The .ryukyu Domain: For Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands
The .ryukyu domain entered the root zone on 13 March 2014 under an ICANN agreement dated 9 January 2014, and its registry operator is BRregistry, Inc. of Tokyo. GMO Registry runs the technical back end. On 13 August 2026 the zone held 854 registrations, of which 605 appeared in the zone file.
The extension carries an identity tied to the Ryukyu archipelago in southern Japan and to Okinawan culture. Local businesses, tourism sites, traditional crafts and cultural associations make up the register. The agreement defines no regional link, residency or documentation requirement. Try candidates in .ryukyu domain search and compare the region's other extension on the .okinawa page.
The registry's back-end provider retired its classic WHOIS service on 1 May 2026 and redirected queries to RDAP. Port 43 lookups made with older tools no longer return a record; they return a redirection notice instead. The same transition has been applied across this operator's other Japanese extensions. Use a tool that speaks RDAP when you need to check registration data.
.RYUKYU Domain at a Glance
- Registry operator BRregistry, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan)
- Root zone entry 13 March 2014
- Eligibility No regional link or residency requirement in the agreement
- Zone size 854 registrations, 605 in the zone file (nTLDstats, 13 August 2026)
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .ryukyu domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.ryukyu Domain Prices — No Surprise Fees
Registration, transfer and renewal fees are listed separately. The renewal price can differ from the first-year price, so you see both up front.
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New Registration
$18.90 /year -
Transfer
$19.69 /year -
Renewal
$21.19 /year -
Restore
$139.90 -
Late Renewal
$3.30
Included With Every .ryukyu Domain
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Free DNS management
Change A, MX, TXT and CNAME records yourself from the panel — no waiting on anyone when you move a site or mailbox.
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Domain lock
While the lock is on, nobody can move your domain to another registrar without your approval.
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Domain forwarding
Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
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Free WHOIS privacy
Your name, address and phone stay out of public WHOIS records, which cuts down spam and scam calls.
.ryukyu Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .ryukyu domain is put on Client Hold on its expiry date, so the site and e-mail stop that same day. You can still renew during the first 20 days, but from this point a late renewal fee is added on top of the renewal price. On day 20 the registration is deleted and until day 50 only a paid restore brings it back. Nothing at all can be done in the 5 days that follow, and on day 55 the name is open to anyone. There is exactly one way never to enter this chain: keep auto-renewal on.
Domain Is Available (Available)
A .ryukyu address at this stage has not been taken yet, and it goes to whoever registers first. Check the name you have in mind — if it is free, it can be yours within minutes.
Domain Is Active (Active Period)
Once registration is complete, the domain is registered to you for the term you selected. You can renew at any point before it expires to keep it active, or switch on auto-renewal so you never have to watch the date.
Renewal Window (Client Hold)
On its expiry date your .ryukyu domain is put on Client Hold: the site and e-mail go down that day, but the registration is still yours. A single renewal within these first 20 days brings everything back exactly as it was — nothing is lost. The only difference is that a $3.30 late renewal fee is now added to the renewal price; renewing before the expiry date avoids that fee entirely.
Redemption Period (Redemption / RGP)
On day 20 the registration is deleted and the 30-day redemption period that ICANN requires of every gTLD registry begins. The name is not released to anyone during this time; only you can take it back, by paying the restore fee, until day 50. That fee is far higher than a renewal — renewing on time is always the cheaper route.
Pending Delete (Pending Delete)
Once the redemption window closes too, the domain enters its final 5 days and there is no way back. Neither renewal nor restore works here; nobody — your registrar included — can return the name to you. The registry uses this window as the last hold before the name goes back into the pool.
Open to Anyone Again (Released)
On day 55 the name .ryukyu returns to the pool and anyone can register it. Sought-after names are often gone within seconds, and there is no guaranteed way to get one back. Yet staying out of this timeline is entirely in your hands: leave auto-renewal on and the expiry date will never catch you off guard.
The timeline above is the schedule Atak Domain applies and publishes. The ICANN chart you will find elsewhere shows a renewal window of up to 45 days after expiry; ICANN's policy on expired registrations (section 2.2.1) lets registrars delete an expired domain at any time, provided they disclose their policy in advance. We apply that window as 20 days and publish it here in plain sight. Full text of the policy: ICANN Expired Registration Recovery Policy
.ryukyu Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.ryukyu Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .ryukyu domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.ryukyu Domain Support
- IDN Support Yes
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .ryukyu Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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No. The extension's ICANN agreement defines no regional link, residency or documentation requirement, and no published registry eligibility rule was found. Names are issued first come, first served. That said, the extension carries a strong local identity and may clash with visitor expectations on a project unconnected to the region. Try candidates on the .ryukyu search page.
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Both name the same geography but their scope differs. Ryukyu is the name of the archipelago and the historical kingdom that includes Okinawa, so it sets a cultural and historical frame. Okinawa points at today's administrative prefecture and reads more directly for local businesses. See the comparison on the .okinawa page.
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A classic WHOIS query no longer works for this extension. The back-end provider closed its port 43 service on 1 May 2026 and redirected queries to the RDAP protocol, so older tools receive only a notice. Use a tool that supports RDAP. For general lookups see our whois search page.
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On 13 August 2026 the zone held 854 registrations, with 605 present in the zone file, about seventy-one per cent. It is among the smallest zones examined in this programme, yet far from dead: most registered names carry a working site. The upside of a small zone is that a short stem you want is likely still free.
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Yes, the extension is a gTLD and ICANN's transfer policy applies here as everywhere. Lift the lock, obtain the authorisation code and open the request at the gaining registrar. Registrars outside Japan do not always carry this extension, so confirm that your chosen provider supports it before you start. Run the process from the domain transfer page.
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