Changes

Citing these incidents, and a broader narrative of Ryukyuan failure to pay proper respects,<ref>The term employed by Takara Kurayoshi and Tomiyama Kazuyuki is ''heimon'' 聘問, meaning to visit someone & bring gifts in order to pay respects. Takara and Tomiyama, 82.</ref> the Shimazu house then requested permission from Tokugawa Ieyasu to launch a punitive mission. Permission was granted in 1606, and the [[invasion of Ryukyu]] was undertaken in [[1609]]. After a few battles on smaller outlying islands, the samurai forces seized Shuri Castle and took Shô Nei, along with a number of his chief officials, captive. All were brought to Japan, where they met with Ieyasu and his son, the reigning [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], and were forced to submit to a number of demands and conditions. The kingdom became a vassal state under the Shimazu, and was forced to pay taxes to Satsuma on a regular basis, as well as sending regular missions to Kagoshima, among several other obligations. The crown prince of the kingdom was to visit Kagoshima each year to formally reenact rituals of subordination or allegiance; envoys also traveled to Kagoshima on a number of other occasions, including as a "New Year's mission" (''nentôshi'') which included a rotation of Ryukyuan officials resident in the castle-town, and on special occasions such as the birth, marriage, succession, or death of a Shimazu lord.<ref name=tomi63/> A land survey conducted in 1610-1611 determined the ''[[kokudaka]]'' of the kingdom to be 89,086 ''[[koku]]'', a number which was revised upwards to just over 94,230 ''koku'' in [[1727]],<ref name=kokudaka/> of which the kingdom was permitted to keep 50,000 ''koku''.<ref name=akamine68>Akamine, 68.</ref> Based on this assessment, the kingdom was obliged to pay a certain amount of regular annual tax (''shinobose mai'') to Satsuma; originally paid in kind (i.e. in various products/commodities, mainly [[Ryukyuan textiles|textiles]]), this tax obligation was shifted to [[silver]], and then to rice by [[1620]]. The amount varied until [[1660]], at which time it became roughly stable; around [[1870]] the kingdom was paying just over 7,600 ''koku'' in annual tax, plus an additional 1,000 ''koku'' in supplemental tax.<ref name=tomi63>One year later, in [[1871]], following the [[abolition of the han]], Satsuma han was abolished but the kingdom was still obliged to pay tax to [[Kagoshima prefecture]], in the amount of 11,777 ''koku'' (including transportation costs, and with some 970,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kin]]'' of [[sugar]] substituted for 3,680 ''koku'' of rice. Tomiyama, “Ryukyu Kingdom Diplomacy with Japan and the Ming and Qing Dynasties,” 63.</ref> From [[1636]] onwards,<ref>Tomiyama, "Ryukyu Kingdom Diplomacy," 56.</ref> the kingdom was also obligated to provide Satsuma each year with a ''Kirishitan shûmon aratamechô'', a register of religious affiliation of everyone living in the kingdom, to help ensure there were no [[Christianity|Christians]],<ref>People were not required to register with a Buddhist temple, however, as they were in Japan.</ref> and to organize all the kingdom's subjects into ''[[goningumi]]'' - groups of five households which would be responsible for enforcing one another's lawful behavior. Satsuma was also charged with maintaining a coast guard which would prevent foreigners (specifically, Westerners and especially Christian missionaries) from entering Ryûkyû.<ref>This was seen as a kind of maritime defense service, of the same category as [[Saga han|Saga]] and [[Fukuoka han|Fukuoka domains']] obligations to guard the port of [[Nagasaki]]. Satsuma and [[Tsushima han]] had served similar functions during the [[Muromachi period]] as well, guarding against events in Korea or Ryûkyû which might threaten Japan. Akamine, 66-67.</ref> To further guard against foreigners entering the kingdom, a system of signal fires called ''fiitatimoo'' was established, along with a network of swift boats called ''tobifune'' in Japanese, which could inform Okinawa of any sightings or shipwrecks in the outer islands.<ref name=akamine68/>  

