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Though arguably opposed to the shogunate, Satsuma was perhaps one of the strictest domains in enforcing particular policies. Christian missionaries were seen as a serious threat to the power of the daimyô, and the peace and order of the domain; the shogunal ban on Christianity was enforced more strictly and brutally in Satsuma, perhaps, than anywhere else in the archipelago. The ban on smuggling, perhaps unsurprisingly, was not so strictly enforced, as the domain gained significantly from trade performed along its shores, some ways away from [[Nagasaki]], where the shogunate monopolized commerce.
Though arguably opposed to the shogunate, Satsuma was perhaps one of the strictest domains in enforcing particular policies. Christian missionaries were seen as a serious threat to the power of the daimyô, and the peace and order of the domain; the shogunal ban on Christianity was enforced more strictly and brutally in Satsuma, perhaps, than anywhere else in the archipelago. The ban on smuggling, perhaps unsurprisingly, was not so strictly enforced, as the domain gained significantly from trade performed along its shores, some ways away from [[Nagasaki]], where the shogunate monopolized commerce.
In addition, Satsuma was regarded as one of the strictest domains in restricting travel into or out of the domain. One contemporary account describes it as the strictest of the domains, with [[Hizen han]], [[Awa han]], and [[Tosa han]] following closely behind, and at least one scholar has today described Satsuma as a "closed country" within the "closed country" of Tokugawa Japan. Residents and travelers within Satsuma were required to carry wooden identification tags, and it was made quite difficult for people to enter or leave the domain, resulting in the development of a marked difference in cultural norms from those even in immediately neighboring domains. One contemporary traveler remarked that customs do not change much between [[Kansai]] and [[Higo province]], but that as soon as one steps over the border into Satsuma, the customs are quite different; he describes them as possibly old-fashioned, or perhaps even as if Satsuma were a foreign country. Reasons for these tight controls may have included a desire to protect the domain from outside religious influences, and from epidemics and plagues, as well as to protect domain secrets. Indeed, one scholar notes, very few residents of Satsuma appear on registers of pilgrims in [[Shikoku]], for example, an indication that very few residents of Satsuma traveled outside the domain at all.<ref name=barriers>Vaporis, Constantine. ''Breaking Barriers''. Harvard East Asia Monographs, 1994. pp209-210.</ref>
These policies were considerably relaxed, however, for a brief period under ''daimyô'' [[Shimazu Shigehide]] (r. [[1755]]-[[1787]]). It is said that Shigehide desired to bring more commerce and trade into the domain, and believed that greater merchant activity was essential for a prosperous castle town; Satsuma residents were even allowed during this period to make the pilgrimage to [[Ise]]. It was during this time, as well, that [[Furukawa Koshoken|Furukawa Koshôken]] and [[Tachibana Nankei]], among other prominent scholar-travelers, were able to enter the domain and travel within it, Koshôken explicitly noting that it was then easier to enter Satsuma than it had been previously. Various precautions and procedures more strict than in most other domains were still in place, however, as he relates that the guards at the border searched all his possessions, and required him to prove he had enough coin to prevent himself from becoming any kind of burden for the domain.<ref name=barriers/>
Towards the end of the Edo period, the shogunate's power waned, and contacts with Westerners increased dramatically, particularly for Satsuma, as Western ships frequently landed in the Ryûkyûs and sought not only trade, but formal diplomatic relations. Frustration and tensions arose in Satsuma and other domains over the shogunate's failure to repel these Western incursions, and over a number of other issues. In the [[Namamugi Incident]] of 1862, an Englishman was killed by retainers of Satsuma, leading to the [[bombardment of Kagoshima]] by the British Royal Navy the following year.
Towards the end of the Edo period, the shogunate's power waned, and contacts with Westerners increased dramatically, particularly for Satsuma, as Western ships frequently landed in the Ryûkyûs and sought not only trade, but formal diplomatic relations. Frustration and tensions arose in Satsuma and other domains over the shogunate's failure to repel these Western incursions, and over a number of other issues. In the [[Namamugi Incident]] of 1862, an Englishman was killed by retainers of Satsuma, leading to the [[bombardment of Kagoshima]] by the British Royal Navy the following year.
