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.