Ruipeng Lu

Ruipeng Lu graduated from UH Manoa with his second Master’s degree in Japanese Linguistics with special emphasis on the Ryukyuan languages, particularly Uchinaaguchi, in May 2025. In 2019, he received his first Master's Degree in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he primarily focused on the history and anthropology of Japan. His research interests include minority groups in Japan, the Japanese/Okinawan diaspora, and the historical tributary relations between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Ming/Qing court of China. 

He was invited to deliver a speech at the Okinawan Genealogical Society of Hawai’i as a guest speaker in July 2024, where he discussed his research on how the Ryukyu Kingdom was subjugated by the Satsuma domain and the subsequent influence on the kingdom.