Changes

In 1609, the Shimazu requested permission from the shogunate to invade the Ryûkyû Kingdom which lay to its south. After a brief invasion which met little resistance, Satsuma seized a number of the northern [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]],<ref>including [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], [[Tokunoshima]], [[Okinoerabujima]], [[Yoronjima]], and [[Kikaigashima]].</ref> annexing them to the ''han'', and claimed the Ryûkyû Kingdom as a vassal state. Under Satsuma's rule, Nagashima and the [[Koshiki Islands]] were administered by locals appointed as ''bangashira'', and [[Yakushima]] was administered by a ''[[bugyo|bugyô]]'', each of whom served for a year at a time. Amami Ôshima, Tokunoshima, and Kikaigashima were administered by ''[[daikan]]'', ''[[yokome]]'', and ''tsukeyaku'', who served three-year terms.<ref name=satsuyu244>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Megumi, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 244.</ref>

In 1609, the Shimazu requested permission from the shogunate to invade the Ryûkyû Kingdom which lay to its south. After a brief invasion which met little resistance, Satsuma seized a number of the northern [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]],<ref>including [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], [[Tokunoshima]], [[Okinoerabujima]], [[Yoronjima]], and [[Kikaigashima]].</ref> annexing them to the ''han'', and claimed the Ryûkyû Kingdom as a vassal state. Under Satsuma's rule, Nagashima and the [[Koshiki Islands]] were administered by locals appointed as ''bangashira'', and [[Yakushima]] was administered by a ''[[bugyo|bugyô]]'', each of whom served for a year at a time. Amami Ôshima, Tokunoshima, and Kikaigashima were administered by ''[[daikan]]'', ''[[yokome]]'', and ''tsukeyaku'', who served three-year terms.<ref name=satsuyu244>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Megumi, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 244.</ref>

For the remainder of the Edo period, Satsuma exacted tribute from Ryûkyû, influenced its politics, and dominated its trading policies. As strict [[kaikin|maritime prohibitions]] were imposed upon much of Japan beginning in the 1630s, Satsuma's ability to enjoy a trade in Chinese goods, and information, via Ryûkyû, provided it a distinct and important, if not entirely unique, role in the overall economy and politics of the Tokugawa state. The degree of economic benefits enjoyed by Satsuma, and the degree of their oppression of Ryûkyû, are subjects debated by scholars, but the political prestige and influence gained through this relationship is not questioned. The Shimazu continually made efforts to emphasize their unique position as the only feudal domain to claim an entire foreign kingdom as its vassal, and engineered repeated increases to their own official [[Court rank]], in the name of maintaining their power and prestige in the eyes of Ryûkyû. Satsuma also maintained contacts with Chinese merchants, in violation of the shogunate's policies, allowing Chinese merchants to visit their shores and engage in trade; the domain hired Chinese language interpreters to speak with these merchants, who arrived sporadically, in order to attempt to glean information from them regarding events in China, and allowed a Chinese community to remain active at the port town of [[Bonotsu|Bônotsu]] up until the early 18th century.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 46-47.</ref> In connection with this, and simply in order to handle the occasional Chinese castaway or shipwreck, Satsuma maintained a staff of some fifty interpreters across the domain; such interpreters were chiefly based in Kagoshima, [[Satsumasendai]], [[Akune]], Bônotsu, Kaseda, [[Yamakawa]], [[Tanegashima]], [[Yakushima]], and the Amami Islands.<ref name=satsuyu244/>

For the remainder of the Edo period, Satsuma exacted tribute from Ryûkyû, influenced its politics, and dominated its trading policies. As strict [[kaikin|maritime prohibitions]] were imposed upon much of Japan beginning in the 1630s, Satsuma's ability to enjoy a trade in Chinese goods, and information, via Ryûkyû, provided it a distinct and important, if not entirely unique, role in the overall economy and politics of the Tokugawa state. This allowed Satsuma a small degree of freedom, in accessing the outside world separately from the extensive monopolies and prohibitions enforced by the shogunate. The shogunate knew that these connections to Ryûkyû could bring particular advantages for Satsuma, and was suspicious of potential disloyalty; as a result, while the Shimazu regularly signed ''[[kishomon|kishômon]]'' swearing their loyalty to the Tokugawa, as was obligatory for all ''daimyô'', the Shimazu were obliged in addition to swear they would not join Ryûkyû in any "nefarious plots," nor allow the kingdom to aid China in any actions against Japan.<ref>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 82.</ref>

 

The degree of economic benefits enjoyed by Satsuma, and the degree of their oppression of Ryûkyû, are subjects debated by scholars, but the political prestige and influence gained through this relationship is not questioned. The Shimazu continually made efforts to emphasize their unique position as the only feudal domain to claim an entire foreign kingdom as its vassal, and engineered repeated increases to their own official [[Court rank]], in the name of maintaining their power and prestige in the eyes of Ryûkyû. Satsuma also maintained contacts with Chinese merchants, in violation of the shogunate's policies, allowing Chinese merchants to visit their shores and engage in trade; the domain hired Chinese language interpreters to speak with these merchants, who arrived sporadically, in order to attempt to glean information from them regarding events in China, and allowed a Chinese community to remain active at the port town of [[Bonotsu|Bônotsu]] up until the early 18th century.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 46-47.</ref> In connection with this, and simply in order to handle the occasional Chinese castaway or shipwreck, Satsuma maintained a staff of some fifty interpreters across the domain; such interpreters were chiefly based in Kagoshima, [[Satsumasendai]], [[Akune]], Bônotsu, Kaseda, [[Yamakawa]], [[Tanegashima]], [[Yakushima]], and the Amami Islands.<ref name=satsuyu244/>

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.