Takara, Kurayoshi: - Takara Kurayoshi is professor emeritus at the University of the Ryukyus. He received his BA in Ryukyuan history from Aichi University of Education and his PhD from Kyushu University. He has been a specialist at the Okinawa Historical Materials Editorial Office, director of Urasoe City Library, chief examiner at Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum, and executive director of The Okinawa History Research Society. A native of Okinawa, he was born on Izena Island in 1947 and raised on the island of Minamidaitōjima. He has written and contributed to many works on Ryukyu, including Ryūkyū Ōkoku no kōzō [The Structure of the Ryukyu Kingdom] (Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1987); Ajia no naka no Ryūkyū Ōkoku [The Ryukyu Kingdom in Asia] (Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1998); Ryūkyū Ōkokushi no tankyū [Quest for the Ryukyu Kingdom's History] (Gajumaru Shorin, 2011); and Ryūkyū no jidai [The Age of Ryukyu] (Chikuma Shobō, 2012).