Changes

''[[Wako|Wakô]]'' pirate raids on the Korean and Chinese coasts were perhaps the most major concern in Japan's relations with both Joseon Korea and [[Ming Dynasty]] China in the 15th-16th centuries. The ''wakô'' (lit. "Japanese pirates") were in fact people from all over the region, mainly Chinese, under the direct control of no central or prominent Japanese authority. Despite demands from Joseon and Ming to the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] to put an end to the piracy, it was not within the shogun's power to command the pirates. In the 15th century, Joseon made several attempts to curb or cut off this pirate activity, eventually entering into an arrangement in [[1443]] with the [[So clan|Sô samurai clan]] of [[Tsushima]], who were granted a variety of privileges in exchange for taking a leading role in ensuring that all Japanese trading ships traveling to Korea were properly licensed and authorized, and in taking care of those which were not (i.e. the pirates).<ref>Hellyer, 31.</ref> In the [[Edo period]], the Sô came to be the only Japanese traveling or communicating between Korea and Japan, wielding considerable power as the only intermediaries between the Joseon court and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], overseeing and managing all trade and diplomatic interactions between the two lands.

''[[Wako|Wakô]]'' pirate raids on the Korean and Chinese coasts were perhaps the most major concern in Japan's relations with both Joseon Korea and [[Ming Dynasty]] China in the 15th-16th centuries. The ''wakô'' (lit. "Japanese pirates") were in fact people from all over the region, mainly Chinese, under the direct control of no central or prominent Japanese authority. Despite demands from Joseon and Ming to the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] to put an end to the piracy, it was not within the shogun's power to command the pirates. In the 15th century, Joseon made several attempts to curb or cut off this pirate activity, eventually entering into an arrangement in [[1443]] with the [[So clan|Sô samurai clan]] of [[Tsushima]], who were granted a variety of privileges in exchange for taking a leading role in ensuring that all Japanese trading ships traveling to Korea were properly licensed and authorized, and in taking care of those which were not (i.e. the pirates).<ref>Hellyer, 31.</ref> In the [[Edo period]], the Sô came to be the only Japanese traveling or communicating between Korea and Japan, wielding considerable power as the only intermediaries between the Joseon court and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], overseeing and managing all trade and diplomatic interactions between the two lands.

In the 1860s, seeking to protect and continue its traditional [[tribute|tributary]] relationship with [[Qing Dynasty]] China, Korea resisted entering into diplomatic relations in the Western mode with either Western powers, or with the Qing's own Western-style foreign affairs office, the [[Zongli Yamen]].<ref>Hellyer, 236.</ref> When informed in [[1869]] of the [[Meiji Restoration|fall of the Tokugawa shogunate]] and the establishment of a new [[Meiji government|Imperial Japanese government]], the Korean Court chastised the Sô family for its breach of the traditional vassal/tributary relationship, and Japanese-Korean relations soured for several years; after [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]] and the Sô clan were removed from their traditionally special permission, and the Meiji government more fully took over control of foreign relations, Japanese-Korean relations in the Western/modern mode were finally established in [[1876]]. The [[Treaty of Ganghwa]] signed that year has been regarded as one of the [[Unequal Treaties]], granting Japan many of the same privileges in Korea that Western powers now enjoyed in Japan.<ref>Hellyer, 240-245.</ref>

In the 1860s, seeking to protect and continue its traditional [[tribute|tributary]] relationship with [[Qing Dynasty]] China, Korea resisted entering into diplomatic relations in the Western mode with either Western powers, or with the Qing's own Western-style foreign affairs office, the [[Zongli Yamen]].<ref>Hellyer, 236.</ref> When informed in [[1869]] of the [[Meiji Restoration|fall of the Tokugawa shogunate]] and the establishment of a new [[Meiji government|Imperial Japanese government]], the Korean Court chastised the Sô family for its breach of the traditional vassal/tributary relationship, and Japanese-Korean relations soured for several years; after [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]] and the Sô clan were removed from their traditionally special permission, and the Meiji government more fully took over control of foreign relations, Japanese-Korean relations in the Western/modern mode were finally established in [[1876]]. The [[Treaty of Ganghwa]] signed that year has been regarded as one of the [[Unequal Treaties]], granting Japan many of the same privileges in Korea that Western powers now enjoyed in Japan.<ref>Hellyer, 240-245.</ref>