Japanese Pirates

[corsair91]

Japanese pirates

(with some Chinese as well)

Thread is intended as Historical background research for a potential
SM pirates mod if any


Wokou
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wokou

Wokou (Japanese: Wakō)
which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 4th century to the 16th century.

The wokou came from Japanese, Korean, and Chinese ethnicities which varied over time and raided the mainland from islands in the Sea of Japan and East China Sea.

Wokou activity in Korea declined after the Gihae Eastern Expedition of the Joseon in 1419, but continued in Ming China and peaked during the Jiajing wokou raids in the mid-1500s, but Chinese reprisals and strong clamp downs on pirates by Japanese authorities saw the wokou virtually disappear by the 1600s



ÅŒei Invasion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cei_Invasion

The ÅŒei Invasion, known as the Gihae Eastern Expeditionin Korea, was a 1419 invasion from Joseon Korea against pirate bases on Tsushima Island Japan, which is located in the middle of the Tsushima Strait between the Korean Peninsula and Kyushu.



Jiajing wokou raids
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiajing_wokou_raids

The Jiajing wokou raids caused extensive damage to the coast of China in the 16th century, during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–67) in the Ming dynasty. The term "wokou" originally referred to Japanese pirates who crossed the sea and raided Korea and China; however, by the mid-Ming, the wokou consisted of multinational crewmen that included the Japanese and the Portuguese, but a great majority of them were Chinese instead. Mid-Ming wokou activity began to pose a serious problem in the 1540s, reached its peak in 1555, and subsided by 1567, with the extent of the destruction spreading across the coastal regions of Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong.

The term "wokou" literally means "dwarf pirates", with "wo" ("dwarf") being the Classical Chinese pejorative for the Japanese people.

[corsair91]

Wang Zhi (pirate)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Zhi_(pirate)

Years active: 1540–1560

Chinese pirate lord of the 16th century, one of the chief named and known figures among the wokou pirates

Originally a salt merchant, Wang Zhi turned to smuggling during the Ming dynasty's period of maritime prohibitions banning all private overseas trade, and eventually became the head of a pirate syndicate stretching the East and South China Seas, from Japan to Thailand.

Through his clandestine trade, he is credited for spreading European firearms throughout East Asia, and for his role in leading the first Europeans (the Portuguese) to reach Japan in 1543.

However, he was also blamed for the ravages of the Jiajing wokou raids in China, for which he was executed in 1560 while trying to negotiate a relaxation of the Ming maritime prohibitions




Limahong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limahong

No Historical records after 1589, last active in South China Seas Coast area as a pirate

Limahong, Lim Hong, or Lin Feng, Lim-A-Hong or Limahon, was a Chinese pirate and warlord who invaded the northern Philippine Islands in 1574. He built up a reputation for his constant raids to ports in Guangdong, Fujian and southern China. He is noted to have twice attempted, and failed, to invade the Spanish city of Manila in 1574.




Lin Daoqian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Daoqian

Lin Daoqian also written as Lim Toh Khiam and Vintoquián,was a Chinese pirate of Teochew origin. He led pirate attacks along the coast of Guangdong and Fujian, but they were driven to Taiwan by the Ming dynasty navy commanded by Yu Dayou. He later moved to South East Asia, and became established in Patani where he died.

Lin was part of the wokou piratical activity that plagued the Chinese coast during the reign of the Ming Jiajing Emperor (1522–1566).

[corsair91]

Category:Japanese pirates
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_pirates


Anjirō
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anjir%C5%8D

died a wakō pirate on a raid in China


Fūma Kotarō
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C5%ABma_Kotar%C5%8D

executed through beheading in 1603 as a pirate,


Shirahama Kenki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirahama_Kenki

Japanese pirate of the late 16th-early 17th centuries.
Shipwrecked in 1599 off the Vietnam Coast and captured
and assume executed as a pirate.


Matsura Takanobu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsura_Takanobu

a 16th-century Japanese samurai and 25th hereditary lord of the Matsura clan of Hirado.

During the 1550s, he was involved in a fierce rivalry with the rival ÅŒmura clan, the Christian convert ÅŒmura Sumitada, who also competed for Portuguese trade. This led to many armed conflicts, including one attempt at taking the Portuguese black ship in the Battle of Fukuda Bay by Takanobu. This rivalry lasted for over three decades, and long after Takanobu had retired, until ÅŒmura eventually won out by ceding Nagasaki to the Jesuits in 1580, making it the Portuguese port of call henceforth.

See later in the thread for more info on this



Ohama Kagetaka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohama_Kagetaka

Ohama Kagetaka was a Japanese pirate during the latter part of the Sengoku period and the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan. He operated in the Shima Province area (now part of Mie Prefecture), and later commanded naval forces for both Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu before his death in 1597 at the age of 57.

