, also known by his Chinese style name , was a politician, bureaucrat and diplomat of Ryukyu Kingdom."Yonabaru Ryōketsu." Okinawa konpakuto jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia").
Ryōketsu was born to an aristocrat family called Ba-uji Yonabaru Dunchi (). His father Yonabaru Ryōkyō (, also known as Ba Chōtō ), was a Sanshikan from 1859 to 1871.
In 1876, Ryukyu had to break off diplomatic relations with Qing China under the pressure of Imperial Japan. Ikegusuku Anki led a mission to Tokyo to register a complaint. Yonabaru Ryōketsu was good at diplomacy and the Japanese language, so he was sent as an assistant.Kyūyō, appendix vol. 4Chūzan Seifu, appendix vol. 7 But the Shogunate ignored the mission. Ikegusuku Anki died in 1877, Ryōketsu succeeded him as a member of Sanshikan. Ryōketsu contacted envoys of Western countries and tried to get them involved, but there was little response. He Ruzhang () and Huang Zunxian were appointed the Imperial Chinese envoy and counselor, respectively, and went to Tokyo by ship in the same year. Ryōketsu met them secretly when their ship passed Kobe, and petitioned Qing China to rescue the Ryukyu from annexation by Japan.
In 1879, Ryukyu was annexed by Japan, and later, Japan declared the creation of Okinawa Prefecture. King Shō Tai moved to Tokyo in the same year, Ryōketsu serving as of the former king. The last three Sanshikan, Urasoe Chōshō, Tomikawa Seikei and Yonabaru Ryōketsu, all wanted to restore the Ryukyu Domain, and they struggled for this ideal until their deaths.
Ryōketsu was also the of Shō In (Prince Ginowan) and Shō Jun (Prince Matsuyama).Shō Tai Kō jitsuroku (尚泰侯実録), p. 221-222
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