The was a short-lived domain of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent for ...

, lasting from 1872 to 1879, before becoming the current

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest cit ...

and other islands at the Pacific edge of the East China Sea. When the domain was created in 1872, Japan's feudal

han system ( ja, 藩, "domain") is a Japanese historical term for the estate of a daimyo in the Edo period (1603–1868) and early Meiji period (1868–1912). Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Han"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 283. or (daimyo domain) ...

had developed in unique ways. The domain was a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

and

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

abstraction based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields. In other words, the domain was defined in terms of ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of '' koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. ...

'', not land area. This was different from the

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

of the West.

History

In 1609, the invasion of Ryukyu caused a change in the relationship of the island nation and Japan. After 1609, the Ryukyuan kings were forced to be

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. ...

s of the Shimazu clan of Satsuma and the islands were occasionally viewed as a province of Japan. At the same time, the kingdom and its rulers remained carefully independent, and also paid tribute to China. The dual nature of the kingdom and its rulers was eliminated with the creation of the Ryukyu Domain which existed from 1872 through 1879. In 1872, the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

changed the title of

Shō Tai was the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom (8 June 1848 – 10 October 1872) and the head of the Ryukyu Domain (10 October 1872 – 27 March 1879). His reign saw greatly increased interactions with travelers from abroad, particularly from Europe ...

, who was the Ryukyu Kingdom's monarch (琉球国王 ''Ryūkyū-koku-ō''). Instead, Shō Tai became a domain head (琉球藩王 ''Ryūkyū-han-ō''). In other words, the Ryukyu Kingdom was then recognized as a ''han''.Lin, Man-houng
"The Ryukyus and Taiwan in the East Asian Seas: A Longue Durée Perspective,"
''Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus.'' October 27, 2006, translated and abridged from ''Academia Sinica Weekly,'' No. 1084. 24 August 2006. The former monarch and Ryukyuan aristocrats were granted lands and stipends of support in this period. The administration of the Ryukyus was established under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Ministry. After the Taiwan Expedition of 1874, Japan's role as the protector of the Ryukyuan people was acknowledged; but fiction of the Ryukyu Kingdom's independence was partially maintained until 1879. In 1875, administrative jurisdiction over the Ryukyus was transferred from the Foreign Ministry to the Home Ministry. In 1879, Shō Tai was forced to abdicate and move to Tokyo, Ryukyu Domain was abolished, and

was established. Shō Tai was given the title of Marquis and added to the list of Japan's peerage.

Resistance against the decision

In 1876, Kōchi Chōjō gathered other Ryukyuans who, like himself, had fled for China, including

Rin Seikō was a scholar-bureaucrat and diplomat of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. He was known for leading a movement to petition the government of Qing Dynasty China to rescue the Ryūkyū Kingdom from annexation by Imperial Japan. It was standard at the time fo ...

(林世功) and

Sai Taitei Sai or SAI may refer to: Companies * Science Applications Incorporated, original name of Leidos * ICAO designator for Shaheen Air, a Pakistani airline * Skandinavisk Aero Industri, a former Danish aeroplane manufacturer * Software Architects, Inc ...

(蔡大鼎)."Kōchi Chōjō." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia")
Ryukyu Shimpo
1 March 2003. Accessed 17 September 2009. Together, they submitted numerous petitions to the Qing officials asking for help on behalf of the kingdom. Though there was little, if any, positive response for a long time, Chōjō and others refused to give up."Kōchi Chōjō." ''Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten'' (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People of Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 1996. p 28.

Notes

References

* Kerr, George H. (1958). ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People.'' Rutland, Vermont: Charles Tuttle Co
OCLC 722356
* ___________. (1953). ''Ryukyu Kingdom and Province before 1945.'' Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council
OCLC 5455582
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the reti ...

.
OCLC 58053128
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryukyu Domain Domains of Japan History of Okinawa Prefecture Ryukyu Kingdom Ryukyu Islands 1870s in Asia 1870s in Japan 1872 establishments in Japan 1879 disestablishments in Japan

History

Resistance against the decision

See also

Notes

References