Investigations into the history of karate

When the Ryūkyū Kingdom was abolished in 1879 and the islands were made Okinawa Prefecture by the Meiji government, Itosu Ankō’s work for the royal court came to an end. For a long time, it has been assumed that Itosu then retired and devoted his life entirely to his training and the passing on of the Ryūkyūan civil fighting arts to the next generation. New research findings prove that this was not fully the case. After a career as a scribe and secretary for the King, Itosu worked as head of the Tōnokura public village office.