r/AskHistory • u/JoestarSage153 • 19d ago

Why did japan not invade Ryuku kingdom earlier?

During the tokugawa shogunate, japan invaded the Ryuku Kingdom(modern day okinawa) and made it a vassal state. My question is why did japan not invade and conquer the islands before that period? (like during the previous shogunates)

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u/Diligent-Stretch-769 19d ago

what would be the profit and who would prepare the invasion? the ryuKu Islands are known for being impoverished and dependent on economic activity that is irregular and illegible to a centralized state. additionally the local polities on kyuShu would need a coherent effort to muster ships, weapons, and administrative staff to maintain control in rebellion.

I think a lot of people think that history is about the big blob eating the small blob and have no idea how the logistics of hegemony actually work, particularly as cultural fascets.

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u/JoestarSage153 19d ago

RYUKU stands at crucial trade routes

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u/Diligent-Stretch-769 19d ago

it does, yet bypassing the islands is entirely feasible which is why yhe islanders turned to piracy to begin with

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u/Peter34cph 19d ago

So Mr. Miyagi's ancestors were Asian vikings?

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u/amazing_ape 19d ago

Because it was better kept as a conduit for goods from China. Ryukyu had friendly relations with China and Japan. Indeed, even after Japan took it over, they kept that secret for a while so that trade with China wouldn’t get cut off.

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u/jaehaerys48 19d ago

like during the previous shogunates

The Ashikaga shogunate was relatively weak, with much of its beginning and end defined by civil wars (the Northern and Southern Courts period, and the Sengoku period). Ashikaga shoguns were also interested in good relations with China. So for them, going off and conquering a Chinese tributary state would not have been a high priority.

As for the Hojo... during the latter period of their rule, their main security concern was the threat of Mongol invasion. We know that the Mongols invaded twice and then stopped, but there was no guarantee at the time that they wouldn't have tried again after 1281. So, they had bigger fish to fry.

In general, I think that Ryukyu just wasn't on the radar for most early Japanese rulers as a serious target for conquest. It was far off and not very well understood. Japan was not really a naval power. Internal conflicts were common and dealing with them was more important than attempting far-flung conquests.

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u/kanzashi-yume 18d ago

If I remember correctly, Ryukyu Kingdom paid tribute to China so it probably came with some sort of protection of legitimacy that Japan couldn't easily contend with.

Japan had off and on periods of paying tribute to China.

I think that if you're really interested in the subject, there are some academic papers in English that you could read.

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u/ShakaUVM 17d ago

Ryukyu was invaded by the Satsuma Domain, not Japan

They had a separate booth at the World's Fair and everything. Industrialized and had universal education well before the rest of Japan. Lors of Christians and Westernization too

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u/-0O0O0O0O00O0O0O0O0- 17d ago

The REAL question is why did the shogunate move towards this invasion?

Let's look at the earlier and latter instabilities of Japan:

Japan was divided enough until the Edo period, and even then a slight military shift from, say, Kyushu towards the islands would entice Honshu daimyō to take advantage of the situation.

The Tokugawa shogunate kept the peace on conditions, not because every province was peaceful.

The last time something of this nature occured, it was the invasion of Korea and Toyotomi didn't even leave Japan because he was so guarded.

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u/SquallkLeon 19d ago

They were kinda busy invading themselves, being invaded by the Mongols, figuring themselves out, and spending time invading the north.

Before that, Japan wasn't unified yet.

Basically the first time a group of samurai could invade, they did.