Yonabaru Chochi

• Titles: 与那原親雲上 (Yonabaru peechin)
• Japanese: 与那原 朝智 (Yonabaru Chôchi)

Yonabaru peechin Chôchi was a Ryûkyûan official who fought in the kingdom's resistance against the 1609 Shimazu clan invasion of Ryûkyû and who later remained a prominent official in the Ryukyuan royal court.

An official serving under the Hokuzan kanshu at Nakijin, Yonabaru was dispatched to Tokunoshima at some time in 1608 (in advance of the invasion) or 1609, where he helped lead local residents in defense of the island. While many sources suggest that Yonabaru was the son-in-law of top royal advisor Tei Dô, in order to tie Tei Dô more strongly into the history, connecting him as a "hero" to the fact that resistance on Tokunoshima was so strong, it's unlikely that there was any such relation between Yonabaru and Tei Dô. In any case, though Yonabaru and two prominent unnamed brothers led hundreds or even as many as a thousand locals in holding back the Shimazu forces for a time, he and his fellow defenders were ultimately pushed back into the mountains, where they were hunted down by the invaders. Yonabaru was ultimately captured, but he cooperated and was allowed to live; taken hostage, he was eventually returned to Ryûkyû, where he later became a prominent member of the royal court.

References

• Gregory Smits, Maritime Ryukyu, University of Hawaii Press (2019), 228-229.