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The Satsuma Ryukyu Kingdom Order was an order issued by the Satsuma Domain to commemorate its participation in the Paris World Exposition in 1867. It is commonly known as the Satsuryu Order . It is considered to be Japan's first order.

The 1867 Paris Exposition was the first international exposition that Japan participated in, and the Satsuma and Saga domains also exhibited there separately from the Edo Shogunate . In particular, the Satsuma domain, which had effective control over part of the Ryukyu Kingdom as a de facto vassal state , called itself the "Government of the Japanese Satsuma Ryukyu Kingdom Governorate" in an attempt to show the international community that it was a government of an independent country separate from the Shogunate, and the creation and presentation of medals was part of that strategy.

The Expo, where high-ranking officials and diplomats from various countries gathered, was also a place for diplomatic battles where various maneuvers were carried out. The Satsuma Domain had been conducting such activities in Paris from a fairly early stage, prior to the Tokugawa shogunate. The domain's plenipotentiary ambassador, Iwashita Katahei , was encouraged by Count Charles de Montblanc to have the Order of the Ryukyus made in France and presented it to Napoleon III and other high-ranking French officials .

In response to this move by the Satsuma Domain, the shogunate quickly made plans to mint and issue the Order of the Aoi as its own medal, but before this could be realized, the shogunate collapsed with the Great Proclamation of the Restoration of Imperial Rule and the Meiji Restoration, and the Order of the Aoi remained an illusion. For this reason, in the history of Japanese medals, the Satsuma Order is considered to be the first .

Existing items

It is unknown how many Satsuma-Ryukyu Orders were produced. To date, only three have been confirmed in Japan, held at the Shoko Shuseikan Museum in Kagoshima , which is associated with the Shimazu clan , the Satsuma Denshokan Museum in Ibusuki , and a descendant of Masanobu Ichiki (who lives in Kanagawa Prefecture) .

Design and Classification

The medal section of the Satsuma-Ryukyu Order features the Shimazu family crest, a combination of a circle and a number in the center of a red five-pointed star , on a white background. The contrast between the red and white is vivid, and between the five points the five characters "Satsuma-Ryukyu Province" shine in gold. On the back, the words "Conferred as Civil and Military Official" are written in two vertical lines. The size of the medal, including the ribbon hanging from it, is small, about 10 centimeters in height and 4 centimeters in width.

According to Hasegawa Noboru, a professor at Tokai Gakuen Women's Junior College , it is modeled after the French Légion d'honneur . [ 3 ] First of all, the shape and size are similar. The Satsuma Denshokan version has a diameter of 4 centimeters, the same as the Chevalier, the 5th grade of the Légion d'honneur. On the other hand, the Shoko Shuseikan version has a diameter of 5.2 centimeters, closer to the 5.3 centimeters of the Commander, the 3rd grade of the Légion d'honneur. They are also similar in that they are awarded to both civil and military officials. Hasegawa further considers the Shoko Shuseikan version to be a medium ribbon and the Satsuma Denshokan version to be a small ribbon, based on subtle differences in size, ribbon, and ring shape, and while he points out that the grade may have been the same as the Légion d'honneur, it may have been a 2nd or 3rd grade based on past French medals.