Ōkubo Toshimichi
Tokyo statesman Ōkubo Toshimichi suggested in 1875 that if Shō Tai were to be made hereditary governor of Okinawa, it would help quiet anti-Japanese elements in Okinawa and would help the prefecture better assimilate into the nation. A major Okinawan movement called the "Kōdō-kai" proposed the same some years later, but the idea was ultimately rejected by Tokyo as it could represent a failure of the current administration and could reignite issues over sovereignty of the islands.