Japan-Ming Trade
Trade between Japan and China under the Ming dynasty during the Muromachi period
“Japan-Ming Trade” refers to the trade carried out between the Shogunate and the Ming court in China during the Muromachi period (1392–1507). In a wider context, the term also encompasses smuggling by Japanese pirates who raided the Korean and Chinese coasts between the 13th and 16th centuries. Since the Ming dynasty prohibited trade for personal gain, the Muromachi shogun, as the king of Japan, sent fleets of ships on tribute missions. Tallies issued by the Ming emperors were used as permits allowing the Japanese ships access. This trade was run primarily by influential daimyo governors in Kyushu and Shikoku and large temples and shrines in the capital, as well as city merchants. In 1401 Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, the third Ashikaga shogun, sent envoys to establish diplomatic relations with the Ming dynasty and was given the title “King of Japan” by the Jianwen emperor as part of the Chinese tributary system. Trade began as a form of tribute to the Ming emperor, with fleets of ships sent 19 times over the next 150 years. Goods exported from Japan included sulfur, copper, swords, fans, and lacquerware, while imports from China included copper coins, raw silk, silk fabric, calligraphy, paintings, books, pottery, medicine, and sugar.
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Institutions Holding Related Materials
The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.
Kyushu National Museum explores how Japan’s history of cultural exchange with the rest of Asia has impacted the formation of its culture. To that end, we engage in the collection, preservation, exhibition, and research of cultural properties, in addition to providing educational outreach to the local community.
Over the course of its 160-year-plus history, Keio University has accumulated a vast collection of cultural artifacts from a diverse range of academic spheres. These collections are held and used not only in Keio’s libraries and research institutes but also at its undergraduate faculties, affiliated schools, and various other locations on campus, and a rich array of databases for the collections have been compiled reflecting the expertise of these respective institutions. Now, Keio Museum Commons (KeMCo) has developed the Keio Object Hub portal site, which provides a comprehensive overview of art and culture at Keio University.
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博多からの出土品の発掘調査に基づいた日明貿易について記述。