Expansion abroad and the legacy of the Restoration

In 1874 Japan launched a punitive expedition against Taiwan, then under nominal Qing sovereignty, following the killing of Ryukyuan sailors by Taiwanese aborigines — modern Japan's first overseas military deployment. China agreed to pay an indemnity, implicitly recognizing Japanese claims over the Ryukyu Islands, and in 1879 Japan formally annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom, converting it into Okinawa Prefecture. The Ganghwa Island Incident of 1875 involved a naval clash between Japan and Korea, and the resulting Treaty of Ganghwa (1876) forced Korea to open to Japanese trade, replicating the unequal-treaty model Japan itself had suffered. Rivalry with China over influence in Korea grew through the 1880s, marked by the Imo Incident (1882) and the Gapsin Incident (1884).