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In the final decades of the 16th century, the Shimazu clan, along with [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], who ruled Japan from 1582-1598, requested or demanded various types of aid or service from the kingdom on a number of occasions. The repeated refusals of these demands by King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] (r. 1587-1620), who also ignored outright many communications from the Shimazu and from Hideyoshi, spurred the Shimazu, with the permission of the newly established [[Tokugawa shogunate]] (1603-1867), to invade Ryûkyû in 1609, claiming it a punitive mission. The Ryûkyû Kingdom's hesitation, or refusal, to send communications or missions at this time may have been in part in response to a perception of the worsening threat of [[wako|piracy]].<ref>Kuroshima Satoru 黒島敏, ''Ryûkyû ôkoku to Sengoku daimyô'' 琉球王国と戦国大名, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (2016), 22.</ref>

In the final decades of the 16th century, the Shimazu clan, along with [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], who ruled Japan from 1582-1598, requested or demanded various types of aid or service from the kingdom on a number of occasions. The repeated refusals of these demands by King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] (r. 1587-1620), who also ignored outright many communications from the Shimazu and from Hideyoshi, spurred the Shimazu, with the permission of the newly established [[Tokugawa shogunate]] (1603-1867), to invade Ryûkyû in 1609, claiming it a punitive mission. The Ryûkyû Kingdom's hesitation, or refusal, to send communications or missions at this time may have been in part in response to a perception of the worsening threat of [[wako|piracy]].<ref>Kuroshima Satoru 黒島敏, ''Ryûkyû ôkoku to Sengoku daimyô'' 琉球王国と戦国大名, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (2016), 22.</ref>

One of the chief events which spurred Satsuma to aggression occurred when Hideyoshi launched the first of two [[Korean Invasions|invasions of Korea]] in 1592. Through messengers from Satsuma, he ordered that Ryûkyû contribute warriors to the invasion efforts, and was refused; he also commanded that Ryûkyû temporarily suspend its official missions to China. The mission traveled to [[Beijing]] anyway, on business relating to Shô Nei's formal investiture, and related Hideyoshi's plans to Chinese Court officials there. [[Shimazu Yoshihisa]], lord of Satsuma, then suggested that Ryûkyû be allowed to supply food and other supplies - enough to support 7000 men<ref>''Ryûkyû shisetsu, Edo he iku!'' 琉球使節、江戸へ行く！, Okinawa Prefectural Museum (2009), 47.</ref> - instead of manpower; Hideyoshi agreed, but Shô Nei ignored the related missives.

One of the chief events which spurred Satsuma to aggression occurred when Hideyoshi launched the first of two [[Korean Invasions|invasions of Korea]] in 1592. Through messengers from Satsuma, he ordered that Ryûkyû contribute warriors to the invasion efforts, and was refused; he also commanded that Ryûkyû temporarily suspend its official missions to China. The mission traveled to [[Beijing]] anyway, on business relating to Shô Nei's formal [[investiture]], and related Hideyoshi's plans to Chinese Court officials there. [[Shimazu Yoshihisa]], lord of Satsuma, then suggested that Ryûkyû be allowed to supply food and other supplies - enough to support 7000 men<ref>''Ryûkyû shisetsu, Edo he iku!'' 琉球使節、江戸へ行く！, Okinawa Prefectural Museum (2009), 47.</ref> - instead of manpower; Hideyoshi agreed, but Shô Nei ignored the related missives.

