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==Design and Decoration==
==Design and Decoration==
''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.
''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.
When serving as ''shinkôsen'' or ''sekkôsen'' and journeying between Ryûkyû and China, these ships occasionally faced the threat of pirates, and so were well-armed. For example, in [[1796]], a ''sekkôsen'' was attacked by three pirate ships while on the return journey from China; the Ryukyuans returned fire, and were able to make it safely back to Ryûkyû.<ref>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Kei, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 217.</ref>
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>Yamagata, “Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen,” 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.
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>Yamagata, “Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen,” 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.