 The Ryukyu robin, together with the Japanese robin and the European robin, was previously placed in the genus "Erithacus" .A 2006 molecular phylogenetic study found that the two east Asian species were more similar to the Siberian blue robin, at the time in "Luscinia", than to the European robin.In 2010 a large study confirmed this result and also found that "Luscinia" was non-monophyletic.