Kuramoto

• Japanese: 蔵元 (kuramoto)

Kuramoto, which might be translated literally as "warehouse overseer" or the like, and which frequently refers in Japanese to a saké brewer, was a term used in early modern Ryûkyû to refer specifically to the local/regional government overseeing the Miyako Islands, Yaeyama Islands, and Kumejima. The arrangement lasted from the early half of the 16th century through to the abolition of the han and establishment of Okinawa prefecture in the 1870s.

One "head", based on Ishigaki Island, oversaw the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands, while other, lower-ranking representatives oversaw Kumejima.

References

• "Kuramoto." Okinawa konpakuto jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). Ryukyu Shimpô. 1 March 2003. Accessed 16 January 2010.