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The Kumamoto garrison was a garrison of soldiers of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] stationed in [[Naha]] and [[Shuri]] from [[1876]] to [[1896]]. Originally based at a set of barracks in Kohagura village in or just outside Naha City, they occupied [[Shuri castle]] beginning in [[1879]].

The Kumamoto garrison was a garrison of soldiers of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] stationed in [[Naha]] and [[Shuri]] from [[1876]] to [[1896]]. Originally based at a set of barracks in Kohagura village in or just outside Naha City, they occupied [[Shuri castle]] beginning in [[1879]].

The first group of soldiers from [[Kumamoto prefecture]] were sent to [[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]] by the [[Ministry of the Interior]] in [[1876]]. This was done in response to the dispatch of a Ryukyuan [[tribute]] mission to [[Beijing]], in part as a punitive action against the Ryukyuans, and partially in the name of law enforcement and to ensure peace and order in the islands. This first group of soldiers numbered only 25, arriving on 1876/9/3, and were housed in a new set of barracks built for the purpose, covering an area of roughly 18,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]'' in the town of Kohagura. This was the first Japanese military installation to be established in the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. It included not only barracks, but also grounds for training drills, a hospital ward, officers' residences, and, in the suburbs a short distance away, military exercise fields.

It was first decided in May [[1875]] that troops would be stationed in Ryûkyû "to protect the domain."<ref>Watanabe Miki 渡辺美季, "Ryûkyû Okinawa hontô torishirabesho shoshû Shurijô no zu ni tsuite" 「『琉球沖縄本島取調書』所収「首里城ノ図」について」, ''Tôkyô daigaku shiryôhensanjo fuzoku gazô shiryô kaiseki sentaa tsûshin'' 東京大学史料編纂所附属画像史料解析センター通信 90 (Oct 2020), p18.</ref> The first group of soldiers from [[Kumamoto prefecture]] were sent to [[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]] by the [[Ministry of the Interior]] in [[1876]]. This was done in response to the dispatch of a Ryukyuan [[tribute]] mission to [[Beijing]], in part as a punitive action against the Ryukyuans, and partially in the name of law enforcement and to ensure peace and order in the islands. This first group of soldiers numbered only 25, arriving on 1876/9/3, and were housed in a new set of barracks built for the purpose, covering an area of roughly 18,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]'' in the town of Kohagura. This was the first Japanese military installation to be established in the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. It included not only barracks, but also grounds for training drills, a hospital ward, officers' residences, and, in the suburbs a short distance away, military exercise fields.

Four hundred more soldiers from Kumamoto arrived on [[1879]]/3/25, accompanying [[Matsuda Michiyuki]], who delivered to the former royal authorities of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] formal orders from [[Tokyo]] that their domain (redesignated "Ryûkyû han" and no longer a kingdom in [[1872]], with the king as "lord" and no longer king) was declared [[Ryukyu Shobun|dissolved]]. [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]] vacated the castle on 3/30, and the Kumamoto garrison immediately took up occupation.

Four hundred more soldiers from Kumamoto arrived on [[1879]]/3/25, accompanying [[Matsuda Michiyuki]], who delivered to the former royal authorities of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] formal orders from [[Tokyo]] that their domain (redesignated "Ryûkyû han" and no longer a kingdom in [[1872]], with the king as "lord" and no longer king) was declared [[Ryukyu Shobun|dissolved]]. [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]] vacated the castle on 3/30, and the Kumamoto garrison immediately took up occupation.