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Iteian was a Buddhist temple in Fuchû [[castle-town]] (today, Izuhara Town) on the island of [[Tsushima]]. Established in [[1580]], the temple played a prominent role through the [[Edo period|early modern period]] in providing [[Tsushima han]] with monk experts in reading and producing [[Classical Chinese]] documents for official communications with the Korean kingdom of [[Joseon]]. Iteian monks also regularly accompanied [[Korean embassies to Edo]] and played central roles in preparing for and effecting formal audiences (meetings), banquets, receptions, and other in-person interactions with Korean envoys.

Iteian was a Buddhist temple in Fuchû [[castle-town]] (today, Izuhara Town) on the island of [[Tsushima]]. Established in [[1580]], the temple played a prominent role through the [[Edo period|early modern period]] in providing [[Tsushima han]] with monk experts in reading and producing [[Classical Chinese]] documents for official communications with the Korean kingdom of [[Joseon]]. Iteian monks also regularly accompanied [[Korean embassies to Edo]] and played central roles in preparing for and effecting formal audiences (meetings), banquets, receptions, and other in-person interactions with Korean envoys.

In [[1635]], [[So Yoshinari|Sô Yoshinari]], lord of Tsushima domain, asked the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] to arrange for expert monks to be sent to Tsushima to aid in foreign relations. Monks known as ''sekigakusô'' 碩学僧, who possessed special credentials from the shogunate, were then regularly dispatched from the [[Kyoto Five Mountains]] (''Gozan'') temples to serve in Tsushima for one-year stints.

Following the [[Yanagawa Affair]] in which top Tsushima officials were found to have been forging official diplomatic documents, Tsushima was permitted to retain its prominent role in facilitating relations with Korea. However, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] determined that a system would be established in which monks known as ''sekigakusô'' 碩学僧, expert in diplomatic communications and Classical Chinese, would be granted special credentials from the shogunate and regularly dispatched from the [[Kyoto Five Mountains]] (''Gozan'') temples to serve in Tsushima for one-year stints.<ref>Gallery labels, "Han sonzoku no kiki!? Yanagawa jiken," Tsushima Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/52093351164/sizes/h/]</ref>

The temple was later relocated in [[1732]] to a different site within the same castle-town, where it remained until its dissolution in [[1866]]. The [[Zen]] temple Seizan-ji now stands on that site.

The temple was later relocated in [[1732]] to a different site within the same castle-town, where it remained until its dissolution in [[1866]]. The [[Zen]] temple Seizan-ji now stands on that site.