which later came to refer specifically to those which fired shots of one ''[[kanme]]'' in weight (3.75kg) or heavier. Ammunition of this type has been found in excavations at [[Shuri castle]]. Cannon were also mounted at [[Mie gusuku|Mie]] and [[Yarazamori gusuku]] which defended the port of [[Naha]].<ref name=turnbull/>
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Arms and Armor]]