The Katsuren hill on the Pacific shore of the Yokatsu peninsula is a trading harbour and a chief's seat of later centuries (inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2000).
The English Wikipedia page dates the castle to the 13th and 14th centuries and has it in use from the 13th; so on 1 January 1200 at most an early settlement and enclosure stands there, and the harbour trade in Chinese ceramics is the thing to say. The famed Amawari, who unified much of the islands' trade and fell in 1458, is two and a half centuries away.
Who he is
- Name
- not known for 1200
- Title
- Local chief (Katsuren aji in later usage)
- Family
- The Katsuren aji of the 14th and 15th centuries are known (Amawari was the tenth, in the mid-15th century); none can be traced to 1200
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Katsuren Castle): construction in the 13th to 14th century, in use from the 13th century, early 14th by the text; Yuan blue-and-white porcelain excavated.
What it holds
- The Katsuren hill and its harbour
- The surrounding villages of the peninsula
How things stand that morning
A harbour and a chief; nothing else is known.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: English Wikipedia only; dates are archaeological.
Primary sources for Ryukyu
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
- Description of the Foreign Peoples (Chau Ju-kua), Zhao Rukuo (趙汝适) (about 1225, while superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou). The Song customs officer's survey of the overseas world, compiled from merchants and from Zhou Qufei, a generation after 1200 but describing trade routes that were the same in 1200. Read online
Sources and studies
- OMNIA kja regional brief (KJA_BRIEF.md), the campaign's dated traps and realm table
- Katsuren Castle, English Wikipedia
- Gusuku, English Wikipedia
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.