Changes

[[Matsuda Michiyuki]] arrived in Naha on 1879/1/25, and the following day presented to [[Nakijin Chofu|Prince Nakijin]] a missive from the [[Prime Minister]] reproaching Ryûkyû for breaking the prohibition imposed by Japan on sending [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China|diplomatic missions to China]], and for obstructing the implementation of Japanese law enforcement and criminal administration in the islands. The following month, Beijing sent formal communications urging Tokyo to not annex Ryûkyû as a prefecture. [[Kinashi Seiichiro|Kinashi Seiichirô]] was named Acting Governor of the not yet established Okinawa Prefecture on 3/3.  

[[Matsuda Michiyuki]] arrived in Naha on 1879/1/25, and the following day presented to [[Nakijin Chofu|Prince Nakijin]] a missive from the [[Prime Minister]] reproaching Ryûkyû for breaking the prohibition imposed by Japan on sending [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China|diplomatic missions to China]], and for obstructing the implementation of Japanese law enforcement and criminal administration in the islands. The following month, Beijing sent formal communications urging Tokyo to not annex Ryûkyû as a prefecture. [[Kinashi Seiichiro|Kinashi Seiichirô]] was named Acting Governor of the not yet established Okinawa Prefecture on 3/3.  

He was soon replaced by [[Nabeshima Naoyoshi]], appointed the first official governor of the prefecture. The second governor, [[Uesugi Mochinori]], supposedly out of genuine concern for the ordinary Okinawan people (i.e. commoners/peasants), was quite harsh on the traditional aristocracy, accusing them of having oppressed and impoverished the Ryukyuan people, and attempting to remove them from power and from elite status.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Visions of Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press, (1999), 146-147.</ref> Much of these initiatives were reversed by his successor, the third governor, [[Iwamura Michitoshi]], however, who implemented a series of policies known as ''[[kyukan onzon|kyûkan onzon]]'' ("preserving old customs"). Under these policies, much of the kingdom's legal and administrative structures were left in place for a time, including incorporating many of the kingdom's experienced scholar-bureaucrats into positions of governmental administration. While many former scholar-bureaucrats accepted positions in the new government, many others, such as [[Ota Chofu|Ôta Chôfu]], protested by refusing to work, and refusing to aid the new officials in taking over the administration.<ref>Kerr, 402.</ref> This policy of maintaining old administrative structures was pursued, at least in part, as the result of concerns (perhaps quite valid concerns) by the [[Meiji government]] that abruptly dismantling these political and economic systems all at once could spark widespread popular resistance. Thus, all the way until [[1903]], the kingdom's systems of land divisions (''[[magiri]]''), taxation, and so forth, were left intact to a certain extent. While low-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats lost their special status entirely, and no Ryukyuans outside of the royal family were incorporated into the ''kazoku'' or ''[[shizoku]]'' systems of gentry, middle- to high-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats were at least permitted to retain their government stipends until [[1909]]; these were, however, paid out of the prefecture's budget, and not out of any separate additional funds granted to Okinawa by Tokyo. While [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], also annexed by Imperial Japan in the 1870s, received considerable investment for development, Okinawa received very little from the government. All in all, throughout the Meiji period, Okinawa paid higher taxes per capita, and received less national expenditures per capita, than any other prefecture.<ref name=jahana102/>

He was soon replaced by [[Nabeshima Naoyoshi]], appointed the first official governor of the prefecture. The second governor, [[Uesugi Mochinori]], supposedly out of genuine concern for the ordinary Okinawan people (i.e. commoners/peasants), was quite harsh on the traditional aristocracy, accusing them of having oppressed and impoverished the Ryukyuan people, and attempting to remove them from power and from elite status.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Visions of Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press, (1999), 146-147.</ref> Much of these initiatives were reversed by his successor, the third governor, [[Iwamura Michitoshi]], however, who implemented a series of policies known as ''[[kyukan onzon|kyûkan onzon]]'' ("preserving old customs"). Under these policies, much of the kingdom's legal and administrative structures were left in place for a time, including incorporating many of the kingdom's experienced scholar-bureaucrats into positions of governmental administration. While many former scholar-bureaucrats accepted positions in the new government, many others, such as [[Ota Chofu|Ôta Chôfu]], protested by refusing to work, and refusing to aid the new officials in taking over the administration.<ref>Kerr, 402.</ref> This policy of maintaining old administrative structures was pursued, at least in part, as the result of concerns (perhaps quite valid concerns) by the [[Meiji government]] that abruptly dismantling these political and economic systems all at once could spark widespread popular resistance. Thus, all the way until [[1903]], the kingdom's systems of land divisions (''[[magiri]]''), taxation, and so forth, were left intact to a certain extent. While low-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats lost their special status entirely, and no Ryukyuans outside of the royal family were incorporated into the ''kazoku'' or ''[[shizoku]]'' systems of gentry, middle- to high-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats were at least permitted to retain their government stipends until [[1909]]; these were, however, paid out of the prefecture's budget, and not out of any separate additional funds granted to Okinawa by Tokyo. While [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], similarly annexed by Imperial Japan in [[1869]], received considerable investment for development, Okinawa received very little from the government. All in all, throughout the Meiji period, Okinawa paid higher taxes per capita, and received less national expenditures per capita, than any other prefecture.<ref name=jahana102/>

Land divisions and the associated tax structure were reorganized in a major undertaking in [[1899]] to 1903 known as the [[Okinawa Prefecture Land Reorganization Project]], bringing practices in Okinawa into line with systems used throughout the rest of the country. This included converting much communal land into private property, and eliminating the payment of taxes in kind (i.e. in grain or other products), and replacing it with payment in cash.<ref>Plaques on-site at [[Gokoku Shrine]].</ref>

