Fifteen Injunctions

• Signed: 1611/9/19
• Japanese: 掟十五ヶ条 (okite jûgo-ka-jô)

The Fifteen Injunctions were a set of fifteen rules or agreements that King Shô Nei, king of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, was forced to agreed to and sign on 1611/9/19, following the 1609 invasion of his kingdom by forces from Kagoshima domain.

Of the Fifteen Injunctions, no fewer than five related to Kagoshima's determination to control, and benefit from, Ryûkyû's trade relations. Ryûkyû was forbidden from importing any Chinese goods other than those requested by Kagoshima; Ryûkyû was forbidden from sending embassies or envoys to any Japanese domain other than Kagoshima; the only Japanese traders permitted to trade in Ryûkyû were those bearing go-hangyô licenses issued by Kagoshima authorities; and the kingdom was forbidden from engaging in any additional independent trade.

References

• Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia, University of Hawaii Press (2017), 72.