Ryukyu Studies Since 1854
Western Encounter Part II
Edited and introduced by Patrick Beillevaire, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences
Sociales, Paris
The Ryukyu kingdom, today's Okinawa prefecture, occupies a singular place in the history
of the contacts between Japan and the west. In the 1870s the Japanese empire made a swift
entry on the international scene by absorbing the Ryukyu kingdom under the name of Okinawa
prefecture. The ensuing process of forced Japanization was associated with discrimination
and economic hardships. In 1945, the main island of Okinawa was ravaged by one of the
bloodiest battles of World War II. In its wake, the Ryukyu Islands passed under US
administration to be eventually restored to Japan in 1972 and disproportionately burdened
with a legacy of military bases. The Ryukyu kingdom first drew the attention of Europeans
in the early 16th century, when Japan was still inaccessible. But strategic attempts to
establish official relations between the Ryukyu government and western powers during the
19th century caused grave concern in Japan where it was realized that a prolonged
resistance to western pressures was doomed to fail.
In the first decades of the 19th century, the inhabitants of these islands enjoyed a
reputation among westerners for peacefulness, hospitality, honesty, and openmindedness
that no other Asian people could rival. However, beneath all the ceremonials and unfeigned
expressions of cordiality, less enviable political intricacies were found to lurk in that
earthly paradise. This collection gathers all the primary texts, some rare or hitherto
unpublished, written on Ryukyu by western visitors, scholars, and missionaries from the
16th century to about the eve of World War II. The first set of five volumes covered the
period up to the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1854. This second set covers the period
from 1854 onwards. It will be of interest to historians and anthropologists, as well as to
everyone who wants to understand the background of Okinawa's persistent distinctiveness
and of its complex relations with Japanese governments.
Contents include
Volume 1
Beillevaire, Patrick: Introduction
Taylor, Bayard: [1853] 1855. A Visit to India, China, and Japan, in the Year 1853.
Hawks, Francis L.: [1853-54] 1856. Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to
the China Seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command
of Commodore M. C. Perry, United States Navy.
Green, D. S.: [1853-54] 1856. 'Report on the Medical Topography and Agriculture of Great
Lew Chew.'
Fahs, Charles. F.: [1853-54] 1856. 'Report on the Botany, Ethnography, etc., of Lew Chew.'
Jones, George: [1853-54] 1856. 'Report of a Geological Exploration of Lew Chew.'
Perry, Matthew C.: [1853-54] 1968. The Japan Expedition. The Personal Journal of Commodore
Matthew C. Perry.
Heine, Wilhelm: [1853-54] 1990. With Perry to Japan. A Memoir by William Heine.
Volume 2
Gontcharov, Ivan A.: [1854] 1995. 'Les Iles Ryu-Kyu.'
Habersham, Alexander W.: [1855] 1857. My Last Cruise.
Furet, Louis: [1855-58] 1860. Lettres a M. Leon de Rosny sur l'Archipel japonais et la
Tartarie orientale.
Mermet-Cachon, Eugene-Emmanuel: [1856] 1857. 'Lettre de M. Mermet, missionnaire
apostolique, a M. Albrand (Lou-tchou, Nafa, le 26 octobre 1856).'
Heurtier, Auguste: [1856] 1857. 'Commerce avec le littoral japonais et les Iles
Liou-Tcheou, specialement au point de vue des interits francais.'
Furet, Louis: [1861] 1862 'Iles Lou-Tchou. La femme loutchouane, a l'origine du Japon.'
Rosny, Leon de: 1864. 'Les Iles Lou-tchou.'
Williams, Samuel Wells: 1866. 'Political Intercourse between China and Lewchew.'
Bax, Bonham W.: [1872] 1875. '[The Loo Choo Islands].'
Hervey de Saint-Denys, Marie-Jean-Leon: 1874. 'Sur Formose et les Iles appelees en chinois
Liou-Kieou.'
Balfour, Frederick Henry: 1876. 'The Kingdom of Liuchiu.'
Brunton, Robert H.: 1876. Notes taken during a visit to Okinawa Shima & Loochoo
Islands [December 1875].
Volume 3
Allen, Herbert J.: 1879. 'The Lewchew Islands.'
Gubbins, John A.: 1881. 'The Principality of Loochoo.'
Revertegat, Jules: 1882. 'Une visite aux Iles Lou-Tchou, 1877.'
Brinkley, Frank: 1883. 'The Story of the Riukiu (Loo-choo) Complication.'
Guillemard, F. H. H.: 1886. The Cruise of the Marchesa to Kamschatka and New Guinea.
Rosny, Leon de: 1886. 'Lieou-Kieou.' Les Peuples orientaux connus des anciens Chinois.
Chamberlain, Basil Hall: 1893. 'On the Manners and Customs of the Loochooans'.
Halbout, Augustin: [1895] 1928. '50 ans apres l'arrivee du P. Forcade aux Ryu-Kyu.'
Furness, William H.: 1899. 'Life in the Luchu Islands.'
Perigny, Maurice de: [1903] 1911. 'Aux Iles Riou-Kiou.'
Leavenworth, Charles S.: 1905. The Loocho Islands.
Volume 4
Denuce, J.: 1907. 'Les Iles Lequios (Formose et Riu-Kiu) et Ophir.'
Salwey, Charlotte Maria Birch: 1913. 'The Loochoo or Ryukyu Islands.'
Simon, Edmund H.: 1914. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Riukiu-Inseln, Inaugural-Dissertation.
Volume 5
Simon, Edmund H.: 1914. 'Riukiu, ein Spiegel fur Altjapan.'
Cordier, Henri: 1914. 'Les Francais aux Iles Lieou-K'ieou.'
Spenser, Robert Steward: 1931. 'The Noro, or Priestesses of Loo Choo.'
Hagenauer, Charles: 1930. 'Le Lieou-k'ieou kouo du Souei chou etait-il Formose?'
- 1931. 'Relations du royaume des Ryukyu avec les pays des mers du Sud et de la Coree.'
- [1930] 1954. 'Du caractere de la representation de la mort aux Ryukyu.'
- [1930] 1956 '[On Ryukyuan funeral customs.]'
Eder, Matthias: 1939. 'Neue Studien uber die Sprache der Ryukyu-Inseln.'
Newman, Marshall T., and Ransom L. Eng: 1948. 'The Ryukyu People. A cultural appraisal.'
Published in Japan by Edition Synapse.
RYUKYU LIBRARY # 2
ISBN 0 7007 1715 3 : 5 vols : Illus. : Jan 2002 : œ525.00