Heshikiya Takino - Sataya (sugar cane factory) and Nurugaa
April 14, 2023
Let me begin with explaining an error I made in my captions: The 10-10 air raid was October 10 of 1944, not '45.
With that out of the way...
I had a fun day with Ikemura Jun - you might know him as OkinaWanderer. (You need to check out his YouTube channel!)
One of our visits was to the remains of an old sugar mill, or sataya, on the Katsuren Peninsula.
A little about Heshikiya, from my book Timeline: OKINAWA ...
1734
♦ Chōbin Heshikiya, a Ryukyuan who was Japanese-educated and who had a grudge against Ryukyuan Sai On (and actually participated in
a plot to oust him) was executed by Satsuma after having made a slanderous comment about Sai On to a Satsuma resident commissioner.
Chōbin was a scholar of Japanese literature and member of a pro-Japanese faction in the kingdom's government. As a member of the
Ryukyu mission to Edo in 1718, Chōbin enjoyed the opportunity to study Japanese subjects there, and to view kabuki, Noh, and ningyō jōruri
(puppet theater) performances. Upon his return to Okinawa, he viewed the first performances of kumiodori, now a major form of traditional
Ryukyuan dance, and created his own piece for the form, a love story entitled Temizu no En (Fate of Washwater), in which he incorporated
political criticism and evoked the wrath of King Shō Kei. Along with fellow Okinawan government official Tomoyose Anjō, he composed a
letter in 1734 to the judicial offices of Japan's Satsuma Domain, of which the Ryukyu Kingdom was a vassal, criticizing the kingdom's
government, in particular royal advisor Sai On, who was accused of being pro-Chinese. When the royal government learned of this
development, Chōbin was arrested and crucified; fourteen others were likewise executed. A legend tells that Heshikiya and the daughter of
Shō Kei had been in love, and that when he was executed, she threw herself from the walls of the castle, committing suicide. It is said that
only her leg was found, and from then on a particular pavilion in the castle's gardens came to be known as Kunra gushiku (One-Leg Pavilion).
