Changes

These policies were considerably relaxed, however, for a brief period under ''daimyô'' [[Shimazu Shigehide]] (r. [[1755]]-[[1787]]). It is said that Shigehide desired to bring more commerce and trade into the domain, and believed that greater merchant activity was essential for a prosperous castle town; Satsuma residents were even allowed during this period to make the pilgrimage to [[Ise]]. It was during this time, as well, that [[Furukawa Koshoken|Furukawa Koshôken]] and [[Tachibana Nankei]], among other prominent scholar-travelers, were able to enter the domain and travel within it, Koshôken explicitly noting that it was then easier to enter Satsuma than it had been previously. Various precautions and procedures more strict than in most other domains were still in place, however, as he relates that the guards at the border searched all his possessions, and required him to prove he had enough coin to prevent himself from becoming any kind of burden for the domain.<ref name=barriers/>

These policies were considerably relaxed, however, for a brief period under ''daimyô'' [[Shimazu Shigehide]] (r. [[1755]]-[[1787]]). It is said that Shigehide desired to bring more commerce and trade into the domain, and believed that greater merchant activity was essential for a prosperous castle town; Satsuma residents were even allowed during this period to make the pilgrimage to [[Ise]]. It was during this time, as well, that [[Furukawa Koshoken|Furukawa Koshôken]] and [[Tachibana Nankei]], among other prominent scholar-travelers, were able to enter the domain and travel within it, Koshôken explicitly noting that it was then easier to enter Satsuma than it had been previously. Various precautions and procedures more strict than in most other domains were still in place, however, as he relates that the guards at the border searched all his possessions, and required him to prove he had enough coin to prevent himself from becoming any kind of burden for the domain.<ref name=barriers/>

Satsuma remained the second wealthiest domain (in terms of official ''kokudaka'' rating) and among the most powerful throughout the Edo period. This derived in part from their connection to Ryûkyû: the Shimazu performed a land survey in [[1610]] which determined the productivity of the kingdom to be 89,086 ''koku'', and then reported to the shogunate a ''kokudaka'' of 123,700, which was then incorporated into the Shimazu's ''omote-daka'' rating.<ref>Futaki Ken'ichi (ed.), ''Han to jôkamachi no jiten'', Tôkyôdô (2004), 634.</ref> This accounted for only one-sixth of the domain's rating, however, the majority of which derived from the size and productive wealth of Satsuma and Ôsumi provinces themselves, while the historical strength of the Shimazu, their historical claims to those lands, esteemed lineage, and extreme distance from [[Edo]], and thus from the [[Shogun]]'s armies, were powerful factors towards the elite status of the Shimazu as well. The Shimazu exercised their influence to exact from the shogunate a number of special exceptions. Satsuma was granted an exception to the shogunate's limit of one castle per domain, a policy which was meant to restrict the military strength of the domains. Satsuma had the highest proportion of samurai in its population of any domain, roughly 25%,<ref>Norman, E.H. ''Soldier and Peasant in Japan: The Origins of Conscription''. New York: Institute for Pacific Relations, 1945. p44.; Gallery labels, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima.</ref> as compared to 6% in most parts of the archipelago.<ref>Hellyer, 25.</ref> Contrary to the policy of removing the samurai from the countryside and consolidating them in the domainal capital, as was standard in most domains, the Shimazu were able to form sub-fiefs within their domain, and to dole out castles to their retainers, in a system known as the ''tojô seido'' (外城制度). There were around 113 of these "outside castle" administrative units, each of which might be considered a [[subinfeudation|sub-domain]] or sub-fief in certain important ways, making the Shimazu administration of their domain not entirely dissimilar from being a microcosm of the Tokugawa state(s) itself. Samurai lords of these "outside castle" sub-fiefs, known as ''[[jito|jitô]]'' (often translated as "stewards"), typically had a number of ''[[goshi|gôshi]]'' (rural samurai) retainers, who performed agricultural work in peacetime, but could be called up for military service when necessary.<ref name=reimei/>

