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The Sô clan, based on [[Tsushima]] since the [[Kamakura period]], were the traditional intermediaries in Japan-Korea relations.
The Sô clan, based on [[Tsushima]] since the [[Kamakura period]], were the traditional intermediaries in Japan-Korea relations.
After playing a role in [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]'s [[Korean Invasions]] in the 1590s, [[So Yoshitoshi|Sô Yoshitoshi]], reaffirmed as Lord of [[Tsushima han]] by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], worked to restore relations with Korea, and eventually succeeded. Twelve official [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean embassies]] visited Japan between [[1607]] and [[1811]]. Though only holding an official ''[[kokudaka]]'' of 100,000, the importance of the Sô clan / Tsushima han in maintaining relations with Korea was of great significance for [[Edo period]] Japan.
Their relationship with the royal court of [[Joseon Dynasty]] Korea dates back to [[1443]]. Joseon had already entered into various arrangements with other samurai clans, including the [[Ouchi clan|Ôuchi]], offering opportunities for engaging in officially authorized trade in exchange for the samurai taking action against the ''[[wako|wakô]]'' pirates harassing Korean shores. In 1443, Joseon entered into one such arrangement with the Sô, offering them authorization to send fifty trading ships to Korea each year and to levy certain maritime fees and cargo taxes, as well as an annual stipend of 200 ''[[koku]]'' of rice. In exchange, the Sô were to take a lead role in ensuring that all Japanese trading ships traveling to Korea were properly authorized, and in dealing with those which were not (namely, the ''wakô'').<ref name=hellyer31>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 31.</ref>
Proving themselves effective in policing the waters around their domain, and in otherwise managing Korean-Japanese interactions, the Sô quickly found they had made themselves indispensable enough that both Korean and Japanese (shogunate) authorities had difficulty removing them from this unique and privileged position. An incident in [[1510]], in which Sô clan ships aided Japanese fishermen and traders in attacking Korean ships as part of protests for concessions from Korean officials, was to be only the first of many in which Sô actions frustrated or directly opposed either Korean or Japanese authorities, but which ended in the Sô retaining their monopoly on Korean-Japanese relations.<ref name=hellyer31/>
After playing a role in [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]'s [[Korean Invasions]] in the 1590s, [[So Yoshitoshi|Sô Yoshitoshi]], reaffirmed as Lord of [[Tsushima han]] by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], worked to restore relations with Korea, and eventually succeeded. The Sô would retain their unique position throughout the Edo period, entrusted by the shogunate with being the sole Japanese authorities engaging in trade and diplomatic relations with Korea. Tsushima officials regularly traveled to [[Pusan]], some of the only Japanese to travel between Japan and the outside world in this period, and between [[1607]] and [[1811]], twelve official [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean embassies]] visited Japan, most traveling to [[Edo]] for an audience with the shogun. Though only holding an official ''[[kokudaka]]'' of 100,000 ''koku'', the importance of the Sô clan / Tsushima han in maintaining relations with Korea was of great significance for [[Edo period]] Japan.
In the [[Bakumatsu period]], the Sô stood in support of the shogunate, and against the ''[[sonno|sonnô]]'' ("Revere the Emperor") movement.
In the [[Bakumatsu period]], the Sô stood in support of the shogunate, and against the ''[[sonno|sonnô]]'' ("Revere the Emperor") movement.