Ohama operated as a pirate chief in the area that is present-day Obama in Toba, Mie Prefecture. He held great power in the Ise Bay area as well as being very influential over the Kitabatake clan, which held the governorship of the Ise Province. Ohama controlled the Kitabatake family's pirates and owned an atakebune, but was defeated by Kuki Yoshitaka, who had allied with Oda Nobunaga in his bid to unify Shima Province. Subsequently, Ise Bay was overrun.



Kitabatake clan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitabatake_clan

The Kitabatake clan was a clan that ruled south Ise province and had strong ties to the eastern provinces through Pacific sea routes.Among its leaders included Kitabatake Tomonori.



Ise Province
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ise_Province

Ise Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture.Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Seishū



Japanese battleship Ise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Ise

named after Ise province.

Completed in 1917, in mid-1942, she was rebuilt with a flight deck replacing the rear pair of gun turrets to give her the ability to operate an air group of floatplanes.
Sunk by air attack on 28th July 1945.


The modern helicopter carrier Ise is also named after the province.


JS Ise (2011)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JS_Ise

JS Ise (DDH-182) is a Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).


Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hy%C5%ABga-class_helicopter_destroyer

A class of helicopter carrier built for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
The specifications of the Hyūga class are comparable to light aircraft carriers,
The Hyūgas are primarily anti-submarine warfare carriers
The F-35 Lightning II JSF can operated from this carrier, and Japan has F-35Bs (STOVLs) on order.



Wokou
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wokou

This has been covered prevously in the thread, and covered in more
detail later in this thread.



Atakebune
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atakebune

Atakebune were large Japanese warships of the 16th and 17th century used during the internecine Japanese wars for political control and unity of all Japan.

Japan undertook major naval building efforts in the mid to late 16th century, during the Sengoku period, when feudal rulers vying for supremacy built vast coastal navies of several hundreds of ships. The largest (and generally most dangerous) of these ships were called atakebune.

The atakebune were armed with a few cannons and numerous large-caliber arquebuses and the ship superstructure was fully covered by iron plates.

The best of the atakebune, were used somewhat in contrast to Japanese naval tactics of the time, which viewed naval combat as a battle between the crews of ships, rather than between the ships themselves (which contributed to the primary Japanese naval tactic of drawing near and boarding opposing ships, as the Japanese crews excelled at hand-to-hand combat).

These vessels may be regarded as floating fortresses rather than true warships, and were only used in coastal actions. They used oars for propulsion, as their full iron cladding, if it existed, as well as their bulk (i.e. the armament and people they were carrying) likely impeded wind-based propulsion via sails.


The Korean Turtle ship is similar in concept
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_ship


Only with the advent of later Steam Ironclads in the 19th century
was equivalent levels of protection achieved to the Atakebune or Turtle ships.


Djong (ship)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djong_(ship)

The djong, jong, or jung (also called junk in English) is a type of ancient sailing ship originating from Java that was widely used by Javanese and Malay sailors.

Djongs are used mainly as seagoing passenger and cargo vessels. They traveled as far as Ghana or even Brazil in ancient times.

The average burthen was 400-500 deadweight tons, with a range of 85-2000 tons. In the Majapahit era (around 1293-1517)
these vessels were used as warships, but still predominantly as transport vessels.

[corsair91]

Pirates of the South China Coast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_the_South_China_Coast

Pirates of the South China Coast were Chinese pirates who active throughout the South China Sea from the late 18th century to the 19th century, mainly from 1790 to 1810. Since 1805, the Pirates of the South China Coast entered the most powerful period, many pirates were fully trained by the Tây Sơn dynasty of Vietnam.

In 1805, seven pirate leaders made an agreement, a pirate alliance was founded.

The Seven Pirate leaders were:

Zheng Yi (Red Flag Fleet)
Guo Podai (Black Flag Fleet)
Liang Bao (White Flag Fleet)
Jin Guyang (Green Flag Fleet),
Wu Shi'er (Blue Flag Fleet),
Wu Zhiqing (Yellow Flag Fleet),
and Zheng Laotong.

The Red Flag Fleet led by Zheng Yi was the strongest gang in the alliance.
by 1807 The Red Flag Fleet had 30,000 men and several hundred vessels.
In 1810 the main part of the Pirate Fleet was destroyed in battle
as varous Countries Navies suppressed the Pirates.


Chen Tianbao
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Tien-pao

a powerful Chinese pirate operating from Guangdong and throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s. Later he became a general of Tay Son dynasty of Vietnam.



Mo Guanfu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Kuan-fu

a powerful Chinese pirate throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s.
One of the most important subordinates under Chen Tien-pao
Executed by the Chinese for piracy.



Zheng Qi (pirate)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheng_Chi

Zheng Qi (also spelled Ching Tsih or Cheng Chi; born Zheng Yaohuang; 1760 – September 1802) was a powerful Chinese pirate operating from Canton (Guangdong) and throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s.
Casptured and executed for Piracy.