Satsuma remained the second wealthiest domain (in terms of official ''kokudaka'' rating) and among the most powerful throughout the Edo period. This derived in part from their connection to Ryûkyû: the Shimazu performed a land survey in [[1610]] which determined the productivity of the kingdom to be 89,086 ''koku'', and then reported to the shogunate a ''kokudaka'' of 123,700, which was then incorporated into the Shimazu's ''omote-daka'' rating.<ref>Futaki Ken'ichi (ed.), ''Han to jôkamachi no jiten'', Tôkyôdô (2004), 634.</ref> This accounted for only one-sixth of the domain's rating, however, the majority of which derived from the size and productive wealth of Satsuma and Ôsumi provinces themselves, while the historical strength of the Shimazu, their historical claims to those lands, esteemed lineage, and extreme distance from [[Edo]], and thus from the [[Shogun]]'s armies, were powerful factors towards the elite status of the Shimazu as well. The Shimazu exercised their influence to exact from the shogunate a number of special exceptions. Satsuma was granted an exception to the shogunate's limit of one castle per domain, a policy which was meant to restrict the military strength of the domains. Satsuma had the highest proportion of samurai in its population of any domain, roughly 25%,<ref>Norman, E.H. ''Soldier and Peasant in Japan: The Origins of Conscription''. New York: Institute for Pacific Relations, 1945. p44.; Gallery labels, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima.</ref> as compared to 6% in most parts of the archipelago.<ref>Hellyer, 25.</ref> Contrary to the policy of removing the samurai from the countryside and consolidating them in the domainal capital, as was standard in most domains, the Shimazu were able to form sub-fiefs within their domain, and to dole out castles to their retainers, in a system known as the ''tojô seido'' (外城制度). There were around 113 of these "outside castle" administrative units, each of which might be considered a [[subinfeudation|sub-domain]] or sub-fief in certain important ways, making the Shimazu administration of their domain not entirely dissimilar from being a microcosm of the Tokugawa state(s) itself. Samurai lords of these "outside castle" sub-fiefs, known as ''[[jito|jitô]]'' (often translated as "stewards"), were obliged to reside primarily in the castle-town of Kagoshima, visiting their sub-fiefs only occasionally, while a number of ''[[goshi|gôshi]]'' (rural samurai) retainers handled the actual administration of the sub-fief, on the ground. These ''gôshi'', who performed agricultural work in peacetime, could be called up for military service when necessary.<ref name=reimei/> The ''jitô'' were frequently re-assigned to different sub-fiefs so that they would not gain an entrenched base of power in any one location.<ref>Clements, Rebekah. "Alternate Attendance Parades in the Japanese Domain of Satsuma, Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries : Pottery, Power and Foreign Spectacle." ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', May 2022, p. 32.</ref>

Most of these rural samurai lived in separate samurai villages, watching over neighboring peasant villages and effecting tax collection, which was done through a system known as ''kadowari'' ("dividing into gates"); villages or homes were grouped together into groups known as ''kado'', each of which owed a certain amount of taxes to the samurai.<ref name=reimei/> This was in contrast to the system in place in most domains, in which village heads were responsible, within a hierarchy of peasant and samurai officials, for the collection of taxes.<ref>Hellyer, 28.</ref>

Most of these rural samurai lived in separate samurai villages, watching over neighboring peasant villages and effecting tax collection, which was done through a system known as ''kadowari'' ("dividing into gates"); villages or homes were grouped together into groups known as ''kado'', each of which owed a certain amount of taxes to the samurai.<ref name=reimei/> This was in contrast to the system in place in most domains, in which village heads were responsible, within a hierarchy of peasant and samurai officials, for the collection of taxes.<ref>Hellyer, 28.</ref>

After Tsushima argued that its diplomatic and trade interactions with Korea constituted an important service to the shogunate in terms of intelligence and national defense, in [[1748]] both Tsushima and Satsuma were exempted from military or corvée obligations related to the defense of the port of [[Nagasaki]], an obligation otherwise shared by all other Kyushu ''daimyô''.<ref>Hellyer, 68.</ref>

After Tsushima argued that its diplomatic and trade interactions with Korea constituted an important service to the shogunate in terms of intelligence and national defense, in [[1748]] both Tsushima and Satsuma were exempted from military or corvée obligations related to the defense of the port of [[Nagasaki]], an obligation otherwise shared by all other Kyushu ''daimyô''.<ref>Hellyer, 68.</ref>

