Shō Nei Returns to a Kingdom under Satsuma Control

Shō Nei had been carried to Satsuma after the 1609 invasion and taken to audiences with Ieyasu and Hidetada in 1610. He returned to Ryūkyū in 1611. His presence restored the king to Shuri, but the victorious Shimazu had already begun changing the kingdom’s governing obligations.

The court chronicle records land measurement and the introduction of annual payments to Satsuma. It also records a 1611 territorial list that excluded Kikai, Ōshima, Tokunoshima, Okinoerabu and Yoron from the territory left to the kingdom. Royal government and more direct Shimazu island administration consequently operated across different parts of the chain.

The Fifteen Injunctions were issued in 1611, and Shō Nei’s oath is catalogued among the documents of the settlement. The chronicle subsequently lists officials sent to reside in Satsuma as hostages. Ryūkyū continued its relations with China through its court and envoys, while that court had to meet imposed payments, territorial losses and continuing demands from Satsuma.