The Sakishima Islands (the Miyako-jima and Yaeyama Island groups) began to be ruled by the government of the Ryukyu Kingdom after the revolt of Oyake Akahachi in 1500. Rule over the islands in those days was still indirect. With de facto rule over the Ryukyu Kingdom by the Satsuma Domain after 1609, the government of the Ryukyu Kingdom had to further strengthen its hold over the Sakishima islands. To accomplish this a Ryukyu Kingdom government branch office called the Kuramoto was established and public officials called Zeban were dispatched from the capital of Shuri. The land surveying by Satsuma included the mainland of Okinawa and extended to the Sakishima Islands. The results became the basis for the amount of tribute handed over to Satsuma. The government of the Ryukyu Kingdom established a per capita tax system on the Sakishima Islands. This method imposes a per head tax without considering the area of field cultivation. Once population increased and cultivated area was enlarged, productivity seemed to rise as well with this system. However, disasters such as the Meiwa Tsunami in the late of 18th century occurred and productivity decreased with the deaths in the population. Even in these situations, the government continued to impose taxes strictly, and the agricultural villages of Sakishima Island became even further impoverished.