Changes

The system was begun by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], but was further systematized under [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who appointed a [[Nagasaki bugyo|bugyô (magistrate) to Nagasaki]], and planned a system of governing foreign trade. He sought to guarantee (maintain) revenue from foreign trade while enforcing the ban on Christianity, and granted red seal licenses to daimyô and merchants who sought to engage in overseas trade.

The system was begun by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], but was further systematized under [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who appointed a [[Nagasaki bugyo|bugyô (magistrate) to Nagasaki]], and planned a system of governing foreign trade. He sought to guarantee (maintain) revenue from foreign trade while enforcing the ban on Christianity, and granted red seal licenses to daimyô and merchants who sought to engage in overseas trade.

In the time of the third [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shogun]], [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], the system was strengthened, adding the requirement of obtaining a ''[[hosho|hôsho]]'', a second license or permission, from the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' (the chief shogunate elders), and addressed to the Nagasaki ''bugyô'', granting the merchant permission to depart. Among the merchants who were granted red seal licenses and permission to engage in overseas trade, there were those who came to be known as the Great Red Seal Ship Families, who the shogunate remembered and appreciated. In [[Kyoto]], these families included the [[Sueyoshi family|Sueyoshi]] and [[Fushimi family|Fushimi families]], the house of [[Chaya Shirojiro|Chaya Shirôjirô]], and the house of [[Suminokura Ryoi|Suminokura Ryôi]]. Merchants frequently made offerings of ''[[ema]]'' (votive tablets) at [[Kiyomizu-dera]] before departing for Southeast Asia, in order to pray for a safe journey. Unlike the ''ema'' sold today at [[Shinto shrines]], which are about the size of a postcard (though a good half-inch thick), these ''ema'' could be as large as several meters on a side.

In the time of the third [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shogun]], [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], the system was strengthened, adding the requirement of obtaining a ''[[hosho|hôsho]]'', a second license or permission, from the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' (the chief shogunate elders), and addressed to the Nagasaki ''bugyô'', granting the merchant permission to depart. This came after the realization by the shogunate that many of the ''shuinjô'' licenses given to foreign merchants were being used by ''daimyô'' or other high-ranking shogunate officials to engage in illegal trade; thus, the system had to be strengthened.<ref name=jansen>[[Marius Jansen]], ''China in the Tokugawa World'', Harvard University Press (1992), 18-19.</ref>

The ''shuinsen'' (red seal ships) system ended, however, with the implementation of [[kaikin|maritime restrictions]] in the 1630s-[[1640]].

 

The ''shuinsen'' (red seal ships) system ended, however, with the implementation of [[kaikin|maritime restrictions]] in the 1630s-[[1640]]. By that time, roughly 350 licenses had been issued, including 43 to Chinese merchants and 38 to Europeans.<ref name=jansen/>

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==References==

==References==

*Gallery labels at Museum of Kyoto.

*Gallery labels at Museum of Kyoto.

==External Links==

==External Links==