He Xiwen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Hsi-wen

a Chinese pirate throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s
and died in 1801.


Lun Guili
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun_Kuei-li

Chinese pirate active throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s.
In 1800, Lun's pirate fleet attacked the China Coast of Fujian and Zhejiang. His fleet was shipwrecked by a typhoon in Zhejiang
and Lun was captured ashore. Lun was execured by slow slicing.

Lingchi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingchi

Lingchi, translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts,



Zheng Yi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_Yi_(pirate)

Zheng Yi (also romanised as Cheng Yud or Cheng I (1765 – 16 November 1807)
was a powerful Chinese pirate operating from Guangdong and throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s.

Zheng Yi used military assertion and his reputation to consolidate a coalition of competing Cantonese pirate fleets of uncertain numbers into an alliance. By 1804, this coalition was a formidable force, and one of the most powerful pirate fleets in all of China, they were known as the Red Flag Fleet.



Ching Shih
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Shih

Wife of Zheng Yi, a Chinese pirate leader who terrorized the China Seas during the Jiaqing Emperor period of the Qing dynasty in the early 19th-century. She commanded over 300 junks (traditional Chinese sailing ships) manned by 20,000 to 40,000 pirates —men, women, and even children. She entered into conflict with the major nations, such as the British Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and the Qing dynasty.

Ching Shih and her crew's exploits had since been featured in numerous books, novels, video games, and films about piracy, pirates and their way of life in China as well as worldwide. Based on her tremendous influence and achievements as a pirate and commanding the vast fleet of around 1500-1800 ships manned by 80,000 sailors during her peak, she is widely accepted to be the most successful pirate in history.


Cheung Po Tsai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Po_Tsai

Cheung Po Tsai (1783–1822) was a navy colonel of the Qing Dynasty and former pirate. "Cheung Po Tsai" literally means "Cheung Po the Kid". He was known to the Portuguese Navy as Quan Apon Chay during the Battle of the Tiger's Mouth.

Battle of the Tiger's Mouth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tiger%27s_Mouth

The Battle of the Tiger's Mouth (Portuguese: Batalha da Boca do Tigre) was a series of engagements between a Portuguese flotilla stationed in Macau, and the Red Flag Fleet of the Chinese pirate Ching Shih, led by her second-in-command, the notorious Cheung Po Tsai.

Between September 1809 and January 1810, the Red Flag Fleet suffered defeat at the hands of the Portuguese fleet led by José Pinto Alcoforado e Sousa, within the Humen Strait - known to the Portuguese as the Boca do Tigre - until finally surrendering formally in February 1810. As her fleet surrendered, Ching Shih herself abandoned piracy on the occasion.


also

Liang Wen-keng
Fan Wen-tsai

Both Captured along with Mo Guanfu and executed in 1801 for Piracy.

[corsair91]

Wakō
Japanese history

https://www.britannica.com/topic/wako

Wakō, Chinese (Pinyin) wokou or (Wade-Giles romanization) wo-k’ou, any of the groups of marauders who raided the Korean and Chinese coasts between the 13th and 16th centuries. They were often in the pay of various Japanese feudal leaders and were frequently involved in Japan’s civil wars during the early part of this period.

In the 14th century Japanese feudal leaders began to send large trading expeditions to China and Korea. When denied trading privileges, the Japanese were quick to resort to violence to ensure their profits. By the 14th century, piracy had reached serious proportions in Korean waters. It gradually declined after 1443, when the Koreans made a treaty with various Japanese feudal leaders, permitting the entry of 50 Japanese trade ships per year, a number that was gradually increased.

Meanwhile, with the decline of central authority in China toward the end of the 13th century, piracy began to increase along the China coast. Using ships large enough to carry 300 men, the pirates would land and sometimes plunder whole villages.

Originally mainly Japanese, in later times the pirates were of mixed origin; by the early 16th century, the majority of them were probably Chinese. Basing themselves on islands off the Chinese coast, the pirates eventually made their main headquarters on the island of Taiwan, where they remained for over a century. By the end of the 17th century, with the growth of a strong central power in Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867) and in China under the Qing dynasty, most of the piracy was eliminated.



Wokou
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Wokou

There are two distinct eras of wokou piracy.

The early wokou mostly set up camp on Japanese outlying islands, as opposed to the 16th century wokou who were mostly non-Japanese.

