Changes

==As Daimyô==

==As Daimyô==

The same year as he became ''daimyô'', Nariakira ordered construction to begin on two ships, the ''[[Iroha-maru]]'' and ''[[Ottosen]]'', as tests. The ''[[Shoheimaru|Shôheimaru]]'', a Western-style tall-masted sailing ship, was completed in [[1853]]-[[1854]], and the first successful Japanese-built [[steamship]], the ''Unkômaru'', in [[1855]]. Not an entirely new ship, the ''Unkômaru'' was the Ottosen, but refitted with a steam engine developed by Satsuma engineers based on Western books and illustrations, and their own ingenuity, as no Westerners were able to be brought into Satsuma under the shogunate's [[kaikin|maritime restrictions]] policies.<ref>Gallery labels, permanent exhibits gallery, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima, Sept 2014.</ref>

The same year as he became ''daimyô'', Nariakira ordered construction to begin on two ships, the ''[[Iroha-maru]]'' and ''[[Ottosen]]'', as tests. The ''[[Shoheimaru|Shôheimaru]]'', a Western-style tall-masted sailing ship, was completed in [[1853]]-[[1854]], and the first successful Japanese-built [[steamship]], the ''Unkômaru'', in [[1855]]. Not an entirely new ship, the ''Unkômaru'' was the Ottosen, but refitted with a steam engine. All of these ships, along with the Shûseikan factory built by Nariakira, are considered cases of a unique fusion of Japanese and Western techniques and technologies, developed by Satsuma engineers based on Western books and illustrations, and their own ingenuity, as no Westerners were able to be brought into Satsuma under the shogunate's [[kaikin|maritime restrictions]] policies.<ref>Gallery labels, permanent exhibits gallery, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima, Sept 2014.</ref>

As ''daimyô'', Nariakira continued his efforts towards a guarded Satsuma/Ryûkyû engagement with the Westerners. Out of a combination of motivations, likely both because he sought to expand Satsuma's commercial activities & revenues, and because he recognized the impossibility of defending Ryûkyû from Western military attacks, Nariakira encouraged Ryûkyû to allow a series of concessions to Westerners calling at Naha.

As ''daimyô'', Nariakira continued his efforts towards a guarded Satsuma/Ryûkyû engagement with the Westerners. Out of a combination of motivations, likely both because he sought to expand Satsuma's commercial activities & revenues, and because he recognized the impossibility of defending Ryûkyû from Western military attacks, Nariakira encouraged Ryûkyû to allow a series of concessions to Westerners calling at Naha.