Tomikawa Seikei

{{family name hatnote|Tomikawa|lang=Okinawan}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Tomikawa Seikei

|native_name = 富川 盛奎

|native_name_lang = ja

|image = Tomikawa Seikei.jpg

|caption =

|office = sanshikan of Ryukyu

|order =

|term_start = 1875

|term_end = 1879

|predecessor = Giwan Chōho

|successor = title abolished

|monarch =

|birth_name =

|birth_date = 28 November 1832

|birth_place = Ryukyu Kingdom

|death_date = July 1890

|death_place = Fuzhou, Qing China

|resting_place =

|blank1 = Childhood name

|data1 =

|blank2 = Chinese name

|data2 = Mō Hōrai (毛 鳳来)

|blank3 = Rank

|data3 = Ueekata

|spouse =

|children =

|parents =

|allegiance =

}}

{{nihongo|Tomikawa Ueekata Seikei|富川 親方 盛奎|extra=28 November 1832 – July 1890}}, also known by his Chinese style name {{nihongo|Mō Hōrai|毛 鳳来}}, was a politician and bureaucrat of the Ryukyu Kingdom."[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-42320.html Tomikawa Seikei]." Okinawa konpakuto jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia").

Seikei was born to an aristocrat family called Mō-uji Tomikawa Dunchi ({{lang|ja|毛氏富川殿内}}). In 1875, Sanshikan Giwan Chōho came under attack because of his pro-Japanese foreign policy and was forced to resign from public office. Seikei was selected as his successor. Unlike many Ryukyuan politicians, Seikei was neither pro-Japanese nor pro-Chinese.[http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/933701 廃藩当時の人物]

Ryukyu had to break off diplomatic relations with Qing China under the pressure of Imperial Japan in 1876. Seikei went to Tokyo in 1878; he and his colleague Yonabaru Ryōketsu contacted envoys of Western countries and tried to get them involved, but there was little response. Two members of Sanshikan were gone to Japan and it was hard to manage internal affairs with only one Sanshikan. King Shō Tai had to choose Ikegusuku Anyū ({{lang|ja|池城 安邑}}, also known as Mō Zōkō {{lang|ja|毛 増光}}), a former member of Sanshikan, to act on behalf of them in their absence.Kyūyō, appendix vol. 4

Ryukyu was annexed by Japan in 1879, and later Japan declared the creation of Okinawa Prefecture. Because of his high prestige among Ryukyuan bureaucrats, Tomikawa Seikei was appointed an adviser of Okinawa Prefecture together with his college Urasoe Chōshō. But both of them wanted to restore the Ryukyu Domain. Seikei fled to Fuzhou together with Ō Taigyō ({{lang|ja|王 大業}}, also known as Kokuba Pekumi {{lang|ja|国場 親雲上}}) in 1882. He went to Beijing, met Li Hongzhang several times, and submitted numerous petitions to Zongli Yamen asking for help on behalf of the kingdom. Though there was little response, he refused to give up. He became blind in his later years, and died in China.

See also

References

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{{s-bef|before=Giwan Chōho}}

{{s-ttl|title=Sanshikan of Ryukyu|years=1875 - 1879}}

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{{Sanshikan}}

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Category:19th-century Ryukyuan people

Category:Blind politicians

Category:Ueekata

Category:Sanshikan

Category:1832 births

Category:1890 deaths