Following Hideyoshi's death in 1598, and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]'s subsequent rise to power, Shô Nei was asked by Satsuma in [[1606]] to formally submit to the new shogunate, or according to some scholars, merely requested to enter into formal trade relations with Japan, as the shogunate was reportedly desperate for a regular source of imported Chinese [[silk]]. In either case, this was also ignored. Some scholars also cite an incident in [[1602]], in which the Shimazu bore the expense of repairing a Ryukyuan ship which had become shipwrecked in [[Sendai han|Sendai domain]], and returning its crew safely to Ryûkyû; Shô Nei gave no formal response to this either. The Shimazu then sent another formal letter in [[1604]]/1, and though Ryûkyû sent an envoy to [[Kagoshima]] in response the following year, Satsuma's patience had already been exhausted. Later that year, in [[1605]]/7, a Ryukyuan ship was shipwrecked near [[Hirado]]. The shogunate, via ''[[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki bugyô]]'' [[Ogasawara Ichian]], ordered the ''Nagasaki daikan'' to have the crew returned to Ryûkyû; the lord of [[Hirado han]], [[Matsuura Shigenobu]], was at the same time instructed to request from Ryûkyû a formal expression of gratitude for safely returning both this crew, and the Sendai crew. On 1605/8/15, Shigenobu passed this formal letter from the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' on to Shimazu ''[[karo|karô]]'' [[Shimazu Tadanaga]] and [[Hishijima Kunisada]]. At the time, the shogunate seemed to be considering entrusting both the Shimazu and the [[Matsuura clan]]s with overseeing relations with Ryûkyû. [[Shimazu Tadatsune|Shimazu Tadatsune's]] precise motives in pursuing an invasion of Ryûkyû are unclear, and may have been multiple; however, whether in order to secure exclusive Shimazu control over the Ryûkyû trade, or for other reasons, Tadatsune then requested to launch a punitive mission against Ryûkyû, and was granted permission by the shogunate in 1606.<ref name=yoko39>Yokoyama writes that it was on [[1608]]/8/19 that Tadatsune received formal permission from the shogunate. Yokoyama Manabu 横山学, ''Ryûkyû koku shisetsu torai no kenkyû'' 琉球国使節渡来の研究, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (1987), 39.</ref>

Following Hideyoshi's death in 1598, and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]'s subsequent rise to power, Shô Nei was asked by Satsuma in [[1606]] to formally submit to the new shogunate, or according to some scholars, merely requested to enter into formal trade relations with Japan, as the shogunate was reportedly desperate for a regular source of imported Chinese [[silk]]. In either case, this was also ignored. Some scholars also cite an incident in [[1602]], in which the Shimazu bore the expense of repairing a Ryukyuan ship which had become shipwrecked in [[Sendai han|Sendai domain]], and returning its crew safely to Ryûkyû; Shô Nei gave no formal response to this either. The Shimazu then sent another formal letter in [[1604]]/1, and though Ryûkyû sent an envoy to [[Kagoshima]] in response the following year, Satsuma's patience had already been exhausted. Later that year, in [[1605]]/7, a Ryukyuan ship was shipwrecked near [[Hirado]]. The shogunate, via ''[[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki bugyô]]'' [[Ogasawara Ichian]], ordered the ''Nagasaki daikan'' to have the crew returned to Ryûkyû; the lord of [[Hirado han]], [[Matsuura Shigenobu]], was at the same time instructed to request from Ryûkyû a formal expression of gratitude for safely returning both this crew, and the Sendai crew. On 1605/8/15, Shigenobu passed this formal letter from the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' on to Shimazu ''[[karo|karô]]'' [[Shimazu Tadanaga]] and [[Hishijima Kunisada]]. At the time, the shogunate seemed to be considering entrusting both the Shimazu and the [[Matsuura clan]]s with overseeing relations with Ryûkyû. [[Shimazu Tadatsune|Shimazu Tadatsune's]] precise motives in pursuing an invasion of Ryûkyû are unclear, and may have been multiple; however, whether in order to secure exclusive Shimazu control over the Ryûkyû trade, or for other reasons, Tadatsune then requested to launch a punitive mission against Ryûkyû, and was granted permission by the shogunate in 1606.<ref name=yoko39>Yokoyama writes that it was on [[1608]]/8/19 that Tadatsune received formal permission from the shogunate. Yokoyama Manabu 横山学, ''Ryûkyû koku shisetsu torai no kenkyû'' 琉球国使節渡来の研究, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (1987), 39.</ref>