Drafted on January 19, 1899
Along with a request to the president of Osaka Shosen Kabushiki Kaisha inc., I would like to ask you a ship course plan of Tatsushiro KOGA as follows:
Dear Mr. NAKAHASHI,
I hope this letter finds you well. Kuba Island and Uotsuri Island located within Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa have remained uninhabited and unexplored; however, since a civilian named Tatsuhiro KOGA living at 23 Aza-Nishi, Naha-ku, Okinawa submitted a land lease and development request, I granted him permission in August 1896. He has managed to hire a steamer once or twice, and planned to visit the islands with a dozen fishermen and farmers. Both islands (Kuba and Uotsuri) are fertile, and I believe developing the land would serve the best interests of Japan. However, the islands are isolated and transportation to them is extremely inconvenient, so he cannot execute the project as he would expect. Hiring a steamer for every visit is too expensive and is unsustainable. He reached the conclusion that the only and best solution is to request a favour from your company (Osaka Shosen Kabushiki Kaisha), and thus he asked me to contact you. Tatsushiro wishes to personally ask you as well, so please ask him for any details which may help him achieve his goals.
Sincerely,
Shigeru NARAHARA
January 19, 1899
Content
On the matter of requesting for making a port call at Kuba Island from Tatsushiro KOGA: Letter dated January 19, 1899, from Shigeru NARAHARA, the Okinawa Prefectural Governor, to Tokugoro NAKAHASHI, the President of Osaka Shosen Kabushiki Kaisha (Osaka mercantile steamship inc.)
Related archives | s1899010000101 |
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Document title | On the matter of requesting for making a port call at Kuba Island from Tatsushiro KOGA: Letter dated January 19, 1899, from Shigeru NARAHARA, the Okinawa Prefectural Governor, to Tokugoro NAKAHASHI, the President of Osaka Shosen Kabushiki Kaisha (Osaka mercantile steamship inc.) |
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Date created (Western calendar) | [January 19, 1899] |
Date created (Japanese era) | [January 19, Meiji 32] |
Author(s) / Editor(s) | [Shigeru NARAHARA (Governor of Okinawa Prefecture) / handwritten copy by Tasuku YOKOUCHI] |
Publisher | |
Name of publication | Document [6827] |
Content | This is a letter sent from the Okinawa Prefectural Governor, Shigeru NARAHARA, to the President of the Osaka Shosen Kabushiki Kaisha. In August 1896, the Okinawa Prefecture gave permission to Tatsushiro KOGA to develop the Senkaku Islands, but the development faced an impasse due to the inconvenience of travel to the Senkaku Islands. To solve this problem, Tatsushiro asked the Okinawa Prefectural Governor to contact the President of the Osaka Shosen Kabushiki Kaisha, which operated the ships between the mainland of Japan and Taiwan at that time, to make a port call at the Senkaku Islands (Kuba Island and Uotsuri Island) (see S1899010000101), and the governor’s request was realized. |