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Sasamori Gisuke was the fifth [[Meiji period]] governor of [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], serving in that position for four years, from [[1894]] to [[1898]]. He is also known as an explorer, who surveyed and mapped areas of Japan.

Sasamori Gisuke was the fifth [[Meiji period]] governor of [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], serving in that position for four years, from [[1894]] to [[1898]]. He is also known as an explorer, who surveyed and mapped areas of Japan.

Born in [[Hirosaki han]], he became governor of Amami Ôshima in 1894. He undertook a number of extensive surveys of the situation on the island, and made efforts to relieve people of their debt burdens and to curb usury by [[sugar]] magnates. He led reforms of the sugar industry, promoted education, and attempted policies to combat the spread of epidemics.<ref>Monument to Sasamori, Tatsugô-chô, Amami.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49491211792/sizes/4k/]</ref>

Born in [[Hirosaki han]], he became governor of Amami Ôshima in 1894. The previous year, he traveled elsewhere in the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]], including visiting the former [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryukyuan]] royal capital of [[Shuri]]; he recorded in his diary that the local people still treated the former King of Ryûkyû, [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]], and the former crown prince, [[Sho Ten|Shô Ten]], with immense respect, even lining the streets and bowing down to watch them pass along the road. Gisuke wrote that the Okinawans treated the Japanese as intruders or invaders, and that when Imperial Prince Kitashirakawa-no-miya paid a formal visit to Okinawa that same year (June [[1893]]), not a single member of the former Ryukyuan royal court accepted invitations to formal banquets held by the prince. According to Gisuke, there was not a single instance of an Okinawan marrying a Japanese, nor of a Japanese taking up permanent residence in the prefecture; deeply supportive of the Japanese imperialistic project in Okinawa, he wrote that "the natives’ feeling is one of strong attachment to the restoration of the old regime, and for this reason their attitude has not been satisfactory to this day."<ref>Donald Keene, ''Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912'', Columbia University Press (2002), 307.</ref>

 

After becoming governor of Amami Ôshima the following year, he undertook a number of extensive surveys of the situation on the island, and made efforts to relieve people of their debt burdens and to curb usury by [[sugar]] magnates. He led reforms of the sugar industry, promoted education, and attempted policies to combat the spread of epidemics.<ref>Monument to Sasamori, Tatsugô-chô, Amami.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49491211792/sizes/4k/]</ref>

During his time overseeing Amami Ôshima, he led efforts to get monuments or historical markers erected on the island in honor of [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]] and [[Katsu Kaishu|Katsu Kaishû]]. In addition to those, a monument in his honor has since been erected on the island as well.<ref>"Sego-don Yukari Map," plaque in Tatsugô, Amami.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49490498438/sizes/k/]</ref>

During his time overseeing Amami Ôshima, he led efforts to get monuments or historical markers erected on the island in honor of [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]] and [[Katsu Kaishu|Katsu Kaishû]]. In addition to those, a monument in his honor has since been erected on the island as well.<ref>"Sego-don Yukari Map," plaque in Tatsugô, Amami.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49490498438/sizes/k/]</ref>