Ryukyu Domain

Ryūkyū Domain 琉球藩
Domain of Japan Tributary state of Qing China (until 1875)
1872–1879
Mon of the Second Shō family Official seal
Ryukyu Domain included the southern-half of the Ryukyu Islands.
Capital	Shuri Castle
Government
• Type	Monarchy
Domain head
• 1872–1879	Shō Tai
Sanshikan
• 1872–1879	Urasoe Chōshō
• 1875–1879	Tomikawa Seikei
• 1877–1879	Yonabaru Ryōketsu
Historical era	Meiji period
• Established	1872
• Disestablished	1879
Preceded by Succeeded by Ryukyu Kingdom Okinawa Prefecture
Today part of	Okinawa Prefecture

History of Ryukyu
Periods Prehistoric pre–14,000 BC Early Shell Mound 14,000–300 BC Middle Shell Mound 300 BC–750 AD Late Shell Mound 750–1187 Gusuku period 1187–1314 Tenson dynasty 16616 BC?– 1186 AD? Shunten dynasty 1187?– 1259? Eiso dynasty 1260?– 1349 Sanzan 1314–1429 Hokuzan 1314?–1416 Chūzan 1314?–1429 Nanzan 1314?–1429 Ryukyu Kingdom 1429–1879 First Shō dynasty 1429–1469 Second Shō dynasty 1469–1879 Satsuma Invasion 1609 Ryukyu Domain 1872–1879 Japanese Annexation 1879 Meiji 1879–1912 Taishō 1912–1926 Pre-World War II 1926–1945 Militarism Battle of Okinawa 1945 U. S. administration 1945–1972 Military Government 1945–1950 Civil Administration 1950–1972 Government 1952–1972 Tokara Reversion 1952 Amami Reversion 1953 Koza riot 1970 Okinawa Reversion Agreement 1971 Okinawa Reversion 1972 Okinawa Prefecture 1972–present Kagoshima Prefecture 1953–present
Topics Missions to Imperial China Missions from Imperial China Missions to Joseon Missions from Joseon Missions to Edo Independence movement
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The Ryukyu Domain (琉球藩, Ryūkyū han) was a short-lived domain of the Empire of Japan, lasting from 1872 to 1879, before becoming the current Okinawa Prefecture and other islands^{[citation needed]} 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 political and economic abstraction based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.^[1] In other words, the domain was defined in terms of kokudaka, not land area.^[2] This was different from the feudalism of the West.