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''Kaisen'' were a type of [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan]] ship used to carry official missions to [[Kagoshima]]. They were typically ships that had previously been used to sail to China, as either ''shinkôsen'' ("[[tribute]] ships" carrying official [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China]]) or ''sekkôsen'' (ships which went to bring Ryukyuan officials back from China, often transporting trade goods as well); after three or so such journeys to China, a ship would often be stripped of its weaponry, and thus transformed into a ''kaisen'', to be used for journeys to Kagoshima.<ref>"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-40868.html Kaisen]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.</ref>

''Kaisen'' were a type of [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan]] ship used to carry official missions to [[Kagoshima]]. They were typically ships that had previously been used to sail to China, as either ''shinkôsen'' ("[[tribute]] ships" carrying official [[Ryukyuan tribute missions to China]]) or ''sekkôsen'' (ships which went to bring Ryukyuan officials back from China, often transporting trade goods as well); after three or so such journeys to China, a ship would often be stripped of its weaponry, and thus transformed into a ''kaisen'', to be used for journeys to Kagoshima.<ref>"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-40868.html Kaisen]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.</ref>

Such ships were typically around thirty meters long and eight meters wide, with a main mast roughly thirty meters in height. They were of a nearly identical design to Chinese junks plying the same waters.

 

''Kaisen'' were typically around thirty meters long and eight meters wide, with a main mast roughly thirty meters in height. They were of a nearly identical design to Chinese junks plying the same waters.

 

The sails, like those of ''[[sabani]]'' (Okinawan fishing canoes), were made in a manner closely related to that used in China. Thin slats of bamboo were interwoven to form a six-sided lattice, a pattern or method known in Japanese as ''mutsume ami'' (六つ目編み). Branches, leaves, or grasses were then interwoven into the lattice to form a relatively solid sheet which could catch the wind.<ref>''Kaiyô Kokka Satsuma: Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen fukugen'' 海洋国家薩摩－失われた琉球船復元, Kagoshima: Shôkoshûseikan (2005), 42.</ref> As in traditional Chinese "junks," the sails were held up not just by one or two static standing crossbars (as in European sailing ships), but rather by a series of numerous bamboo cross-bars which were raised and lowered as part of the sail.

While ''shinkôsen'' carried official missions to China roughly once every other year, ''sekkôsen'' traveled to [[Fuzhou]] in the alternating years, ostensibly to bring the previous year's mission back home; however, both ''shinkôsen'' and ''sekkôsen'' also carried considerable amounts of tribute/trade goods, playing a vital role in the flow of [[silver]], herbal medicines, a variety of luxury goods, and other products, between China, Ryûkyû, and Japan.

A number of streamers were flown from the top of the mast and from the rear of the ship. They are said to have been intended to resemble or invoke the shape of ''[[koi]]'', ''[[dojo (fish)|dojô]]'', or other fish.<ref>''Kaiyô Kokka Satsuma: Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen fukugen'', 45.</ref>

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