The author wishes to thank Dr Robert K. Sakai for his comments on an earlier draft of this paper and Dr Shunzo Sakamaki for the permission to use his valuable Ryūkyūan collection.

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⁵ Ibid., p. 64.

⁶ Formula for the conversion of Ryūkyū's koku-daka into hulled rice is: koku-daka × 1/2 × 1·05. Ibid., p. 60.

⁷ Ibid., pp. 64–5.

⁸ For the population in 1636, see ‘Sappan reiki zasshū’ [‘Miscellaneous Regulations of Satsuma’] MS., XXV, folio 10a. For the population in 1750, see Sai On senshū [Selected Works of Minister Sai On], comp. Okinawa rekishi kenkyūkai (Naha, 1967), p. 74. For the population in 1870, see Ryūkyū shinshi [New Gazetteer of Ryūkyū], Ōtsuki Fumihiko (Tokyo, 1873), II, folio 17a.Google Scholar

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¹⁶ Ibid., p. 495 (my italics). Contrary to the general practice at the time, Satsuma's koku-daka was computed in terms of unhulled rice. See Tatsuo, Yamada and Iso'o, Iwakata, ‘Kagoshima-ken nōgyō shi’ [‘Agricultural History of Kagoshima’], in Nihon nōgyō hattatsu shi [History of the Agricultural Development in Japan], comp. Tōbata Seiichi (Tokyo, 1954), II, 471–82.Google Scholar

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²⁴ In Kinsei jikata keizai shiryō [Historical Materials on the Local Economy in the Early Modern Period], comp. Ono Takeo (Tokyo, 1958), I, 382–3.Google Scholar

²⁵ Ibid., p. 384

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²⁹ In 1613 the price of rice at Naha in Ryūkyū was 12 momme of silver per koku. Kanjun, Higaonna, ‘Nantō tsūkashi no kenkyū’ [Study of the Currency in the Southern Islands), in Takushoku daigaku ronshū [Takushoku University Essays]. (Tokyo, 1955), IX, 511.Google Scholar

³⁰ Shinzato's figure, 14,300 koku, included zaiban demai (Tax for the Magistrates), which he erroneously attributed to Satsuma. Sakihara, M., ‘The Significance of Ryūkyū in Satsuma Finances during the Tokugawa Period’, Ph.D. dissertation, 09 1971, University of Hawaii, Chapter 3.Google Scholar

³¹ Chōkon, Ginowan, ‘Ryūkyū ikkenchō’ [‘Dossier on Ryūkyū’], 1820. MS., folio. 11a–12.Google Scholar

³² Kitokurō, Ichiki, Ichiki shokikan torishirabesho [Secretary Ichiki's Investigation Report] (Tokyo, 1894)Google Scholar, reprinted in Okinawa kenshi [History of Okinawa Prefecture], comp. Ryūkyū Government (Naha, 1965), XIV-4, 572.Google Scholar

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³⁴ In the nineteenth century, the price of Ryūkyū rice was consistently 2 momme of silver less than that of Satsuma rice per koku. Torao, Haraguchi, ed. Shimazu-ke retchō seido [Successive Institutions of the House of Shimazu], 1819–24, in VIII–1 and VIII–2 of Hanpōshū [Collected Institutes of the Han], compiled by Ishii Ryōsuke (Tokyo, 1969), VIII–2, 1002–5.Google Scholar Also during the Bunsei period (1818–29) Satsuma rice brought an average of 52.812 momme of silver per koku (Kagoshima kenshi, II, 366).Google Scholar Therefore, Ryūkyū rice probably brought 50.812 momme of silver per koku.

³⁵ Kagoshima kenshi, II, 411.Google Scholar