The economic benefits for Satsuma of the arrangement came chiefly in the ability to import Chinese silks, medicinal products, and other luxury goods, obtained by Ryukyuan envoys in China (or as gifts from [[Chinese investiture envoys]] who came to Ryûkyû), and to sell those goods at market in Japan. Right around the same time that Satsuma was experiencing difficulties with the shogunate permitting them to send Ryukyuan embassy missions to Edo, the shogunate's monetary policies were creating other very severe problems for the domain. In [[1711]], the shogunate debased the currency to an all-time low, producing silver ingots that were only 20% [[silver]]. Satsuma complained that as 80% ingots had been the standard, sending Ryukyuan envoys to China with 20% ingots would not only make it much more expensive (in number of ingots) to purchase goods, but would also risk Ryûkyû losing face with China, and Satsuma losing face with Ryûkyû. [[Tsushima han]], which had an exclusive privilege to engaging in trade with [[Joseon|Korea]], and which was by far the chief source in Japan of the highly-demanded product [[ginseng]], similarly complained, and was granted permission to use 80% ingots; Satsuma was not so successful, being granted permission to use 64% ingots. The shogunate returned to producing 80% silver ingots only a few years later, in [[1715]], but seeking to find a way of stemming the flow of silver out of the country, restricted further the amount of silver Satsuma could send out of the country. Whereas they had previously been permitted to provide 800 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kan]]'' of silver to Ryûkyû for [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China]] and 400 ''kan'' for gifts given to [[Chinese investiture envoys]] visiting Ryûkyû, these amounts were now limited to 600 and 300 ''kan'' respectively.<ref>Hellyer, 67.</ref>

The economic benefits for Satsuma of the arrangement came chiefly in the ability to import Chinese silks, medicinal products, and other luxury goods, obtained by Ryukyuan envoys in China (or as gifts from [[Chinese investiture envoys]] who came to Ryûkyû), and to sell those goods at market in Japan. Right around the same time that Satsuma was experiencing difficulties with the shogunate permitting them to send Ryukyuan embassy missions to Edo, the shogunate's monetary policies were creating other very severe problems for the domain. In [[1711]], the shogunate debased the currency to an all-time low, producing silver ingots that were only 20% [[silver]]. Satsuma complained that as 80% ingots had been the standard, sending Ryukyuan envoys to China with 20% ingots would not only make it much more expensive (in number of ingots) to purchase goods, but would also risk Ryûkyû losing face with China, and Satsuma losing face with Ryûkyû. [[Tsushima han]], which had an exclusive privilege to engaging in trade with [[Joseon|Korea]], and which was by far the chief source in Japan of the highly-demanded product [[ginseng]], similarly complained, and was granted permission to use 80% ingots; Satsuma was not so successful, being granted permission to use 64% ingots. The shogunate returned to producing 80% silver ingots only a few years later, in [[1715]], but seeking to find a way of stemming the flow of silver out of the country, restricted further the amount of silver Satsuma could send out of the country. Whereas they had previously been permitted to provide 800 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kan]]'' of silver to Ryûkyû for [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China]] and 400 ''kan'' for gifts given to Chinese [[investiture]] envoys visiting Ryûkyû, these amounts were now limited to 600 and 300 ''kan'' respectively.<ref>Hellyer, 67.</ref>

Satsuma experienced further economic/commercial difficulties beginning in the late 1780s to early 1790s, when [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]], as part of broader efforts to limit Japan's foreign trade activities, restricted Satsuma to selling only silk and silk [[damask]] - two particularly less profitable products - at [[Kyoto]], obliging them to consume all other Chinese and Ryukyuan goods they imported within the domain. This struck a severe blow, nearly defeating entirely the economic purpose of Satsuma's links with Ryûkyû. Satsuma petitions to the shogunate in [[1801]] to reverse the imposition, or to expand the variety of permitted goods, were rejected. However, over the course of the 1810s-1820s, a series of famines and other problems in Ryûkyû offered Satsuma the opportunity to press its claims, asserting that the Nagasaki trade was essential to Ryûkyû's financial well-being. In [[1825]], the shogunate finally relented, not only allowing Satsuma to sell a variety of different goods on the market, but also making official limits on the total volume of sale significantly more lenient, increasing the amount from 900 ''kan'', stipulated in [[1716]], to 1,720 ''kan''.<ref>Hellyer, 132.</ref> These restrictions were further loosened in [[1846]], with Satsuma now being able to sell a full sixteen stipulated types of goods at the Osaka and Kyoto markets, albeit under a tighter limit on total volume of trade - 1,200 ''kan'' instead of the previous 1,720.<ref>158-159.</ref>

