According to Matayoshi, although the ship from Miyako Island had run aground in 1871, Japan did not dispatch troops to Taiwan until three years later. The people of Ryukyu had practically forgotten the incident by that time. Indeed, from the very start Ryukyu had done everything possible to play down the entire affair, and had even opposed the sending of troops to Taiwan.
又吉盛清指出，琉球人飄流到台灣為一八七一年底（明治四年），但日本人真正出兵台灣為一八七四年，事隔二年多，當時一般的琉球人，幾乎都已忘記整個事件，而且，「琉球人一開始就一直提防這件事情鬧大，力求息事寧人，甚至反對出兵台灣。」