Arakaki was born in 1840 in either Kumemura, on Okinawa Island, or on the nearby island of Sesoko. He was an official in the royal court of Ryūkyū, and as such held the title of Chikudon Peichin, which denoted a status similar to that of the samurai in Japan. On 24 March 1867, he demonstrated Okinawan martial arts in Shuri, then capital of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, before a visiting Chinese ambassador; this was a notable event, since experts such as Ankō Asato, Ankō Itosu, and Matsumura Sōkon were still active at that time. Arakaki served as a Chinese language interpreter, and travelled to Beijing in September 1870. His only recorded martial arts instructor from this period was Wai Xinxian from Fuzhou, a city in the Fujian province of Qing dynasty China. Arakaki died in 1918.
