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The Sô clan, based on [[Tsushima]] since the [[Kamakura period]], were the traditional intermediaries in Japan-Korea relations. A ''tozama'' clan under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] with an official ''[[kokudaka]]'' of 100,000 ''[[koku]]'', they were also vassals of the Korean king, to whom they sent regular [[tribute]] missions, receiving 8,300 ''koku'' each year from the mid-17th century onwards, along with various Korean and Chinese goods, in exchange for tribute or gifts of Japanese and imported Southeast Asian goods.

The Sô clan, based on [[Tsushima]] since the [[Kamakura period]], were the traditional intermediaries in Japan-Korea relations. A ''tozama'' clan under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] with an official ''[[kokudaka]]'' of 100,000 ''[[koku]]'', they were also vassals of the Korean king, to whom they sent regular [[tribute]] missions, receiving 8,300 ''koku'' each year from the mid-17th century onwards, along with various Korean and Chinese goods, in exchange for tribute or gifts of Japanese and imported Southeast Asian goods.

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>  

 

Their relationship with the royal court of [[Joseon Dynasty]] Korea dates back to at least [[1419]]. In what is known as the [[Oei Invasion|Ôei Invasion]], Joseon attacked Tsushima, both claiming the island to have been Korean territory since ancient times and in an effort to curb [[wako|piracy]]. Following the Sô surrender, the Joseon court came to increasingly regard Tsushima as part of Korea's Gyeongsang province, and the Sô as officials under the court's authority, albeit while leaving extensive autonomy to the Sô in their governance and administration of the island.

 

The Sô clan's status as being in some way officials within or vassals to the Joseon court was solidified further in [[1443]]. Even while retaining their status as samurai governors (''shugo'') of Tsushima in service to the [[Muromachi shogunate]], the Sô simultaneously were granted by the Joseon court exclusive control over issuing permits for Japanese trading or traveling within Korean waters or territory. Any Japanese vessel traveling to Tsushima, or to Korea, required permits from the Sô, stamped with a seal provided to the Sô by the Joseon court for this purpose. From this time forward, it became difficult for any other samurai clan, or other Japanese actors, to skirt or supersede the Sô in political or economic relations with Korea.<ref>Kenneth Robinson, “An Island’s Place in History: Tsushima in Japan and in Choson, 1392–1592,” ''Korean Studies'' 30 (2006), pp44-45.</ref> The court also granted the Sô an annual stipend of 200 ''[[koku]]'' of rice, and permission to send fifty trading ships to Korea each year, and to levy certain maritime fees and cargo taxes.<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. [[Samp'o Incident|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/> The number of ships to be sent to Korea every year was reduced as a result, however, from fifty to twenty-five, and Tsushima officials and representatives, previously free to some extent in their movement around Pusan or beyond, were now restricted to the ''[[Wakan|Waegwan]]'', or "Japan House," in Pusan. Another serious incident, known as the [[Yanagawa Affair]], took place in [[1634]]-[[1635]], when the shogunate discovered that the [[Yanagawa clan]], the top retainers to the Sô, had forged diplomatic documents several decades earlier; though it was clear that the Sô were complicit in drafting these documents which purported to speak on behalf of the shogunate without any shogunate approval, only the Yanagawa were punished, because of the importance of the Sô for maintaining trade and diplomatic relations with Korea. Monks were Kyoto were appointed, however, from then on to reside in Tsushima in a rotation, overseeing diplomatic correspondence.<ref>Hellyer, 44.</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. [[Samp'o Incident|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/> The number of ships to be sent to Korea every year was reduced as a result, however, from fifty to twenty-five, and Tsushima officials and representatives, previously free to some extent in their movement around Pusan or beyond, were now restricted to the ''[[Wakan|Waegwan]]'', or "Japan House," in Pusan. Another serious incident, known as the [[Yanagawa Affair]], took place in [[1634]]-[[1635]], when the shogunate discovered that the [[Yanagawa clan]], the top retainers to the Sô, had forged diplomatic documents several decades earlier; though it was clear that the Sô were complicit in drafting these documents which purported to speak on behalf of the shogunate without any shogunate approval, only the Yanagawa were punished, because of the importance of the Sô for maintaining trade and diplomatic relations with Korea. Monks were Kyoto were appointed, however, from then on to reside in Tsushima in a rotation, overseeing diplomatic correspondence.<ref>Hellyer, 44.</ref>

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. In [[1607]], the Joseon Court entered into relations with the shogunate, with the Sô clan as intermediaries. The Sô would retain their unique position throughout the Edo period, entrusted by the shogunate and by the Korean court 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. The Sô clan was also given a special status in the ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' system, traveling to Edo only once every three years, instead of every other year.<ref>Ina Toshisada 伊奈利定, "Tôkaidô Futagawa juku honjin ni okeru daimyô-ke no riyô" 東海道二川宿本陣における大名家の利用, ''Honjin ni tomatta daimyô tachi'' 本陣に泊まった大名たち, Toyohashi, Aichi: Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan (1996), 55.</ref>

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. In [[1607]], the Joseon Court entered into relations with the shogunate, with the Sô clan as intermediaries. The Sô would retain their unique position throughout the Edo period, entrusted by the shogunate and by the Korean court 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. The Sô clan was also given a special status in the ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' system, traveling to Edo only once every three years, instead of every other year.<ref>Ina Toshisada 伊奈利定, "Tôkaidô Futagawa juku honjin ni okeru daimyô-ke no riyô" 東海道二川宿本陣における大名家の利用, ''Honjin ni tomatta daimyô tachi'' 本陣に泊まった大名たち, Toyohashi, Aichi: Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan (1996), 55.</ref>