Maruoka Kanji

• Born: 1836
• Died: 1898

Maruoka Kanji was the seventh governor of Okinawa prefecture, serving in that position from 1888 to 1892, when he was succeeded by Narahara Shigeru.

Prior to coming to Okinawa, he served as head of the Bureau of Shrines (jinja kyoku) within the Home Ministry. In Okinawa, he was a staunch advocate for kôminka - the transformation of the people into Imperial subjects - and pushed for the complementarity of Shinto shrines in order to contribute to this process.

References

• Tze M. Loo, Heritage Politics: Shuri Castle and Okinawa’s Incorporation into Modern Japan, 1879–2000, Lexington Books (2014), 112n33.