Changes

The Miyako Islanders were shipwrecked and killed in the last month of [[1871]]. Roughly six months later, [[Yanagihara Sakimitsu]], a Japanese official in Shanghai at the time, returned to Tokyo and reported the incident to the government. Shortly afterwards, various figures from Satsuma (now [[Kagoshima prefecture]]), especially [[Kabayama Sukenori]], a former samurai retainer to the [[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma han]], and now commander of the second Kyushu outpost garrison, pressured Tokyo to send some sort of punitive military expedition to Taiwan.

The Miyako Islanders were shipwrecked and killed in the last month of [[1871]]. Roughly six months later, [[Yanagihara Sakimitsu]], a Japanese official in Shanghai at the time, returned to Tokyo and reported the incident to the government. Shortly afterwards, various figures from Satsuma (now [[Kagoshima prefecture]]), especially [[Kabayama Sukenori]], a former samurai retainer to the [[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma han]], and now commander of the second Kyushu outpost garrison, pressured Tokyo to send some sort of punitive military expedition to Taiwan.

In the aftermath of the ''[[Seikanron]]'', a heated [[1873]] debate in which the [[Meiji government]] ultimately decided against an invasion of Korea, despite the resignation of [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]] and a number of his fellows from government, there were still many who felt that some sort of military expedition was necessary to redirect [[shizoku|former samurai]] restlessness and anger. In negotiations with the Chinese over the 1871 incident, the Qing disavowed any responsibility for the actions of the aborigines, claiming they had no effective control over those regions of Taiwan. US officials [[Charles DeLong]] and [[Charles LeGendre]] reassured the Japanese that under Western ("modern") systems of international law, this also meant the Chinese were renouncing any claims they had to those parts of the island, rendering those regions ''terra nullius'', and free for the taking.<ref>Jordan Walker, "Archipelagic Ambiguities: The Demarcation of Modern Japan, 1868-1879," ''Island Studies Journal'' 10:2 (2015), 214.</ref> Planning and preparation for the expedition began the following February.

In the aftermath of the ''[[Seikanron]]'', a heated [[1873]] debate in which the [[Meiji government]] ultimately decided against an invasion of Korea, despite the resignation of [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]] and a number of his fellows from government, there were still many who felt that some sort of military expedition was necessary to redirect [[shizoku|former samurai]] restlessness and anger, and to prevent rebellions against the new government. Indeed, [[Eto Shinpei|Etô Shinpei]], one of the oligarchs who resigned in protest following the decision to not invade Korea, led [[Saga Rebellion|a rebellion in Saga]] which began just a week or so before the Feb 6, [[1874]] decision to attack Taiwan.<ref>Jordan Walker, "Archipelagic Ambiguities: The Demarcation of Modern Japan, 1868-1879," ''Island Studies Journal'' 10:2 (2015), 216.</ref>

 

In negotiations with the Chinese over the 1871 incident, the Qing disavowed any responsibility for the actions of the aborigines, claiming they had no effective control over those regions of Taiwan. US officials [[Charles DeLong]] and [[Charles LeGendre]] reassured the Japanese that under Western ("modern") systems of international law, this also meant the Chinese were renouncing any claims they had to those parts of the island, rendering those regions ''terra nullius'', and free for the taking.<ref>Walker, 214.</ref> Planning and preparation for the expedition began the following February.

==The Expedition==

==The Expedition==