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The Satsuma ''zaiban bugyô'' (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 fields of foreign relations, enforcing the ban on [[Christianity in Ryukyu|Christianity]], and matters of crime and punishment, that the ''zaiban bugyô'' exercised any significant degree of power or influence, and then, of course, only in accord with his orders from Satsuma.

The Satsuma ''zaiban bugyô'' (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 fields of foreign relations, enforcing the ban on [[Christianity in Ryukyu|Christianity]], and matters of crime and punishment, that the ''zaiban bugyô'' exercised any significant degree of power or influence, and then, of course, only in accord with his orders from Satsuma.

The staff of the ''zaiban bugyôsho'' (resident magistrate's office), numbering roughly 100 men altogether, 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 bugyô''. Most of these men served only for periods of three years, before returning to Satsuma and being replaced by a new batch of officials.

The staff of the ''zaiban bugyôsho'' (resident magistrate's office), numbering roughly 100 men altogether, 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 bugyô''. Most of these men served only for periods of three years, before returning to Satsuma and being replaced by a new batch of officials.

==References==

==References==

*[[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.

*[[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.

==See also==

==See also==