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Created page with "*''Japanese'': 鬼界ヶ島 ''(Kikaigashima)'' Kikaigashima is one of the Amami Islands, in the northern section of the Ryukyu Islands archipelago. The island was abs..."
*''Japanese'': 鬼界ヶ島 ''(Kikaigashima)''
Kikaigashima is one of the [[Amami Islands]], in the northern section of the [[Ryukyu Islands]] archipelago. The island was absorbed by the [[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma province]] in the 16th century, along with most of the rest of the Amamis, and remains part of [[Kagoshima prefecture]] today.
==Early History==
Remains of ''[[gusuku]]'' sites on Kikaigashima, along with other archaeological finds, serve as evidence for Amami/Ryûkyû cultural activity on Kikaigashima in the pre-modern period, related but distinctive in character from Japanese culture.
In the premodern period, Kikai was among the islands to which [[kuge|court nobles]], prominent samurai, or other elites were sometimes exiled by the shogunate or Imperial court. The monk [[Shunkan]], who was caught plotting a coup against [[Taira no Kiyomori]], was famously exiled to Kikai in [[1177]].
In the 15th-16th centuries, forces of the Shimazu clan of Satsuma province, and those of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], both sought to expand into the Amamis. For a time in the mid-15th century, the people of Kikaigashima raised significant resistance against such Ryukyuan forces, leading King [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]] to decide in [[1466]] to lead the invasion force himself.<ref>Gregory Smits, "[http://www.japanfocus.org/-Gregory-Smits/3409 Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism]." ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).</ref> It was during this invasion that Ryûkyû is said to have first adopted the ''[[mitsu-domoe]]'' crest of [[Hachiman]]
==Early Modern Period==
Around 1800, the population of the island is believed to have been around 10,000 people. It is said that "the five grains" (i.e. all the major staples: rice, wheat, beans, ''awa'' millet, and ''kibi'' millet) were all grown on the island, but that the chief product grown there was [[sugar]].<ref>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Kei, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 228.</ref> This was in part due to [[Satsuma han]] policies, which forced the people of the Amamis to focus their efforts on growing sugar, which was then very heavily taxed. These policies have been compared to sugar plantations elsewhere in the world, and have been described as quite akin to "a structure of colonial extraction."<ref>Robert Hellyer, Defining Engagement, Harvard University Press (2009), 95.</ref>
==Modern Period==
Kikaigashima is one of the [[Amami Islands]], in the northern section of the [[Ryukyu Islands]] archipelago. The island was absorbed by the [[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma province]] in the 16th century, along with most of the rest of the Amamis, and remains part of [[Kagoshima prefecture]] today.
==Early History==
Remains of ''[[gusuku]]'' sites on Kikaigashima, along with other archaeological finds, serve as evidence for Amami/Ryûkyû cultural activity on Kikaigashima in the pre-modern period, related but distinctive in character from Japanese culture.
In the premodern period, Kikai was among the islands to which [[kuge|court nobles]], prominent samurai, or other elites were sometimes exiled by the shogunate or Imperial court. The monk [[Shunkan]], who was caught plotting a coup against [[Taira no Kiyomori]], was famously exiled to Kikai in [[1177]].
In the 15th-16th centuries, forces of the Shimazu clan of Satsuma province, and those of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], both sought to expand into the Amamis. For a time in the mid-15th century, the people of Kikaigashima raised significant resistance against such Ryukyuan forces, leading King [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]] to decide in [[1466]] to lead the invasion force himself.<ref>Gregory Smits, "[http://www.japanfocus.org/-Gregory-Smits/3409 Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism]." ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).</ref> It was during this invasion that Ryûkyû is said to have first adopted the ''[[mitsu-domoe]]'' crest of [[Hachiman]]
==Early Modern Period==
Around 1800, the population of the island is believed to have been around 10,000 people. It is said that "the five grains" (i.e. all the major staples: rice, wheat, beans, ''awa'' millet, and ''kibi'' millet) were all grown on the island, but that the chief product grown there was [[sugar]].<ref>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Kei, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 228.</ref> This was in part due to [[Satsuma han]] policies, which forced the people of the Amamis to focus their efforts on growing sugar, which was then very heavily taxed. These policies have been compared to sugar plantations elsewhere in the world, and have been described as quite akin to "a structure of colonial extraction."<ref>Robert Hellyer, Defining Engagement, Harvard University Press (2009), 95.</ref>
==Modern Period==