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| + | [[File:Tomari.JPG|right|thumb|320px|Stone inscribed with a ''[[ryuka|ryûka]]'' poem about Tomari Takahashi, at Tomari Port]] |
| *''Japanese/Okinawan'': [[泊]] ''(Tomari / Tumai)'' | | *''Japanese/Okinawan'': [[泊]] ''(Tomari / Tumai)'' |
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− | Tomari was a district of the city of [[Naha]], the chief port of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]], and a major port in its own right. | + | Tomari was a district of the city of [[Naha]], the chief port of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]], and a major port in its own right. The port district sits at the mouth of the Azato-gawa ([[Azato River]]), and served as a key transport point, connecting water routes to land routes (roads). |
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| A one-kilometer-long, narrow earthen embankment called the [[Chokotei|Chôkôtei]] connected the tiny off-shore island of Ukishima, where most of the other districts of Naha were located, to the Okinawan "mainland," ending at the temple of [[Sogenji|Sôgenji]] in Tomari. | | A one-kilometer-long, narrow earthen embankment called the [[Chokotei|Chôkôtei]] connected the tiny off-shore island of Ukishima, where most of the other districts of Naha were located, to the Okinawan "mainland," ending at the temple of [[Sogenji|Sôgenji]] in Tomari. |
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− | While the port of Naha was the chief site for receiving foreign ships, ships from [[Yaeyama]], [[Miyako]], [[Amami Islands|Amami]], and other outlying islands within the kingdom, including those bringing [[tribute]], made port at Tomari. The ''[[Tomari satonushi]]'', the chief administrator for the district, was also in charge of receiving and managing the tribute from Amami; the district also contained warehouses for storing the tribute goods.<ref>Uezato. pp62-63.</ref>
| + | Tomari was one of the chief ports on the island, along with [[Makiminato]], as early as the 13th-14th centuries. During the time when the kingdom of [[Chuzan|Chûzan]] was ruled from [[Urasoe]] (i.e. up until the 1410s or 1420s), Tomari was home to a number of government offices and warehouses. A notable bridge in the area, still famous today, is known as Tomari Takahashi; originally built in wood, it was replaced with a stone bridge in [[1699]].<ref>Gallery labels at [[Tamaudun]].[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15282268389/sizes/h/]</ref> |
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| + | King [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]] (r. 1422-1439) made Naha the chief site for receiving foreign ships, and the port city quickly came to eclipse both Tomari and Makiminato as the kingdom's central port. However, ships from [[Yaeyama]], [[Miyako]], [[Amami Islands|Amami]], and other outlying islands within the kingdom, including those bringing [[tribute]], continued to make port at Tomari. The ''[[Tomari satonushi]]'' or ''Tomari kashira-dori'', the chief administrator for the district, was also in charge of receiving and managing the tribute from Amami. His office was known as ''Tumai udun''; the district also contained warehouses for storing the tribute goods, known as ''Ôshimakura''.<ref>Uezato. pp62-63.</ref> |
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| + | In the 19th century, when European and American ships began to call at Ryûkyû, Ryukyuan and [[Satsuma han]] authorities did not wish to allow these ships into Naha Harbor; thus the water off of Tomari were employed as an anchorage, and foreigners who came ashore thus did so in Tomari, and not in Naha proper. A monument still stands today at the [[Tomari International Cemetery]] marking that [[Commodore Perry]] came ashore near that spot in [[1853]]. |
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
| + | *Plaques on-site at Tomari Port.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9545757368/in/dateposted-public/] |
| *Uezato Takashi. "The Formation of the Port City of Naha in Ryukyu and the World of Maritime Asia: From the Perspective of a Japanese Network." ''[[Acta Asiatica]]'' 95 (2008). pp57-77. | | *Uezato Takashi. "The Formation of the Port City of Naha in Ryukyu and the World of Maritime Asia: From the Perspective of a Japanese Network." ''[[Acta Asiatica]]'' 95 (2008). pp57-77. |
| + | *"Naha ma~i" 那覇ま~い. Pamphlet. Naha City Board of Education Cultural Properties Division 那覇市教育委員会文化財課, 1989. |
| <references/> | | <references/> |
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| [[Category:Ryukyu]] | | [[Category:Ryukyu]] |
| [[Category:Cities and Towns]] | | [[Category:Cities and Towns]] |