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The gate of the Taira residence. This photo originally appeared in the Ryukyu Ihoshi.

Generally speaking, a big man is usually strong but lacks mobility. However, Makabe Chaan was the exception to the rule. Incidentally, the suffix Chaan is a term which refers to a small, quick, and brave fighting cock. Hence, this nickname has led many to erroneously believe that Makabe was a small person.

In 1944, Makabe Chosho, a sixth generation descendant of Makabe Chaan, visited me at my request. The owner of a tea business in Naha’s Higashi-machi, he was kind enough to provide me with the family genealogy. His assistance was of enormous value to my research. However, my analysis along with his family records were unfortunately destroyed during an air raid on October 10, 1944. I am deeply sorry that I was unable to take better care of the Makabe family records.

Helping to corroborate Makabe Chaan’s actual size, Chosho-san recounted a story which I would like to impart. There was a kimono made from bashofo (bark from the bashoo tree). It was Makabe Chaan’s special keepsake from Amami, a principal island in the Ryukyu Archipelago, and was well cared for and handed down in the family. Although Makabe Chosho was an average size man, the kimono was, however, too long for him, even when he stood on the top of thick chess board. Although a minor point, it does, nonetheless, tells us that Makabe Chaan wasn’t a small man, as some would have us believe, but was more than six feet tall.