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Tsushima is an island in the Korea Straits (aka the Tsushima Straits), roughly 33 miles from [[Busan]], Korea, and 56 miles from [[Kyushu]]. The island has been, at least peripherally, incorporated into the Japanese state since ancient times, as [[Tsushima province]], and was one of the "eight islands" referred to when the Japanese archipelago was referred to as ''[[Alternate historical names for Japan|Yashima]]'' or ''Ôyashima''. The island, known as Daemado in [[Korean language|Korean]], was also claimed, however, by [[Joseon Dynasty]] Korea (1392-1897) and at times by modern Korean governments to have been Korean territory since ancient times.<ref>Jordan Walker, "Archipelagic Ambiguities: The Demarcation of Modern Japan, 1868-1879," ''Island Studies Journal'' 10:2 (2015), 202. Joseon considered Tsushima part of [[Gyeongsang province]]. Jeong-mi Lee, “Chosŏn Korea as Sojunghwa, the Small Central Civilization,” ''International Christian University Publications 3-A, Asian Cultural Studies'' 国際基督教大学学報 3-A,アジア文化研究 36 (2010) 308.</ref> Kenneth Robinson suggests that the Joseon court recognized that the extents of its territory and of its jurisdiction were not identical - that there were places like Tsushima that were Joseon territory but not within the court's jurisdiction - and rarely if ever challenged the authority of the [[Muromachi shogunate]] or the [[So clan|Sô samurai clan]] over the island.<ref>Kenneth Robinson, “An Island’s Place in History: Tsushima in Japan and in Choson, 1392–1592,” ''Korean Studies'' 30 (2006), pp40, 42-43.</ref>

Tsushima is an island in the Korea Straits (aka the Tsushima Straits), roughly 33 miles from [[Busan]], Korea, and 56 miles from [[Kyushu]]. The island has been, at least peripherally, incorporated into the Japanese state since ancient times, as [[Tsushima province]], and was one of the "eight islands" referred to when the Japanese archipelago was referred to as ''[[Alternate historical names for Japan|Yashima]]'' or ''Ôyashima''. The island, known as Daemado in [[Korean language|Korean]], was also claimed, however, by [[Joseon Dynasty]] Korea (1392-1897) and at times by modern Korean governments to have been Korean territory since ancient times.<ref>Jordan Walker, "Archipelagic Ambiguities: The Demarcation of Modern Japan, 1868-1879," ''Island Studies Journal'' 10:2 (2015), 202. Joseon considered Tsushima part of [[Gyeongsang province]]. Jeong-mi Lee, “Chosŏn Korea as Sojunghwa, the Small Central Civilization,” ''International Christian University Publications 3-A, Asian Cultural Studies'' 国際基督教大学学報 3-A,アジア文化研究 36 (2010) 308.</ref> Kenneth Robinson suggests that the Joseon court recognized that the extents of its territory and of its jurisdiction were not identical - that there were places like Tsushima that were Joseon territory but not within the court's jurisdiction - and rarely if ever challenged the authority of the [[Muromachi shogunate]] or the [[So clan|Sô samurai clan]] over the island.<ref>Kenneth Robinson, “An Island’s Place in History: Tsushima in Japan and in Choson, 1392–1592,” ''Korean Studies'' 30 (2006), pp40, 42-43.</ref>

Historically, the island was generally administered as part of Kyushu (e.g. coming under the purview of the ''[[Chinzei bugyo|Chinzei bugyô]]'' in premodern times). It is today part of [[Nagasaki prefecture]].

Records in both Chinese and Japanese as old as the ''[[Wei zhi]]'' (c. 300 CE) and ''[[Manyoshu|Man'yôshû]]'' (c. 760s CE) suggest a perception of the island as Japanese.<ref>Robinson, 43.</ref> The construction of [[Kaneta fortress|Kaneta]] [[Korean-style fortresses|fortress]] on the island in [[667]], built explicitly against the potential threat of [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]]-[[Silla]] invasion, indicates that Japanese ([[Yamato state]]) agents extended control to the island at least that early.

The construction of [[Kaneta fortress|Kaneta]] [[Korean-style fortresses|fortress]] on the island in [[667]], built explicitly against the potential threat of [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]]-[[Silla]] invasion, indicates that Japanese ([[Yamato state]]) agents extended control to the island at least that early.

For much of the premodern period, the island was generally administered as part of Kyushu (e.g. coming under the purview of the ''[[Chinzei bugyo|Chinzei bugyô]]'' in the [[Kamakura period]]). It is today part of [[Nagasaki prefecture]].

Due to its prime position along maritime routes, and its peripheral location in both Korean and Japanese states, Tsushima was both a major intermediary point for regional trade, and was on numerous occasions the victim of foreign attacks, including in the 7th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries. Both [[Mongol invasions]] (in 1274 & 1281) visited violence upon the island before moving on to Kyushu. In the 13th-16th centuries, the island was also a major center of [[wako|pirate]] activity. Joseon sent a naval fleet to attack pirate bases on Tsushima in [[1419]], in what is known as the [[Oei Invasion|Ôei Invasion]]; in [[1443]], the Sô and the Joseon court then reached an agreement by which the Sô would act to curb pirate activity, and to ensure that all merchants traveling to Korea were properly licensed (i.e. were not pirates, brigands, or smugglers), in exchange for stipends and trading rights from the Joseon court.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 31.</ref> In [[1861]], the island became the site of diplomatic incident once again, as the Russian ship ''[[Posadnik]]'' dropped anchor and demanded to build a Russian base on the island, remaining for quite a few months and refusing requests by Sô, Tokugawa, and even British authorities to leave, until ultimately word came from the Russian consul in Japan, and from Russian naval command, and the ship finally departed.<ref>Hellyer, 209-213.</ref>

Due to its prime position along maritime routes, and its peripheral location in both Korean and Japanese states, Tsushima was both a major intermediary point for regional trade, and was on numerous occasions the victim of foreign attacks, including in the 7th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries. Both [[Mongol invasions]] (in 1274 & 1281) visited violence upon the island before moving on to Kyushu. In the 13th-16th centuries, the island was also a major center of [[wako|pirate]] activity. Joseon sent a naval fleet to attack pirate bases on Tsushima in [[1419]], in what is known as the [[Oei Invasion|Ôei Invasion]]; in [[1443]], the Sô and the Joseon court then reached an agreement by which the Sô would act to curb pirate activity, and to ensure that all merchants traveling to Korea were properly licensed (i.e. were not pirates, brigands, or smugglers), in exchange for stipends and trading rights from the Joseon court.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 31.</ref> In [[1861]], the island became the site of diplomatic incident once again, as the Russian ship ''[[Posadnik]]'' dropped anchor and demanded to build a Russian base on the island, remaining for quite a few months and refusing requests by Sô, Tokugawa, and even British authorities to leave, until ultimately word came from the Russian consul in Japan, and from Russian naval command, and the ship finally departed.<ref>Hellyer, 209-213.</ref>