Satsuma experienced further economic/commercial difficulties beginning in the late 1780s to early 1790s, when [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]], as part of broader efforts to limit Japan's foreign trade activities, restricted Satsuma to selling only silk and silk [[damask]] - two particularly less profitable products - at [[Kyoto]], obliging them to consume all other Chinese and Ryukyuan goods they imported within the domain. This struck a severe blow, nearly defeating entirely the economic purpose of Satsuma's links with Ryûkyû. Satsuma petitions to the shogunate in [[1801]] to reverse the imposition, or to expand the variety of permitted goods, were rejected. However, over the course of the 1810s-1820s, a series of famines and other problems in Ryûkyû offered Satsuma the opportunity to press its claims, asserting that the Nagasaki trade was essential to Ryûkyû's financial well-being. In [[1825]], the shogunate finally relented, not only allowing Satsuma to sell a variety of different goods on the market, but also making official limits on the total volume of sale significantly more lenient, increasing the amount from 900 ''kan'', stipulated in [[1716]], to 1,720 ''kan''.<ref>Hellyer, 132.</ref> These restrictions were further loosened in [[1846]], with Satsuma now being able to sell a full sixteen stipulated types of goods at the Osaka and Kyoto markets, albeit under a tighter limit on total volume of trade - 1,200 ''kan'' instead of the previous 1,720.<ref>158-159.</ref>

==Bakumatsu==

==Bakumatsu==

Towards the end of the Edo period, the shogunate's power waned, and contacts with Westerners increased dramatically, particularly for Satsuma, as Western ships frequently landed in the Ryûkyûs and sought not only trade, but formal diplomatic relations. Frustration and tensions arose in Satsuma and other domains over the shogunate's failure to repel these Western incursions, and over a number of other issues. In the 1850s, [[Shimazu Nariakira]] ordered the construction of a number of Western-style warships, beginning with tall-masted sailing ships such as the ''[[Iroha-maru]]'' and ''[[Shoheimaru|Shôhei-maru]]'', and the first-ever Japanese-made steamships, including the ''[[Ottosen|Unkômaru]]''. By [[1857]], under Lord [[Shimazu Tadayoshi]], a number of further ships had been built, and Satsuma boasted the largest Western-style fleet in Japan.<ref>Plaque at former site of Iso shipyard in Kagoshima.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15217397191/sizes/l]</ref>

Towards the end of the Edo period, the shogunate's power waned, and contacts with Westerners increased dramatically, particularly for Satsuma, as Western ships frequently landed in the Ryûkyûs and sought not only trade, but formal diplomatic relations. Frustration and tensions arose in Satsuma and other domains over the shogunate's failure to repel these Western incursions, and over a number of other issues. In the 1850s, [[Shimazu Nariakira]] ordered the construction of a number of Western-style warships, beginning with tall-masted sailing ships such as the ''[[Iroha-maru]]'' and ''[[Shoheimaru|Shôhei-maru]]'', and the first-ever Japanese-made steamships, including the ''[[Ottosen|Unkômaru]]''. In [[1856]]/1, Nariakira officially established a domain "navy" (''suiguntai'').<ref>shin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 2 (1937), 164.</ref> By the end of the following year, a number of further ships had been built, and Satsuma boasted the largest Western-style fleet in Japan.<ref>Plaque at former site of Iso shipyard in Kagoshima.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15217397191/sizes/l]</ref>

However, in the [[Namamugi Incident]] of 1862, an Englishman was killed by retainers of Satsuma, leading to the [[bombardment of Kagoshima]] by the British Royal Navy the following year. In the negotiations which resulted, Satsuma paid considerable indemnities, but also formed friendly and close relations with the British. Satsuma would later dispatch official representatives, as well as [[Satsuma students|students]], to England, and invited British engineers to Kagoshima to help build [[Iso cotton mill|modern textile factories]].<ref>''Satsuma to Igirisu'', Kagoshima: Shokoshuseikan (2011), 63.</ref>

However, in the [[Namamugi Incident]] of 1862, an Englishman was killed by retainers of Satsuma, leading to the [[bombardment of Kagoshima]] by the British Royal Navy the following year. In the negotiations which resulted, Satsuma paid considerable indemnities, but also formed friendly and close relations with the British. Satsuma would later dispatch official representatives, as well as [[Satsuma students|students]], to England, and invited British engineers to Kagoshima to help build [[Iso cotton mill|modern textile factories]].<ref>''Satsuma to Igirisu'', Kagoshima: Shokoshuseikan (2011), 63.</ref>