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==As Daimyô==
==As Daimyô==
The same year as he became ''daimyô'', Nariakira ordered construction to begin on two ships, the ''[[Iroha-maru]]'' and ''[[Ottosen]]'', as tests. The ''[[Shoheimaru|Shôheimaru]]'', a Western-style tall-masted sailing ship, was completed in [[1853]]-[[1854]], and the first successful Japanese-built [[steamship]], the ''Unkômaru'', in [[1855]]. Not an entirely new ship, the ''Unkômaru'' was the Ottosen, but refitted with a steam engine developed by Satsuma engineers based on Western books and illustrations, and their own ingenuity, as no Westerners were able to be brought into Satsuma under the shogunate's [[kaikin|maritime restrictions]] policies.<ref>Gallery labels, permanent exhibits gallery, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima, Sept 2014.</ref>
As ''daimyô'', Nariakira continued his efforts towards a guarded Satsuma/Ryûkyû engagement with the Westerners. Out of a combination of motivations, likely both because he sought to expand Satsuma's commercial activities & revenues, and because he recognized the impossibility of defending Ryûkyû from Western military attacks, Nariakira encouraged Ryûkyû to allow a series of concessions to Westerners calling at Naha.
As ''daimyô'', Nariakira continued his efforts towards a guarded Satsuma/Ryûkyû engagement with the Westerners. Out of a combination of motivations, likely both because he sought to expand Satsuma's commercial activities & revenues, and because he recognized the impossibility of defending Ryûkyû from Western military attacks, Nariakira encouraged Ryûkyû to allow a series of concessions to Westerners calling at Naha.
