Changes

*1872/4 Deputy [[Finance Minister]] [[Inoue Kaoru]] suggests ending [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû's]] [[tribute|tributary relations]] with China and incorporating Ryûkyû into Japan. The [[Minister of the Left]] opposes this suggestion, arguing that Ryûkyû should remain subordinate and not be made a ''[[han]]'' or otherwise counted as ''naichi'', and further that since the Ryukyuans are ethnically not Japanese, the Ryukyuan king and royal family should not be made ''[[kazoku]]'' (Japanese aristocracy).

*1872/4 Deputy [[Finance Minister]] [[Inoue Kaoru]] suggests ending [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû's]] [[tribute|tributary relations]] with China and incorporating Ryûkyû into Japan. The [[Minister of the Left]] opposes this suggestion, arguing that Ryûkyû should remain subordinate and not be made a ''[[han]]'' or otherwise counted as ''naichi'', and further that since the Ryukyuans are ethnically not Japanese, the Ryukyuan king and royal family should not be made ''[[kazoku]]'' (Japanese aristocracy).

*1872/5 Officials from Tokyo meet with Ryukyuan officials to discuss economic matters, including the end of the minting of Okinawan coinage (which had been minted in Satsuma up until that point).

*1872/5 Officials from Tokyo meet with Ryukyuan officials to discuss economic matters, including the end of the minting of Okinawan coinage (which had been minted in Satsuma up until that point).

*1872/9/23-27 [[Foreign Minister [[Soejima Taneomi]] meets with [[Charles DeLong]], US Diplomatic Minister resident in Japan, and with [[Charles LeGendre]], legal and policy advisor to the Meiji government, and is advised that since the Chinese do not exert effective (''de facto'') control over certain sections of [[Taiwan]] - those dominated by aborigines - the territory is essentially ''terra nullius'', and if Japan were to occupy the territory, under Western/modern international law, it could be rightfully Japan's.

*1872/9/23-27 [[Foreign Minister]] [[Soejima Taneomi]] meets with [[Charles DeLong]], US Diplomatic Minister resident in Japan, and with [[Charles LeGendre]], legal and policy advisor to the Meiji government, and is advised that since the Chinese do not exert effective (''de facto'') control over certain sections of [[Taiwan]] - those dominated by aborigines - the territory is essentially ''terra nullius'', and if Japan were to occupy the territory, under Western/modern international law, it could be rightfully Japan's.

*1872/10/14 Representatives of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, led by [[Giwan Choho|Giwan Chôho]], are informed in [[Tokyo]] of the annexation by Japan of the kingdom as [[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]]. The envoys return to [[Okinawa]] and inform King [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]] of this development.

*1872/10/14 Representatives of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, led by [[Giwan Choho|Giwan Chôho]], are informed in [[Tokyo]] of the annexation by Japan of the kingdom as [[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]]. The envoys return to [[Okinawa]] and inform King [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]] of this development.