1875

Meiji 8 (明治八年)

Timeline of 1875

Ryûkyû Shobun

• 1875/3 Okinawan tribute mission is dispatched to China.
• 1875/3/17 A series of statements by French legal advisor to the Meiji government Gustave Emile Boissonade on the matter of Ryûkyû are submitted to the Ministry of the Interior. In them, he congratulates the government on gaining official Chinese recognition of the Ryukyuan people as Japanese subjects, and suggests that Ryûkyû be governed somewhat indirectly, in the manner of a colony. This suggestion is ultimately rejected in favor of a full annexation plan articulated by Ôkubo Toshimichi, in accordance with policy stances taken since the Bakumatsu period, that Japan claimed sovereign and territorial rights over its subject states and subject peoples, a concept incompatible with the somewhat more removed or indirect concept of ruling a 'colony.'
• 1875/3/18 Ikegusuku ueekata, Yonabaru ueekata, Kôchi Peechin, and eight attendants meet with Japanese officials at the Ministry of the Interior.
• 1875/3/25 Matsuda Michiyuki steps down as governor of Shiga prefecture to take a position with the Ministry of the Interior.
• 1875/3/21-5/4 Ryukyuan envoys meet with Matsuda Michiyuki.
• 1875/6 Shô Tai is rebuked for not severing independent (tributary) ties with China in light of the 1872 conversion of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû into Ryûkyû han and de jure annexation of the territory by Japan.
• 1875/6/10 Matsuda Michiyuki has an audience with Emperor Meiji, and is named Shobun-kan, or "Disposition Officer."
• 1875/6/12 Matsuda Michiyuki departs Shinagawa with over 70 men.
• 1875/7/10 Matsuda arrives in Naha.
• 1875/7/14 Matsuda enters Shuri castle and meets with Prince Nakijin, issuing a series of demands, the majority of which are rejected entirely by the Ryukyuan court.
• 1875/9/11 Ikegusuku ueekata and several other Ryukyuan officials accompany Matsuda as he departs Naha to return to Tokyo.
• 1875/10/15 Ikegusuku ueekata submits his formal letter of complaint, and remains in Tokyo for one year, continuing to reject Japanese demands on behalf of the Ryukyuan court.

Other Events of 1875

• Aizu-Wakamatsu castle is torn down.
• Meiji system of censorship is put into place.
• Many officials of the government of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû are attacked politically for collaborating with and submitting to Japanese authority; Giwan Chôho is among those who resign in disgrace.
• Japan's territorial agreements with Russia are revised; the Kuril Islands become Japanese territory, in exchange for Japanese renunciation of claims to Sakhalin.
• Matsuda Michiyuki, chief official overseeing the dissolution of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, arrives in Okinawa.
• Many structures are torn down at Matsumae castle.
• Merriman Harris becomes Acting Consul of the United States in Japan, upon the death of his predecessor.
• Morita-za kabuki theater in Tokyo is renamed Shintomi-za.
• The British quietly give up their official claim to the Ogasawara Islands.
• Shiroishi castle is torn down.
• Prince Shô In is named "Ginowan ueekata"; Giwan Chôho has his title changed to "Giwan ueekata" as a result.
• Takashima castle is demolished.
• The Yoshiwara, and the brothels, teahouses, and prostitutes of a number of other areas come under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

Births and Deaths

• Prince Kacho Hiroatsu is born.
• Otagaki Rengetsu dies (b. 1791).
• Tokugawa Yoshinori dies.
• Nihonga painter Uemura Shôen is born (d. 1949).
• Yanagita Kunio is born.

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