琉球一件(支那政府ノ抗論ニ対シテ我カ日本ニ琉球島ヲ専領スヘキ主権アル覚 / Ryūkyūan Affair (A memorandum for asserting that Japan has dominion over Ryūkyū against the claim of Chinese government)

Ryukyu Ikken is a set of ten printed documents. It is a collection of the diplomatic correspondence between Japan and Qing (China) concerning the Japanese annexation of Ryukyu as the Prefecture of Okinawa. This is the 3rd volume. On the book cover, there is "A memorandum for asserting that Japan has dominion over Ryukyu against the claim of Chinese government". Right after the establishment of prefectures in place of feudal domains, the Japanese annexation of Ryukyu became a political issue between Japan and Qing. Shishido Tamaki, the minister plenipotentiary posted in Qing sent a memorandum in which Japan asserted that they had dominion over Ryukyu to Office of Foreign Affairs of Qing in July 1879, in response to the claim from Qing. This book is a copy of that memorandum. It is written with both kanji (Chinese characters) and kana (Japanese syllabary). In this document, the bona fides for the Japanese domination of Ryukyu are listed, it contains the history, the geography, the character, the language, the religion, the race, the manner and customs of Ryukyu, the laws made by Shimazu Iehisa who was a lord of Satsuma domain, the oath by King Shō Nei and also the oath of Sanshikan (Three administrative officials). (Updated on November 4, 2022)