Satsuma Domain

A Japanese feudal domain ruled by the Shimazu family from southern Kyushu. After invading the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1609, it imposed control while allowing the kingdom to retain its royal government.

Invasion of Ryukyu: The 1609 military campaign in which Satsuma forces conquered the Ryukyu Kingdom. It began Satsuma’s control of Ryukyu.
Shimazu Tadatsune: The first Shimazu lord of Satsuma under the Tokugawa shogunate, who led the 1609 invasion of Ryukyu. He commanded the campaign that established Satsuma’s control.
Ryukyu–China relations: The diplomatic and commercial ties between the Ryukyu Kingdom and successive Chinese dynasties. Satsuma preserved these ties because they brought valuable trade and diplomatic prestige.
Ryukyu Kingdom independence: The political autonomy claimed and exercised by the Ryukyu Kingdom during periods of external influence. The kingdom retained internal institutions even as Satsuma imposed subordination.
Ryukyu Kingdom: An island kingdom centered on Okinawa that maintained its own monarchy until its annexation by Japan in 1879. Satsuma controlled the kingdom without initially abolishing its monarchy.
Tokugawa Ieyasu: The founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. Ieyasu authorized Satsuma’s expedition against Ryukyu.
Tributary system: A regional order in which states expressed hierarchy through tribute missions and investiture ceremonies. Ryukyu’s continued Chinese tributary status helped conceal Satsuma’s control.
Han system: The Tokugawa-era system of semi-autonomous domains ruled by hereditary lords under shogunal authority. Satsuma was one domain within this wider structure of decentralized rule.
Shimazu clan: A Japanese warrior clan that ruled Satsuma and other parts of southern Kyushu for centuries. The clan’s lords directed the invasion and governed the domain.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi: A Japanese warlord who unified much of Japan in the late sixteenth century. His failed invasion of Korea weakened the Shimazu before their later expansion.

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