Changes

==Invasion==

==Invasion==

The invasion plans were finalized on 2/26,<ref name=yokoyama40>Yokoyama, 40.</ref> and on 3/4, the Satsuma force, consisting of over 100 ships carrying roughly 3000 warriors and 5000 sailors and laborers,<ref>Smits, Gregory. "[http://www.japanfocus.org/-Gregory-Smits/3409 Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism]." ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).; according to some sources, these forces included some 250 men from the [[Tokara Islands]], traveling aboard 24 ships. Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 225.</ref> left [[Yamakawa]] Harbor for the Ryukyus. The samurai landed at the friendly [[Kuchinoerabujima]] the following day, staying there several nights before departing for [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], where the invasion began in earnest on 3/7. The island would not fall to the invaders until 3/16. After an initial landing at Kasari Bay, the invaders moved on to Yamatohama on 3/12, and then to Nishikomi, securing the island by 3/16. The chief Shuri official on [[Kikaijima]], a man by the name of Kantarugane, is said to have sailed to Amami to surrender prior to any Shimazu forces ever landing on Kikai.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 227.</ref>

The invasion plans were finalized on 2/26,<ref name=yokoyama40>Yokoyama, 40.</ref> and on 3/4, the Satsuma force, consisting of over 100 ships carrying roughly 3000 warriors and 5000 sailors and laborers,<ref>Smits, Gregory. "[http://www.japanfocus.org/-Gregory-Smits/3409 Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism]." ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).; according to some sources, these forces included some 250 men from the [[Tokara Islands]], traveling aboard 24 ships. Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 225.</ref> left [[Yamakawa]] Harbor for the Ryukyus. According to some sources, these included some one hundred archers and over seven hundred gunners.<ref>Maria Grazia Petrucci, “Caught Between Piracy and Trade: The Shimazu of Southern Japan…”, in Robert Antony and Angela Schottenhammer (eds.), ''Beyond the Silk Roads'', Harrassowitz Verlag (2017), p101.</ref> The samurai landed at the friendly [[Kuchinoerabujima]] the following day, staying there several nights before departing for [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], where the invasion began in earnest on 3/7. The island would not fall to the invaders until 3/16. After an initial landing at Kasari Bay, the invaders moved on to Yamatohama on 3/12, and then to Nishikomi, securing the island by 3/16. The chief Shuri official on [[Kikaijima]], a man by the name of Kantarugane, is said to have sailed to Amami to surrender prior to any Shimazu forces ever landing on Kikai.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 227.</ref>

According to some sources, Ryukyuan resistance on Amami fell quickly, but the invading forces simply took their time in an orderly operation. Other sources, however, indicate that 70 of the 75 ships sent to Amami Ôshima were knocked off course by the weather; the force was split, with Hisataka and Masamune landing on different parts of the island. According to these accounts, they were met by roughly 3000 Ryukyuan defenders, hunkered down in wooden fortifications, who were only finally defeated in the end through the use of the [[arquebus]], which would prove a key advantage for the Satsuma force throughout the invasion.

According to some sources, Ryukyuan resistance on Amami fell quickly, but the invading forces simply took their time in an orderly operation. Other sources, however, indicate that 70 of the 75 ships sent to Amami Ôshima were knocked off course by the weather; the force was split, with Hisataka and Masamune landing on different parts of the island. According to these accounts, they were met by roughly 3000 Ryukyuan defenders, hunkered down in wooden fortifications, who were only finally defeated in the end through the use of the [[arquebus]], which would prove a key advantage for the Satsuma force throughout the invasion.