Changes

==Background==

==Background==

The 1870s were a very busy and complex time for Ryukyuan-Japanese relations, and for Japanese territorial and border issues more broadly.<ref>For more thorough chronological details, see the [[:Category:Meiji Period Timeline|Timeline]] pages for each individual year.</ref> The [[Meiji Restoration]] in [[1868]] brought the end of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] and the establishment of a [[Meiji government|new Imperial government]] organized with strong influence from Western models. The [[abolition of the han]] brought a need for a re-assessment or redefinition of Ryûkyû's relationship to Japan, and the Taiwan Incident of 1871, in which a number of [[Miyako Islands|Miyako Islanders]] were killed by Taiwanese aborigines, led to disputes with China over claims to Taiwan and Ryûkyû, and spurred the Japanese government's desire to settle the Ryûkyû situation decisively.

The 1870s were a very busy and complex time for Ryukyuan-Japanese relations, and for Japanese territorial and border issues more broadly.<ref>For more thorough chronological details, see the [[:Category:Meiji Period Timeline|Timeline]] pages for each individual year.</ref> The [[Meiji Restoration]] in [[1868]] brought the end of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] and the establishment of a [[Meiji government|new Imperial government]] organized with strong influence from Western models. The [[abolition of the han]] brought a need for a re-assessment or redefinition of Ryûkyû's relationship to Japan, and the Taiwan Incident of 1871, in which a number of [[Miyako Islands|Miyako Islanders]] were killed by [[Taiwanese aborigines]], led to disputes with China over claims to Taiwan and Ryûkyû, and spurred the Japanese government's desire to settle the Ryûkyû situation decisively.

In 1872, the Ryûkyû Kingdom was declared to be "Ryûkyû han," and its king, [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]], to now no longer be ''koku-ô'' (国王, king of a country), but ''han-ô'' (藩王, lord of a domain), despite the fact that all the Japanese ''[[han]]'' (domains) had already been [[abolition of the han|abolished]] the previous year. Ryûkyû was placed under the purview of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], and [[tribute]] payments previously made to Satsuma were now to be paid to the [[Ministry of Finance]]. The original copies of treaties the Ryûkyû Kingdom had signed with [[Treaty of Amity (Ryukyu-France)|France]], [[Treaty of Amity (Ryukyu-Holland)|the Netherlands]], and the [[Treaty of Amity (Ryukyu-US)|United States]], were handed over into the possession of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,<ref name=shisetsu48/> and then, in the summer of [[1873]], Ryûkyû was transferred from being under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry, to being under the newly established Ministry of the Interior. The domain was granted 30,000 yen to help cover the kingdom's debts; 50,000 yen of debt owed to the [[Shimazu clan]] had already been forgiven the previous year, in order to help provide relief to the people of the islands.<ref>Hellyer, 238-239.</ref>

In 1872, the Ryûkyû Kingdom was declared to be "Ryûkyû han," and its king, [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]], to now no longer be ''koku-ô'' (国王, king of a country), but ''han-ô'' (藩王, lord of a domain), despite the fact that all the Japanese ''[[han]]'' (domains) had already been [[abolition of the han|abolished]] the previous year. Ryûkyû was placed under the purview of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], and [[tribute]] payments previously made to Satsuma were now to be paid to the [[Ministry of Finance]]. The original copies of treaties the Ryûkyû Kingdom had signed with [[Treaty of Amity (Ryukyu-France)|France]], [[Treaty of Amity (Ryukyu-Holland)|the Netherlands]], and the [[Treaty of Amity (Ryukyu-US)|United States]], were handed over into the possession of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,<ref name=shisetsu48/> and then, in the summer of [[1873]], Ryûkyû was transferred from being under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry, to being under the newly established Ministry of the Interior. The domain was granted 30,000 yen to help cover the kingdom's debts; 50,000 yen of debt owed to the [[Shimazu clan]] had already been forgiven the previous year, in order to help provide relief to the people of the islands.<ref>Hellyer, 238-239.</ref>