Ryūkyū Domain (琉球藩, Ryūkyū-han) was a domain of Japan in the area of Okinawa Prefecture at the Pacific edge of the East China Sea.[1]

Ryūkyū Province comprised the Ryūkyū Islands, including Okinawa Prefecture.

History change

 
Map showing southern Kyushu and Ryukyu islands, 1781

In 1609, Japanese forces invaded the Ryūkyū Kingdom.[2] After this, the Ryukyuan kings were forced to pay annual tribute to the Shimazu clan of Satsuma Province.

After the Meiji Restoration, the kingdom was replaced by the Ryūkyū Domain which existed from 1872 through 1879.[3]

In 1879, Okinawa Prefecture was established.[4]

Shrines and Temples change

Naminoue Shrine was the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of the Ryukyu Islands.[5] In 1890, the shrine was recognized in the system of State Shinto. It is among the ranked, nationally significant shrines or Kanpei-shōsha (官幣小社) which includes five sanctuaries.[6]

Related pages change

References change

  1. See Kerr, George H. (1953). Ryukyu Kingdom and Province before 1945.
  2. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ryūkyū Islands," Japan Encyclopedia, p. 801; Fassbender, Bardo et al. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law, p. 483.
  3. Matsumura, Wendy. (2007). Becoming Okinawan: Japanese Capitalism and Changing Representations of Okinawa, p. 38[permanent dead link]; 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."
  4. Nussbaum, "Okinawa-ken," pp. 746-747.
  5. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 127.
  6. List of Kankokuheisha (官国幣社), p. 3 Archived 2019-07-10 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-8-26.

Other websites change

  Media related to Ryukyu Province at Wikimedia Commons