− | He was soon replaced by [[Nabeshima Naoyoshi]], appointed the first official governor of the prefecture. The second governor, [[Uesugi Mochinori]], supposedly out of genuine concern for the ordinary Okinawan people (i.e. commoners/peasants), was quite harsh on the traditional aristocracy, accusing them of having oppressed and impoverished the Ryukyuan people, and attempting to remove them from power and from elite status.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Visions of Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press, (1999), 146-147.</ref> Much of these initiatives were reversed by his successor, the third governor, [[Iwamura Michitoshi]], however, who implemented a series of policies known as ''[[kyukan onzon|kyûkan onzon]]'' ("preserving old customs"). Under these policies, much of the kingdom's legal and administrative structures were left in place for a time, including incorporating many of the kingdom's experienced scholar-bureaucrats into positions of governmental administration. While many former scholar-bureaucrats accepted positions in the new government, many others, such as [[Ota Chofu|Ôta Chôfu]], protested by refusing to work, and refusing to aid the new officials in taking over the administration.<ref>Kerr, 402.</ref> This policy of maintaining old administrative structures was pursued, at least in part, as the result of concerns (perhaps quite valid concerns) by the [[Meiji government]] that abruptly dismantling these political and economic systems all at once could spark widespread popular resistance. Thus, all the way until [[1903]], the kingdom's systems of land divisions (''[[magiri]]''), taxation, and so forth, were left intact to a certain extent. While low-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats lost their special status entirely, and no Ryukyuans outside of the royal family were incorporated into the ''kazoku'' or ''[[shizoku]]'' systems of gentry, middle- to high-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats were at least permitted to retain their government stipends until [[1909]]; these were, however, paid out of the prefecture's budget, and not out of any separate additional funds granted to Okinawa by Tokyo. While [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], also annexed by Imperial Japan in the 1870s, received considerable investment for development, Okinawa received very little from the government. All in all, throughout the Meiji period, Okinawa paid higher taxes per capita, and received less national expenditures per capita, than any other prefecture.<ref name=jahana102/> | + | He was soon replaced by [[Nabeshima Naoyoshi]], appointed the first official governor of the prefecture. The second governor, [[Uesugi Mochinori]], supposedly out of genuine concern for the ordinary Okinawan people (i.e. commoners/peasants), was quite harsh on the traditional aristocracy, accusing them of having oppressed and impoverished the Ryukyuan people, and attempting to remove them from power and from elite status.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Visions of Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press, (1999), 146-147.</ref> Much of these initiatives were reversed by his successor, the third governor, [[Iwamura Michitoshi]], however, who implemented a series of policies known as ''[[kyukan onzon|kyûkan onzon]]'' ("preserving old customs"). Under these policies, much of the kingdom's legal and administrative structures were left in place for a time, including incorporating many of the kingdom's experienced scholar-bureaucrats into positions of governmental administration. While many former scholar-bureaucrats accepted positions in the new government, many others, such as [[Ota Chofu|Ôta Chôfu]], protested by refusing to work, and refusing to aid the new officials in taking over the administration.<ref>Kerr, 402.</ref> This policy of maintaining old administrative structures was pursued, at least in part, as the result of concerns (perhaps quite valid concerns) by the [[Meiji government]] that abruptly dismantling these political and economic systems all at once could spark widespread popular resistance. Thus, all the way until [[1903]], the kingdom's systems of land divisions (''[[magiri]]''), taxation, and so forth, were left intact to a certain extent. While low-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats lost their special status entirely, and no Ryukyuans outside of the royal family were incorporated into the ''kazoku'' or ''[[shizoku]]'' systems of gentry, middle- to high-ranking Ryukyuan aristocrats were at least permitted to retain their government stipends until [[1909]]; these were, however, paid out of the prefecture's budget, and not out of any separate additional funds granted to Okinawa by Tokyo. While [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], similarly annexed by Imperial Japan in [[1869]], received considerable investment for development, Okinawa received very little from the government. All in all, throughout the Meiji period, Okinawa paid higher taxes per capita, and received less national expenditures per capita, than any other prefecture.<ref name=jahana102/> |