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The {{nihongo|'''Ryukyu Domain'''|琉球藩|Ryūkyū han}} was a short-lived [[han (administrative division)|___domain]] of the [[Empire of Japan]], lasting from 1872 to 1879, before becoming the current [[Okinawa Prefecture]] and other islands{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} at the Pacific edge of the [[East China Sea]].
When the ___domain was created in 1872, Japan's feudal [[han system]] had developed in unique ways. The ___domain was a [[politics|political]] and [[Economics|economic]] abstraction based on periodic [[cadastral]] surveys and projected agricultural yields.<ref>[[Jeffrey Mass|Mass, Jeffrey P.]] and William B. Hauser. (1987). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hv99D510nHcC&pg=PA150&dq= ''The Bakufu in Japanese History,'' p. 150].</ref> In other words, the ___domain was defined in terms of ''[[kokudaka]]'', not land area.<ref>Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987). [https://books.google.com/books?id=T2_5_W7UFXwC&pg=PA18&dq= ''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18].</ref> This was different from the [[feudalism]] of the West.
==History==
In 1609, the [[invasion of Ryukyu]] caused a change in the relationship of the island nation and Japan.<ref>[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]]. (2005). "Ryukyu Islands" in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 801|page=801}}; Fassbender, Bardo ''et al.'' (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=PI9nw2tQu4IC&pg=PA483&dq=province+of+ryukyu&hlpg=en&sa=X&ei=FxBLUZHrEIXH4APPrYD4Bg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=province%20of%20ryukyu&f=falsePA483 ''The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law,'' p. 483]; excerpt, "The status of Ryukyu is ambiguous when looked at from the perspective of modern European international law, although there appears to have been no serious issues concerning the status of Ryukyu at that time."</ref> After 1609, the Ryukyuan kings were forced to be [[vassal]]s of the [[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma Province|Satsuma]] and the islands were occasionally viewed as a [[Provinces of Japan|province of Japan]].<ref>Toby, Ronald P. (1991). [https://books.google.com/books?id=2hK7tczn2QoC&pg=PA46&dq= ''State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia and the development of the Tokugawa bakufu,'' pp. 45-46], citing manuscripts at the [[Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo]]; excerpt, "Ieyasu granted the Shimazu clan the right to "rule" over Ryukyu ... [and] contemporary Japanese even referred to the Shimazu clan as 'lords of four provinces', which could only mean that they were including the Ryukyuan kingdom in their calculations. However, this does not mean that Ryukyu ceased to be a foreign country or that relations between Naha and Edo ceased thereby to be foreign relations."</ref> At the same time, the kingdom and its rulers remained carefully independent, and also paid tribute to China.<ref>Smits, Gregory. (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=37LxVhgIbJkC&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics,'' p. 28].</ref>
The dual nature of the kingdom and its rulers was eliminated with the creation of the Ryukyu Domain which existed from 1872 through 1879.<ref>Matsumura, Wendy. (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=nWXwkb_xRNsC&pg=PA74&dq=ryukyu+han&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2vtJUbmFBtXe4AOrroGwDw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=1879&fpg=falsePA74 ''Becoming Okinawan: Japanese Capitalism and Changing Representations of Okinawa,'' p. 38]; excerpt, "March 27, 1879 marks the birth of [[Okinawa Prefecture]] and the death of the short-lived Ryukyu ___domain, which itself came into being on September 14, 1872, replacing the Ryukyu kingdom."</ref> In 1872, the [[Emperor of Japan]] changed the title of [[Shō Tai]], 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''.<ref name="lin2006">Lin, Man-houng. [http://www.japanfocus.org/-Man_houng-Lin/2258 "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.</ref> The former monarch and Ryukyuan aristocrats were granted lands and stipends of support in this period.<ref>Matsuo, {{Google books|XeVUCjFVaYQC|p. 81.|page=81}}</ref> The administration of the Ryukyus was established under the jurisdiction of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Foreign Ministry]].<ref name="lin2006"/> 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.<ref>Goodenough, Ward H. [http://ann.sagepub.com/content/323/1/165.1.extract Book Review: "George H. Kerr. ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People ...,"] ''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,'' May 1959, Vol. 323, No. 1, p. 165.</ref> In 1875, administrative jurisdiction over the Ryukyus was transferred from the Foreign Ministry to the [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Home Ministry]].<ref name="lin2006"/>
In 1879, Shō Tai was forced to [[Abdication|abdicate]] and move to Tokyo, Ryukyu Domain was abolished, and [[Okinawa Prefecture]] was established.<ref>Nussbaum, "Okinawa-ken" in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 746-747|page=746}}</ref> Shō Tai was given the title of Marquis and added to the list of [[kazoku|Japan's peerage]].<ref>[[Edmund Papinot|Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph]]. (2003). [http://www.unterstein.net/Toyoashihara-no-Chiaki-Nagaioaki-no-Mitsuho-no-Kuni/NobiliaireJapon.pdf ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 56], republishing Papinot (1906), ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; retrieved 2013-3-23.</ref>
* [[George H. Kerr|Kerr, George H.]] (1958). ''Okinawa: the History of an Island People.'' Rutland, Vermont: Charles Tuttle Co. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/722356 OCLC 722356]
* ___________. (1953). ''Ryukyu Kingdom and Province before 1945.'' Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5455582 OCLC 5455582]
* [[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]] and Käthe Roth. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&client=firefox-a ''Japan encyclopedia.''] Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128?referer=di&ht=edition OCLC 58053128]
{{Domains of Kyūshū}}
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