Sugar
- Japanese: 砂糖 (satou)
Sugar cane was first introduced into the Ryûkyû Islands in 1374. It soon became one of the Ryûkyû Kingdom's chief exports / tribute goods.
Sugar was not only grown in the Ryûkyûs, but was also obtained by Ryukyuan trading ships in Southeast Asia.
Production, Taxes & Monopolies
In the 1620s, a pair of young Ryukyuan aristocrats introduced to the kingdom advanced sugar processing techniques which they had studied in China; sugar plantations in the islands quickly began to take off.
The Ryûkyû Kingdom's government claimed a royal monopoly on sales of sugar and turmeric in 1647, helping the kingdom afford its repayments on loans from Satsuma han. Fifty years later, the kingdom placed restrictions on the planting of these two crops; these restrictions wouldn't be lifted until 1888.
The kingdom began, in 1666, to pay one-third of its annual tribute payments to Satsuma in sugar.
Following the overthrow of the kingdom and annexation of its land by Japan, sugar taxes continued to be paid in kind (i.e., in sugar, rather than in cash) until 1903. Private sales of sugar were prohibited until this tax was paid, and when sugar was paid to the Okinawa prefectural government, it was at a set price below the market price. The prefecture would then sell the sugar at market in Osaka, at market prices, making a considerable profit.[1]
Around 1903, Okinawan journalist Ôta Chôfu began to establish a series of organizations in Osaka aimed at helping his fellow Okinawans enter the Japanese markets; among these was a Sugar Dealers' Association.[2]
References
- ↑ Smits, Gregory. Visions of Ryukyu. University of Hawaii Press, 1999. p148.
- ↑ Kerr, George. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Revised Edition. Tuttle Publishing, 2000. p430.