Citing these incidents, and a broader narrative of Ryukyuan failure to pay proper respects,<ref>The term employed by Takara Kurayoshi and Tomiyama Kazuyuki is ''heimon'' 聘問, meaning to visit someone & bring gifts in order to pay respects. Takara and Tomiyama, 82.</ref> the Shimazu house then requested permission from Tokugawa Ieyasu to launch a punitive mission. Permission was granted in 1606, and the [[invasion of Ryukyu]] was undertaken in [[1609]]. After a few battles on smaller outlying islands, the samurai forces seized Shuri Castle and took Shô Nei, along with a number of his chief officials, captive. All were brought to Japan, where they met with Ieyasu and his son, the reigning [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], and were forced to submit to a number of demands and conditions. The kingdom became a vassal state under the Shimazu, and was forced to pay taxes to Satsuma on a regular basis, as well as sending regular missions to Kagoshima, among several other obligations. The crown prince of the kingdom was to visit Kagoshima each year to formally reenact rituals of subordination or allegiance; envoys also traveled to Kagoshima on a number of other occasions, including as a "New Year's mission" (''nentôshi'') which included a rotation of Ryukyuan officials resident in the castle-town, and on special occasions such as the birth, marriage, succession, or death of a Shimazu lord.<ref name=tomi63/> A land survey conducted in 1610-1611 determined the ''[[kokudaka]]'' of the kingdom to be 89,086 ''[[koku]]'', a number which was revised upwards to just over 94,230 ''koku'' in [[1727]],<ref name=kokudaka/> of which the kingdom was permitted to keep 50,000 ''koku''.<ref name=akamine68>Akamine, 68.</ref> Based on this assessment, the kingdom was obliged to pay a certain amount of regular annual tax (''shinobose mai'') to Satsuma; originally paid in kind (i.e. in various products/commodities, mainly [[Ryukyuan textiles|textiles]]), this tax obligation was shifted to [[silver]], and then to rice by [[1620]]. The amount varied until [[1660]], at which time it became roughly stable; around [[1870]] the kingdom was paying just over 7,600 ''koku'' in annual tax, plus an additional 1,000 ''koku'' in supplemental tax.<ref name=tomi63>One year later, in [[1871]], following the [[abolition of the han]], Satsuma han was abolished but the kingdom was still obliged to pay tax to [[Kagoshima prefecture]], in the amount of 11,777 ''koku'' (including transportation costs, and with some 970,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|kin]]'' of [[sugar]] substituted for 3,680 ''koku'' of rice. Tomiyama, “Ryukyu Kingdom Diplomacy with Japan and the Ming and Qing Dynasties,” 63.</ref> From [[1636]] onwards,<ref>Tomiyama, "Ryukyu Kingdom Diplomacy," 56.</ref> the kingdom was also obligated to provide Satsuma each year with a ''Kirishitan shûmon aratamechô'', a register of religious affiliation of everyone living in the kingdom, to help ensure there were no [[Christianity|Christians]],<ref>People were not required to register with a Buddhist temple, however, as they were in Japan.</ref> and to organize all the kingdom's subjects into ''[[goningumi]]'' - groups of five households which would be responsible for enforcing one another's lawful behavior. Satsuma was also charged with maintaining a coast guard which would prevent foreigners (specifically, Westerners and especially Christian missionaries) from entering Ryûkyû.<ref>This was seen as a kind of maritime defense service, of the same category as [[Saga han|Saga]] and [[Fukuoka han|Fukuoka domains']] obligations to guard the port of [[Nagasaki]]. Satsuma and [[Tsushima han]] had served similar functions during the [[Muromachi period]] as well, guarding against events in Korea or Ryûkyû which might threaten Japan. Akamine, 66-67.</ref> To further guard against foreigners entering the kingdom, a system of signal fires called ''fiitatimoo'' was established, along with a network of swift boats called ''tobifune'' in Japanese, which could inform Okinawa of any sightings or shipwrecks in the outer islands.<ref name=akamine68/>  

The king was restored to his castle and his kingdom in [[1611]], and was returned to power, though only within strict limits set by the Shimazu. In addition, while the kingdom retained the Ryukyus from Okinawa south (to the [[Sakishima Islands]] and [[Yonaguni]]), the [[Amami Islands]] and all other islands in the chain north of Okinawa Island proper were seized by the Shimazu and fully incorporated into their territory. A vassal state, Ryukyu was not considered an integral part of Japan until it was formally annexed as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879; while the provinces of Japan were regarded as ''takoku'' (他国, "other lands"), Ryukyu was considered ''ikoku'' (異国, "foreign lands"), along with China, Korea, Holland, and the rest of the world. However, ''[[Nanto zatsuwa|Nantô zatsuwa]]'', a Japanese text published in the 1850s, reveals that Ryukyuan people continued to travel between Okinawa and Amami, and to engage directly in trade in pottery, marine goods, and other products, despite the ostensible "national" boundaries (i.e. with travel to Amami, as part of Satsuma's territory, now being "foreign" travel and therefore theoretically subject to more strict control).<ref>Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, August 2013.</ref>

