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*''Japanese'': 砂糖 ''(satou)''
Sugar cane was first introduced into the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] in [[1374]]. It soon became one of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|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 [[Ryukyu Shobun|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 prefecture|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.<ref>[[Gregory Smits|Smits, Gregory]]. ''Visions of Ryukyu''. University of Hawaii Press, 1999. p148.</ref>
Around 1903, Okinawan journalist [[Ota Chofu|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.<ref>[[George Kerr|Kerr, George]]. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tuttle Publishing, 2000. p430.</ref>
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Economics]]
Sugar cane was first introduced into the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] in [[1374]]. It soon became one of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|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 [[Ryukyu Shobun|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 prefecture|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.<ref>[[Gregory Smits|Smits, Gregory]]. ''Visions of Ryukyu''. University of Hawaii Press, 1999. p148.</ref>
Around 1903, Okinawan journalist [[Ota Chofu|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.<ref>[[George Kerr|Kerr, George]]. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tuttle Publishing, 2000. p430.</ref>
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Economics]]
