Changes

All but the last mission traveled to Edo, going via Tsushima, through the [[Inland Sea]] to [[Osaka]], and then overland from there; the 1811 mission only journeyed as far as Tsushima.

All but the last mission traveled to Edo, going via Tsushima, through the [[Inland Sea]] to [[Osaka]], and then overland from there; the 1811 mission only journeyed as far as Tsushima.

The journey from Tsushima to "mainland" Japan went via [[Ainoshima]], a small island in the [[Genkai Sea]], just north of the dual ports of [[Fukuoka]] & [[Hakata]]. More than a year in advance, [[Fukuoka han]] authorities funded and oversaw the construction of a new reception hall on the island. Villagers' homes, among other buildings, were used to house the other 350-500 Koreans, plus the lord of Tsushima and his men. The chief Buddhist temple on the island would be renovated, to serve as lodging for Fukuoka domain officials acting as hosts. Repairs were also made to harbors on the island, and at the port of Shingû; all of these efforts involved considerable corvée labor. In [[1748]], Fukuoka han deployed 443 small boats with 1,625 crew members plus another 1,174 corvée boatmen from across a number of coastal villages, to help provide transport for Fukuoka officials and supplies to Ainoshima, to mark shallows and help ensure a safe route for the Korean & Tsushima ships, and to provide enough fresh seafood to feed roughly 1,000 people (Koreans plus samurai).<ref>Arne Kalland, ''Fishing Villages in Tokugawa Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (1995), 219-220.</ref>

The missions sailed Korean ships from [[Pusan]] to Tsushima, and then passed through stops at [[Ikishima]] and along the coasts of [[Chikuzen province|Chikuzen]] and [[Buzen province]]s (in northern Kyushu), before passing through the straits at [[Shimonoseki]] (aka Akamagaseki).<ref name=carnival420>Toby, Ronald. "Carnival of the Aliens: Korean Embassies in Edo-Period Art and Popular Culture." ''[[Monumenta Nipponica]]'' 41:4 (1986). 420n14.</a>

After arriving in Fukuoka, the embassies made their way east around Kyushu, through the straits at Shimonoseki (also known as Akamagaseki), into the Inland Sea. The maritime journey through the Inland Sea was accomplished aboard a fleet of vessels, numbering as many as one hundred according to one 1821 painting; for at least a portion of this journey, the fleet was preceded by a ship flying the banners of the [[Murakami clan (Chugoku)|Murakami clan]], who in the [[Sengoku period]] had been the dominant power in these waters. The three lead Korean ambassadors each rode in separate thirty-meter-long vessels with red and gold banners, while smaller ships carried other members of the mission and their luggage.<ref>Martin Dusinberre, ''Hard Times in the Hometown: A History of Community Survival in Modern Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 23-24.</ref>

 

After arriving in Fukuoka, the embassies made their way east around Kyushu, through the straits at Shimonoseki, into the Inland Sea. The maritime journey through the Inland Sea was accomplished aboard a fleet of vessels, numbering as many as one hundred according to one 1821 painting; for at least a portion of this journey, the fleet was preceded by a ship flying the banners of the [[Murakami clan (Chugoku)|Murakami clan]], who in the [[Sengoku period]] had been the dominant power in these waters. The three lead Korean ambassadors each rode in separate thirty-meter-long vessels with red and gold banners, while smaller ships carried other members of the mission and their luggage.<ref>Martin Dusinberre, ''Hard Times in the Hometown: A History of Community Survival in Modern Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 23-24.</ref>

At the port of [[Kaminoseki]], near the easternmost reaches of [[Choshu han|Chôshû han]], which might serve as a representative case, most of the houses along the main street, as well as a number of houses along the main street of the neighboring port of Murotsu, were made to house Tsushima or Chôshû officials accompanying the Korean missions.<ref>In 1764, for example, 36 out of the 43 homes along the main street in Kaminoseki each housed at least one official, with some of them housing as many as four or five. Dusinberre, 24-25.</ref>

At the port of [[Kaminoseki]], near the easternmost reaches of [[Choshu han|Chôshû han]], which might serve as a representative case, most of the houses along the main street, as well as a number of houses along the main street of the neighboring port of Murotsu, were made to house Tsushima or Chôshû officials accompanying the Korean missions.<ref>In 1764, for example, 36 out of the 43 homes along the main street in Kaminoseki each housed at least one official, with some of them housing as many as four or five. Dusinberre, 24-25.</ref>

After traveling through the Inland Sea by ship to Osaka, the embassy rode luxurious private riverboats borrowed from various ''daimyô'' (lent by the ''daimyô'' for this purpose as part of their corvée obligations) up the river to Fushimi, and thence from Kyoto, set out overland. Between Kyoto and Nagoya they took a combination of various highways which, in aggregate, came to be known as the ''Chôsenjin kaidô'' (“Koreans’ Highway”). This took them through [[Hikone]], Ôgaki, and several other towns bypassed by the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]]. From [[Nagoya|Nagoya’s]] [[Miya-juku]] the rest of the way to Edo, they took the Tôkaidô]].<ref>Toby, Ronald. "Carnival of the Aliens: Korean Embassies in Edo-Period Art and Popular Culture." ''[[Monumenta Nipponica]]'' 41:4 (1986). 420n14.</ref>

After traveling through the Inland Sea by ship to Osaka, the embassy rode luxurious private riverboats of various ''daimyô'' (lent by the ''daimyô'' for this purpose in partial fulfillment of their corvée obligations) up the river to Fushimi, and thence from Kyoto, set out overland. Between Kyoto and Nagoya they took a combination of various highways which, in aggregate, came to be known as the ''Chôsenjin kaidô'' (“Koreans’ Highway”). This took them through [[Hikone]], Ôgaki, and several other towns bypassed by the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]]. From [[Nagoya|Nagoya’s]] [[Miya-juku]] the rest of the way to Edo, they took the Tôkaidô]].<ref name=carnival420/>

From 1607 until [[1682]], the Koreans were lodged at the temple of [[Honsei-ji]] in the Bakurochô neighborhood of Edo; the temple burned down in the [[Oshichi fire]] of 1682, and from then on Korean embassies stayed at the [[Higashi Honganji (Tokyo)|Higashi Honganji]] in [[Asakusa]].<ref>Toby, "Carnival of the Aliens," 428.</ref>

From 1607 until [[1682]], the Koreans were lodged at the temple of [[Honsei-ji]] in the Bakurochô neighborhood of Edo; the temple burned down in the [[Oshichi fire]] of 1682, and from then on Korean embassies stayed at the [[Higashi Honganji (Tokyo)|Higashi Honganji]] in [[Asakusa]].<ref>Toby, "Carnival of the Aliens," 428.</ref>