The king was restored to his castle and his kingdom in [[1611]], and was returned to power, though only within strict limits set by the Shimazu. In addition, while the kingdom retained the Ryukyus from Okinawa south (to the [[Sakishima Islands]] and [[Yonaguni]]), the [[Amami Islands]] and all other islands in the chain north of Okinawa Island proper were placed under the direct administration of Satsuma, though Satsuma and the shogunate both continued, through the end of the Edo period, to consider those islands part of the territory of the kingdom.<ref>Akamine, 69-70.</ref> A vassal state, Ryukyu was not considered an integral part of Japan until it was formally annexed as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879; while the provinces of Japan were regarded as ''takoku'' (他国, "other lands"), Ryukyu was considered ''ikoku'' (異国, "foreign lands"), along with China, Korea, Holland, and the rest of the world. However, ''[[Nanto zatsuwa|Nantô zatsuwa]]'', a Japanese text published in the 1850s, reveals that Ryukyuan people continued to travel between Okinawa and Amami, and to engage directly in trade in pottery, marine goods, and other products, despite the ostensible "national" boundaries (i.e. with travel to Amami, as part of Satsuma's territory, now being "foreign" travel and therefore theoretically subject to more strict control).<ref>Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, August 2013.</ref>

The king remained on his throne, and the royal court continued on much as it had, both in terms of political and administrative activities, and in terms of court rituals. The [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|scholar-aristocracy of Ryûkyû]] remained intact through the Satsuma invasion, continuing to pass down ranks and titles, and to occupy government posts, administering the kingdom in much the same fashion as they had previously. Practices and processes evolved and changed over the course of the early modern period, with a few developments in the 17th century having particularly significant impacts, but these were in some respects more natural developments, and not something that happened suddenly in connection with the Satsuma invasion. The aristocracy was divided more starkly from the commoners/villagers shortly after the invasion, and this was compounded, or solidified, by the implementation in [[1689]] of a system of family genealogies known as ''[[kafu]]'' or ''keizu''. Aristocratic families maintained books recording their family's aristocratic lineage, with another copy being kept by the court. Those who had such records of their lineage were known as ''keimochi'' ("possessing genealogy") and were the aristocracy, while those who lacked such records were ''mukei'' ("lacking genealogy"), and were commoners. Still, not all commoners were villagers or "peasants" (J: ''hyakushô''); many were "town commoners" (J: ''machi hyakushô''), and by the end of the early modern period, some town commoners had been able to purchase aristocratic status, and to begin new lineages.<ref name=nahacity/>

The king remained on his throne, and the royal court continued on much as it had, both in terms of political and administrative activities, and in terms of court rituals. The [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|scholar-aristocracy of Ryûkyû]] remained intact through the Satsuma invasion, continuing to pass down ranks and titles, and to occupy government posts, administering the kingdom in much the same fashion as they had previously. Practices and processes evolved and changed over the course of the early modern period, with a few developments in the 17th century having particularly significant impacts, but these were in some respects more natural developments, and not something that happened suddenly in connection with the Satsuma invasion. The aristocracy was divided more starkly from the commoners/villagers shortly after the invasion, and this was compounded, or solidified, by the implementation in [[1689]] of a system of family genealogies known as ''[[kafu]]'' or ''keizu''. Aristocratic families maintained books recording their family's aristocratic lineage, with another copy being kept by the court. Those who had such records of their lineage were known as ''keimochi'' ("possessing genealogy") and were the aristocracy, while those who lacked such records were ''mukei'' ("lacking genealogy"), and were commoners. Still, not all commoners were villagers or "peasants" (J: ''hyakushô''); many were "town commoners" (J: ''machi hyakushô''), and by the end of the early modern period, some town commoners had been able to purchase aristocratic status, and to begin new lineages.<ref name=nahacity/>