Land divisions and the associated tax structure were reorganized in a major undertaking in [[1899]] to 1903 known as the [[Okinawa Prefecture Land Reorganization Project]], bringing practices in Okinawa into line with systems used throughout the rest of the country. This included converting much communal land into private property, and eliminating the payment of taxes in kind (i.e. in grain or other products), and replacing it with payment in cash.<ref>Plaques on-site at [[Gokoku Shrine]].</ref>

====Battle of Okinawa====

====Battle of Okinawa====

[[File:Okinawa-battlemap.jpg|right|thumb|380px|Map of the Battle of Okinawa at Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu]]

[[File:Okinawa-battlemap.jpg|right|thumb|380px|Map of the Battle of Okinawa at Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu]]

The Imperial Japanese military established a headquarters beneath Shuri castle, and fortified much of Okinawa Island into a major base of military strength, leading it to become an important target for Allied forces to address as they pressed their way towards Japan proper in the final stages of World War II. Much of Naha was destroyed in a major bombing raid on 10 October 1944, typically known simply as the "10-10 Bombing Raid."<ref>More than 1000 planes launched from a carrier task force, attacked in five waves, attacking Naha as well as airfields and port facilities elsewhere on Okinawa and the immediately surrounding islands (including [[Iejima]], [[Tsuken]], and [[Hamahiga Island]]). Ninety percent of Naha was destroyed in the resulting fires; 668 soldiers and civilians were killed, and 758 injured. The bombing raid was also an opportunity for the US military to take aerial photos of Okinawa. The same air task force then attacked targets in the [[Yaeyama Islands]] and [[Taiwan]] beginning on October 12. It swiftly defeated the Japanese air force sent against it. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'' 沖縄県平和祈念資料館総合案内 ("General Catalog of Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum"), Nanjô, Okinawa: Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum (2004), 50-51.</ref> Fearing a land invasion of Okinawa, as many as 70,000 people fled Okinawa to Kyushu or Taiwan by March 1945; many others fled north from central and southern parts of Okinawa Island into the forests of [[Yanbaru]] in the north of the island.<ref>Local government established centers to provide for these people in Yanbaru, but food and other supplies quickly ran out, and many succumbed to starvation or malaria. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 52-53.</ref>

The Imperial Japanese military established a headquarters beneath Shuri castle, and fortified much of Okinawa Island into a major base of military strength, leading it to become an important target for Allied forces to address as they pressed their way towards Japan proper in the final stages of World War II. Much of Naha was destroyed in a major bombing raid on 10 October 1944, typically known simply as the "10-10 Bombing Raid."<ref>More than 1000 planes launched from a carrier task force, attacked in five waves, attacking Naha as well as airfields and port facilities elsewhere on Okinawa and the immediately surrounding islands (including [[Iejima]], [[Tsuken]], and [[Hamahiga Island]]). Ninety percent of Naha was destroyed in the resulting fires; 668 soldiers and civilians were killed, and 758 injured. The bombing raid was also an opportunity for the US military to take aerial photos of Okinawa. The same air task force then attacked targets in the [[Yaeyama Islands]] and [[Taiwan]] beginning on October 12. It swiftly defeated the Japanese air force sent against it. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'' 沖縄県平和祈念資料館総合案内 ("General Catalog of Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum"), Nanjô, Okinawa: Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum (2004), 50-51.</ref> Fearing a land invasion of Okinawa, as many as 70,000 people fled Okinawa to Kyushu or Taiwan by March 1945; many others fled north from central and southern parts of Okinawa Island into the forests of [[Yanbaru]] in the north of the island.<ref>Local government established centers to provide for these people in Yanbaru, but food and other supplies quickly ran out, and many succumbed to starvation or [[malaria]]. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 52-53.</ref>

Allied forces first made landfall on Okinawa on 1 April 1945 (after making earlier landings in the [[Kerama Islands]]), declaring on that same day, in what has come to be known as the Nimitz Proclamation, the end of “All Executive Powers of the Japanese Empire” in Okinawa.<ref name=mabuni>Gallery labels, Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum, Itoman, Okinawa.</ref> The ensuing Battle of Okinawa would last several months, with fighting continuing until late June 1945.<ref>American forces took [[Shuri castle]] (and the 32nd Army Headquarters located in tunnels under the castle) by the end of May 1945, following particularly serious fighting at Sugar Loaf Hill (Asato, Naha) and Untama Forest (Untamamui, in Nishihara/Yonabaru). The highest-ranking Japanese officer on the island, Gen. Ushijima Mitsuru, committed suicide on June 22; formal military resistance ended soon afterward. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 64-65.</ref>

Allied forces first made landfall on Okinawa on 1 April 1945 (after making earlier landings in the [[Kerama Islands]]), declaring on that same day, in what has come to be known as the Nimitz Proclamation, the end of “All Executive Powers of the Japanese Empire” in Okinawa.<ref name=mabuni>Gallery labels, Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum, Itoman, Okinawa.</ref> The ensuing Battle of Okinawa would last several months, with fighting continuing until late June 1945.<ref>American forces took [[Shuri castle]] (and the 32nd Army Headquarters located in tunnels under the castle) by the end of May 1945, following particularly serious fighting at Sugar Loaf Hill (Asato, Naha) and Untama Forest (Untamamui, in Nishihara/Yonabaru). The highest-ranking Japanese officer on the island, Gen. Ushijima Mitsuru, committed suicide on June 22; formal military resistance ended soon afterward. ''Okinawa ken heiwa kinen shiryôkan sôgô annai'', 64-65.</ref>