Home> Archive> 2015> Volume 5 Number 2 (Feb. 2015)
IJSSH 2015 Vol.5(2): 157-161 ISSN: 2010-3646
DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2015.V5.445

An Attempt of Reconciliation over History: The Case of the 1871 Ryukyu Shipwreck Incident

Mizuno Norihito

Abstract—The aim of this article is to search for possible solutions for history-related friction between Japan and its neighbors. The so-called Ryukyu Shipwreck Incident, also known as the Mudan Incident in English, occurred in December 1871; when 54 shipwrecked Ryukyuans were massacred by Taiwanese aborigines. The incident gave Japan a pretext for its first overseas military action of the modern period toward the Taiwanese aboriginal territories in 1874. Since shortly after the beginning of the twenty-first century, the descendants of both the assaulters and the victims of the massacre have begun to take a step toward reconciliation. This article focuses on the local quest of Japan and Taiwan for reversing the damage caused by the history of recent years, and discusses the potential along with the limitations which this local attempt indicates, in terms of settling the discord over history between Japan and its neighbors.

Index Terms—1871 Ryukyu shipwreck incident, history dispute, Miyakojima, Taiwanese aborigines.

N. Mizuno is with the Akita International University, Akita-shi, Akita 010-1425 Japan (e-mail: nmizuno@ aiu.ac.jp).

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Cite: Mizuno Norihito, " An Attempt of Reconciliation over History: The Case of the 1871 Ryukyu Shipwreck Incident," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 157-161, 2015.

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