Happy Women's Map 沖縄県 日本の先駆的女性実業家 照屋敏子 女史
「いつまでも差別を叫んで、ひがみ根性を持つより、自分たちの力で自分たちの仕事を開発しなければ、沖縄はいつまでたっても立ち直れません。私はその捨て石になるつもりです。」
"Rather than continuously shouting discrimination and harboring resentment, Okinawa will never recover unless we develop our own work with our own strength. I intend to be a stepping stone for that."
照屋 敏子 女史
Ms. Toshiko Teruya
1915 - 1984
沖縄県糸満市 生誕
Born in Itoman-city, Okinawa-ken
照屋敏子女史は、日本の先駆的女性実業家。沖縄引き揚げ者をまとめて「沖ノ島漁業団」を結成、沖縄県魚・グルクンの定価改正、沖縄珊瑚の国際入札の実施、琉球びんがた伝統工芸士の育成、沖縄の地理気候を活かしたプランクトン・マッシュルーム・クロダイ・ボラ・クルマエビ・メロン・鯛・アオウミガメ・スピルリナの栽培・養殖・培養の研究また事業展開に従事。沖縄の自立を目指して新しい産業開発に献身した糸満女性です。
Toshiko Teruya was a pioneering female entrepreneur in Japan. She formed the "Okinoshima Fishing Cooperative" to unite Okinawan repatriates. She worked on various projects aimed at promoting Okinawa's self-reliance, including the revision of prices for Okinawa's fish, Gurukun, the international bidding of Okinawan corals, the nurturing of traditional craftsmen specializing in Ryukyuan glassware, and research and business development related to the cultivation and aquaculture of plankton, mushrooms, black porgy, mullet, tiger prawns, melons, sea bream, green sea turtles, and Spirulina, all utilizing Okinawa's geographical and climatic advantages. She dedicated herself to the development of new industries to support Okinawa's self-sufficiency.
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「猛烈アタック」
敏子は糸満の漁師である両親のもと生まれます。両親はブラジル契約移民を志して2歳の敏子を祖母トクに預け出航、母は移民船中で衰弱して死去、父は憔悴しきって帰国するもまもなく死亡。照子は９歳から漁師から魚を買っては頭に載せたかごに入れて10ｋｍ離れた那覇まで毎日歩いて行商に出かけます。敏子は16歳のときに妻子ある男を南洋まで追いかけ、トラック、パラオ、サイパンなどの島々を巡って工芸品売買を覚えます。恋人と破局して失意の敏子は19歳のときにパラオで糸満小学校の恩師で31歳の照屋林蔚と再会、猛烈アタックの末に結婚します。しばらくして那覇の夫の実家に移り住むと、夫は名家ゆえに徴兵を免れ召集令状を発行する仕事に嫌気が差して海軍に志願してしまいます。敏子はこれに猛反対、すぐに上京して那覇出身の海軍軍人で衆議院議員の漢那憲和に陳情、夫を日本水産那覇工場長に就任させます。まもなく那覇の10・10空襲で照屋家は全焼、漁船を借り切って一家で鹿児島県、熊本県、福岡県の博多に疎開します。ようやく終戦を迎えるとGHQの命令で帰島できず職にもつけず、同じ様に旧植民地や前線から帰還した沖縄出身者が福岡県に溢れます。
「沖ノ島漁業団の女団長」
そこで沖縄県の水産王・照屋家として夫・林蔚と敏子は、那覇市長・富山徳潤ならびに福岡県知事・野田俊作と直談判の上、沖縄引き揚げ者の援護事業として漁業団結成を承認させます。3１歳の敏子は沖縄に帰れぬ漁夫３００余名を集め、漁船12隻を購入、「沖ノ島漁業団」を結成。長崎県の女島男島方面で操業、網に向かって魚を追い込む糸満漁法（アギャー）で沖縄県魚グルクンを漁りますが、物価統制令で安く叩き売られます。敏子は激怒、ただちに役所に訴え、さらに毎日新聞福岡総局に乗り込んでグルクンの定価改定を勝ち取ります。日本で最大規模の漁業団に成長するも、地元の漁業団との軋轢またアギヤー漁の禁止によって３年ほどで沖ノ島漁業団は解散。40歳の敏子にフィリピンでの水産事業の話が舞い込みます。シンガポールの華僑と合弁会社を立ち上げるも、国際政治の混乱の中で出資金をだまし取られ撤退します。敏子は43歳でついに沖縄に帰る事を決断。
「沖縄産業開発の母」
シンガポールから持ち帰ったワニ革・宝石などをもとに商売を始めます。同郷出身の女実業家・金城夏子の遺産のビルを買いとって那覇の国際通りに店を構えます。敏子は沖縄製品の珊瑚の価格を守るため業界に働き掛けて国際入札を実施。またジャワ更紗・紅型などを販売しながら、首里高校染織科卒業生・屋冨祖幸子を琉球びんがた伝統工芸士・琉球びんがた事業協同組合理事長に育てあげます。さらに敏子は沖縄独立のために沖縄が自立できる産業を育てるべく家族の反対にもめげず、プランクトン・マッシュルーム・クロダイ・ボラ・クルマエビ・メロン・鯛・アオウミガメ・スピルリナの栽培・養殖・培養の研究また事業展開を進めます。大阪万博への出品をめざしてメロンの本格栽培に成功、ワシントン条約のもとアオウミガメの人工ふ化に成功、将来の食糧源としてスピルリナゴールドを発売、沖縄の自立を目指しながら68歳で逝去。
"Mighty Attack"
Toshiko was born to fishing parents in Itoman. Her parents intended to immigrate to Brazil and entrusted two-year-old Toshiko to her grandmother Toko before embarking on their journey. Tragically, her mother became seriously ill and passed away during the voyage, while her father, overwhelmed by grief, returned to Japan and soon after also passed away. At the age of nine, Toshiko began her daily journey to Naha, walking about 10 kilometers to sell fish she purchased from fishermen. When she was 16, she chased a man to the South Seas, where she learned the art of trading in crafts by traveling to various islands, including trucks, Palau, and Saipan. After a romantic relationship ended in disappointment, Toshiko, at the age of 19, reunited with her former teacher from Itoman Elementary School, 31-year-old Linwa Teruya, in Palau. After persistent efforts, they got married. Shortly after moving to her husband's family in Naha, her husband, due to his prominent family background, was