Noboru Jahana

A representative social activist of modern Okinawa. Born on September 28, 1865, to a farming family in Kochinda Magiri (Yaese Town), Shimajiri County, Okinawa Prefecture. In 1881 (Meiji 14), he entered Okinawa Prefectural Normal School, which had just been established, and in the following year, he was selected as one of the first prefecture-sponsored students to come to Tokyo. He studied at Gakushuin, Tokyo Forestry School, Tokyo Agricultural and Forestry School, and then at the College of Agriculture of the Imperial University. Returning home as Okinawa's first graduate, Jahana joined the prefectural government as a high-ranking official, and was respected by the people of Okinawa as a new-age elite in a time when people from other prefectures held sway in the government, education, and economic circles. Building on the modern agricultural science he learned at university, Jahana embarked on reforms to the prefecture's agriculture, which was still in a pre-modern state, and he carried out energetic activities that left a major mark in areas such as the modernization of the sugar industry and the improvement of agricultural techniques. "Okinawa Sugar Industry Theory" (1896) is a masterpiece that provided guidelines for the modernization of the sugar industry.

However, Jahana, who sought radical reforms, gradually came into conflict with the then governor of the prefecture, Narahara Shigeru, nicknamed the "King of Ryukyu," and also with the old ruling class, who were trying to make a comeback through the Ryukyu Shimpo (first published in 1893). Jahana believed that the renewal of the prefecture's administration was an urgent matter to modernize and promote industry, especially agriculture, and in 1898 he resigned from his government position, retired from office, and formed the Okinawa Club with his comrades. He published the journal Okinawa Jiron, promoting "commoner progressivism," and launched anti-Narahara and anti-clique campaigns. He also argued for the privatization of Somayama, pursued the issue of shared funds, demanded suffrage, and confronted the Narahara faction and the old ruling class. In response, Narahara's faction and the former ruling class launched a fierce attack on Jahana's movement, and the conflict between the two sides reached a peak in 1900 (Meiji 33) over the election of executive positions at the Okinawa Prefectural Bank of Agriculture and Industry. Jahana was completely defeated in this election, his comrades dispersed, and the movement collapsed. Having squandered all his assets, he left Okinawa in search of work, but on the way to his new post in Yamaguchi Prefecture he suffered a mental breakdown at Kobe Station and returned home in a completely changed state. After that, he was plagued by illness and poverty, and lived a hermit-like life in his hometown of Tonohira, until he passed away on October 29, 1908. Many researchers consider the movement he led to be the "Okinawa Freedom and People's Rights Movement."

[Takara Kurayoshi]

"After the Disposition of the Ryukyu Islands, Vol. 2" by Akira Shinkawa (1981, Asahi Shimbun)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近代沖縄の代表的な社会運動家。慶応(けいおう)元年9月28日、沖縄県島尻(しまじり)郡東風平間切(こちんだまぎり)（八重瀬(やえせ)町）の農家に生まれる。1881年（明治14）創立まもない沖縄県師範学校に入学、翌82年第1回県費留学生に抜擢(ばってき)され上京した。学習院から東京山林学校、東京農林学校を経て帝国大学農科大学に学んだ。沖縄最初の学士として帰郷した謝花は高等官待遇で県庁入りし、他府県出身者が官界・教育界・経済界で幅をきかせていた当時の沖縄にあって、新時代のエリートとして県民の尊敬を集めた。大学で学んだ近代農学に立脚し、いまだ前近代的状況下にあった県農業の改革に乗り出し、精力的な活動を展開、糖業の近代化、農業技術の改良などの面で大きな足跡を残した。『沖縄糖業論』（1896）は糖業近代化の指針を示した名著である。

　しかし急進的な改革を求める謝花は「琉球(りゅうきゅう)王」の異名をとる時の県知事奈良原繁(ならはらしげる)としだいに対立を深め、さらに『琉球新報』（1893創刊）に拠(よ)って巻き返しを図る旧支配層とも対立するに至った。農業を中心とする産業の近代化や振興を図るためには県政の刷新こそ急務と考えた謝花は、1898年官職を辞して下野、同志とともに沖縄倶楽部(クラブ)を結成した。機関誌『沖縄時論』を発行して「平民的進歩主義」を鼓吹するとともに、反奈良原、反閥族のキャンペーンを展開、また、杣山(そまやま)民有化の主張、共有金問題の追及、参政権の要求など自らの立場を力説して奈良原一派、旧支配層と対決した。これに対して奈良原一派、旧支配層は謝花らの運動に激しい攻撃を加え、両者の対立は1900年（明治33）の沖縄県農工銀行重役改選問題でピークに達した。謝花はこの選挙で完敗、同志も四散して運動は瓦解(がかい)した。財産をも使い果たしていた彼は、職を求めて沖縄を去り、新任地山口県に向かう途中神戸駅で精神に異常をきたし、変わり果てた姿で帰郷した。以後は病苦と貧窮に悩まされ、郷里東風平で世捨て人のような生活を送り、明治41年10月29日、この世を去った。彼が主導した運動を「沖縄の自由民権運動」と評価する研究者が多い。

［高良倉吉］

『新川明著『琉球処分以後　下』（1981・朝日新聞社）』

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