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*''Japanese'': 在番 ''(zaiban)''
''Zaiban'' (lit. "resident watch[man]") was a title held by two types of officials in the early modern [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. The term can refer either to samurai officials sent from [[Satsuma han]] to keep an eye on the kingdom's adherence to Satsuma's policies, and also to Ryukyuan officials dispatched to the outer islands and some of the more remote regions of [[Okinawa Island]] to serve as inspectors.
==Satsuma ''zaiban'' in Ryûkyû==
The Satsuma ''zaiban'' (resident magistrate) stationed in the main Okinawan port city of [[Naha]] was officially described in Satsuma documents as a ''[[metsuke]]'' (inspector). He and his staff of roughly 100 men from Satsuma oversaw activities in Ryûkyû, conveying orders and other messages from the daimyô, and reporting back whether the kingdom was behaving in accord with Satsuma's interests and edicts. He and his staff were explicitly required to limit their interactions with Ryukyuans as much as possible, and politically or administratively had only minimal influence on Ryûkyû's domestic affairs; it was chiefly in the field of foreign relations that the ''zaiban'' exercised any significant degree of power or influence, and then, of course, only in accord with his orders from Satsuma.
The ''zaiban's'' staff of roughly 100 men included four ''[[yoriki]]'' (low-ranking samurai), several ''tsuke-yakunin'' (attachés), and a number of ''[[yokome]]'' (censors); some of these ''yokome'' were assigned to outlying islands, to keep an eye on goings-on there, on behalf of the ''zaiban''. Most of these men served only for periods of three years, before returning to Satsuma and being replaced by a new batch of officials.
==Ryukyuan ''zaiban''==
The Ryukyuan ''zaiban'' were officials of the Ryukyuan royal court, selected from the Ryukyuan scholar-bureaucrat aristocracy. Six were dispatched to [[Miyako]], [[Yaeyama]], [[Kumejima]], and seven to various regions on the island of Okinawa proper. In the [[Sakishima|outer islands]], one ''zaiban'' was assisted by two clerks. Kumejima had two ''zaiban'' - one overseeing Gushikawa ''[[magiri]]'', and one overseeing Nakazato ''magiri''.
==References==
*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41458-storytopic-121.html Zaiban]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.
*[[Robert Sakai|Sakai, Robert K.]] “The Ryukyu (Liu-ch’iu) Islands as a Fief of Satsuma,” in [[John King Fairbank]] (ed.), ''The Chinese World Order'', Harvard University Press (1968), 119-120.
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
''Zaiban'' (lit. "resident watch[man]") was a title held by two types of officials in the early modern [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. The term can refer either to samurai officials sent from [[Satsuma han]] to keep an eye on the kingdom's adherence to Satsuma's policies, and also to Ryukyuan officials dispatched to the outer islands and some of the more remote regions of [[Okinawa Island]] to serve as inspectors.
==Satsuma ''zaiban'' in Ryûkyû==
The Satsuma ''zaiban'' (resident magistrate) stationed in the main Okinawan port city of [[Naha]] was officially described in Satsuma documents as a ''[[metsuke]]'' (inspector). He and his staff of roughly 100 men from Satsuma oversaw activities in Ryûkyû, conveying orders and other messages from the daimyô, and reporting back whether the kingdom was behaving in accord with Satsuma's interests and edicts. He and his staff were explicitly required to limit their interactions with Ryukyuans as much as possible, and politically or administratively had only minimal influence on Ryûkyû's domestic affairs; it was chiefly in the field of foreign relations that the ''zaiban'' exercised any significant degree of power or influence, and then, of course, only in accord with his orders from Satsuma.
The ''zaiban's'' staff of roughly 100 men included four ''[[yoriki]]'' (low-ranking samurai), several ''tsuke-yakunin'' (attachés), and a number of ''[[yokome]]'' (censors); some of these ''yokome'' were assigned to outlying islands, to keep an eye on goings-on there, on behalf of the ''zaiban''. Most of these men served only for periods of three years, before returning to Satsuma and being replaced by a new batch of officials.
==Ryukyuan ''zaiban''==
The Ryukyuan ''zaiban'' were officials of the Ryukyuan royal court, selected from the Ryukyuan scholar-bureaucrat aristocracy. Six were dispatched to [[Miyako]], [[Yaeyama]], [[Kumejima]], and seven to various regions on the island of Okinawa proper. In the [[Sakishima|outer islands]], one ''zaiban'' was assisted by two clerks. Kumejima had two ''zaiban'' - one overseeing Gushikawa ''[[magiri]]'', and one overseeing Nakazato ''magiri''.
==References==
*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41458-storytopic-121.html Zaiban]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.
*[[Robert Sakai|Sakai, Robert K.]] “The Ryukyu (Liu-ch’iu) Islands as a Fief of Satsuma,” in [[John King Fairbank]] (ed.), ''The Chinese World Order'', Harvard University Press (1968), 119-120.
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