exempted from the draft and assigned the task of issuing conscription orders, which he grew tired of and decided to volunteer for the navy. Toshiko strongly opposed this decision and immediately traveled to Tokyo, where she petitioned Kan'na Norikazu, a Navy officer and member of the House of Representatives from Naha, to appoint her husband as the factory manager of the Naha branch of Nippon Suisan. However, during the 10-10 air raid in Naha, the Teruya family's house was completely destroyed. They then evacuated to Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Fukuoka prefectures using a chartered fishing boat. After the war, they were unable to return to Okinawa due to GHQ's orders, and, like many other Okinawan returnees from the former colonies and fronts, they ended up in Fukuoka.
"Fishing Queen"
It was there that Toshiko Teruya, known as the "Fishing Queen" from the prominent Teruya family in Okinawa, along with her husband Linwa, negotiated directly with Naha Mayor Tokujun Tomiyama and Fukuoka Prefecture Governor Toshisaku Noda for the approval of the establishment of the Fishing Cooperative as an aid project for Okinawan returnees. At the age of 31, Toshiko gathered over 300 fishermen who couldn't return to Okinawa and purchased 12 fishing boats, forming the "Okinoshima Fishing Cooperative." They operated using the Itoman fishing method called "Agia," which involves driving fish into nets. They primarily caught Gurukun, a type of fish in Okinawa. However, due to price control regulations, Gurukun was being sold at low prices. Toshiko was furious and immediately appealed to the authorities. She even visited the Fukuoka Bureau of the Mainichi Shimbun to successfully advocate for revising the fixed prices of Gurukun. Despite growing into the largest fishing cooperative in Japan, conflicts with local fishing cooperatives and the ban on the Agia fishing method led to the dissolution of the Okinoshima Fishing Cooperative after about three years. At the age of 40, Toshiko received an offer for a fisheries business in the Philippines. She established a joint venture with Chinese residents in Singapore but was cheated out of her investment amid the turmoil of international politics, leading to her withdrawal. At the age of 43, Toshiko finally decided to return to Okinawa.
"The Mother of Okinawan Industrial Development"
She started her own business using crocodile leather and gemstones she had brought back from Singapore. She purchased a building on Kokusai Street in Naha, Okinawa, using the inheritance of her fellow female entrepreneur from the same hometown, Natsuko Kinjo. Toshiko worked to protect the prices of Okinawan coral products in the industry and successfully implemented international bidding. She also sold Javanese batik and red dyed textiles while nurturing Yasuko Yafuso, a graduate of Shuri High School's dyeing and weaving department, into a traditional craftsman of Ryukyuan textiles and chairperson of the Ryukyuan Textile Business Cooperative. Furthermore, Toshiko, despite family opposition, relentlessly pursued research and business development related to the cultivation, aquaculture, and cultivation of plankton, mushrooms, black porgy, mullet, tiger prawns, melons, sea bream, green sea turtles, and Spirulina, leveraging Okinawa's geographical and climatic advantages. She succeeded in melon cultivation for the Osaka Expo exhibition, successfully hatched sea turtles as future food sources, and released Spirulina Gold as a dietary supplement. She continued to strive for Okinawa's self-sufficiency and passed away at the age of 68.
-沖縄県男女参画センター Okinawa Gender Equality Center
-沖縄TV Okinawa TV
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