See webpage link for futher details




WOKOU: JAPANESE PIRATES
http://factsanddetails.com/japan/cat16/sub107/entry-5320.html

Wokou (Japanese: Wako; Korean: Waegu), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China, Japan and Korea. Wokou came from a mixture of ethnicities. The term wokou is a combination of Wo, referring to either dwarfs or the Japanese, and kòu "bandit". There are two distinct eras of wokou piracy: 1) mostly in the 14th century and 2) mostly in the 16th century. The early wokou mostly set up camp on Japanese outlying islands, as opposed to the 16th century wokou who were mostly non-Japanese. [Source: Wikipedia +]

The early wokou raided the Japanese themselves as well as China and Korea. Records report that the main camps of the early wokou were the island of Tsushima, Iki Island, and the Goto Islands. Jeong Mong-ju was dispatched to Japan to deal with the problem, and during his visit Kyushu governor Imagawa Sadayo suppressed the early wokou, later returning their captured property and people to Korea. In 1405 Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent twenty captured pirates to China, where they were boiled in a cauldron in Ningbo. +

According to the History of Ming, thirty percent of the 16th century wokou were Japanese, seventy percent were ethnic Chinese. Because of the extent of corruption in the Ming court, many Chinese officials actually had relations with the pirates and benefited from the piracy, making it difficult for central authorities to control. +


See webpage for further info

[corsair91]

Black Ships
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ships

The Black Ships was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries.
In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking Goa to Nagasaki.
The large carracks engaged in this trade had the hull painted black with pitch, and the term came to represent all Western vessels. In 1639, after suppressing a rebellion blamed on the influence of Christian thought, the ruling Tokugawa shogunate retreated into an isolationist policy, the Sakoku. During this "locked state", contact with Japan by Westerners was restricted to Dejima island at Nagasaki.

On July 8, 1853, the U.S. Navy steamed four warships into the bay at Edo and threatened to attack if Japan did not begin trade with the West. Their arrival marked the reopening of the country to political dialogue after more than two hundred years of self-imposed isolation.



Battle of Fukuda Bay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fukuda_Bay

The Battle of Fukuda Bay in 1565 was the first recorded naval battle between Europeans and the Japanese. A flotilla of samurai under the daimyō Matsura Takanobu attacked two Portuguese trade vessels that had shunned Matsura's port in Hirado and had gone instead to trade at Fukuda (now within Nagasaki), a port belonging to the rival Ōmura Sumitada. The engagement was part of a process of trial and error by the Portuguese traders to find a safe harbour for their carracks in Japan that eventually brought them to Nagasaki.

[corsair91]

Japanese shipnames info


List of Japanese Navy ships and war vessels in World War II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_Navy_ships_and_war_vessels_in_World_War_II


Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Japanese_Navy_in_World_War_II



List of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_Imperial_Japanese_Navy

list of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy for the duration of its existence, 1868-1945


List of battleships of Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battleships_of_Japan



Category:World War I battleships of Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_I_battleships_of_Japan


World War 1 at Sea
IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY
https://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyJapanese.htm



Japanese ship-naming conventions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_ship-naming_conventions

The word maru (meaning "circle") is often attached to Japanese merchant ship names.

[corsair91]

Piracy in the Strait of Malacca
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_in_the_Strait_of_Malacca

Piracy in the Strait of Malacca has for long been a threat to ship owners and the mariners who ply the 900 km-long (550 miles) sea lane. In recent years, coordinated patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore along with increased security on vessels have sparked a sharp downturn in piracy.

The Strait of Malacca's geography makes the region very susceptible to piracy. It was and still is an important passageway between China and India, used heavily for commercial trade. The strait is on the route between Europe, the Suez Canal, the oil-exporting countries of the Persian Gulf, and the busy ports of East Asia. It is narrow, contains thousands of islets, and is an outlet for many rivers, making it ideal for pirates to evade capture.

[corsair91]

The Chinese Female Pirate Who Commanded 80,000 Outlaws

Ching Shih, who lived and pillaged during the Qing Dynasty, has been called the most successful pirate in history.

by Urvija Banerji April 6, 2016


https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-chinese-female-pirate-who-commanded-80000-outlaws




Ching Shih is also covered in

Female Warrior Thread
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8019

[corsair91]

Some Wokou Pirates Youtube Gameplay Clips


Tok plays EU4 - Japan ep. 14 - Wokou Pirates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG2Oux1RY0I

Tokryva
Aug 19, 2015
runtime 21:35

Game: Europa Universalis IV


In this episode, the Wokou pirates are raiding the Chinese and Koreans, and we have to deal with them





Europa Universalis 4 1.29 | So | Part 1 | Pirates of the South China Sea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=887O-RVySZA

Benjamin Magnus Games
Oct 4, 2019
runtime 3:39:41

Lets Play Europa Universalis 4, with all DLC and the new 1.29 Manchu update! China and the surrounding area got a face lift, so lets head on over to the tiny island of Tsushima, and become the most feared pirates in the East! We will be playing as So, with the goal to pirate China into oblivion (and others when they arrive).

[corsair91]

Posted byu/Tiako
10 months ago


During the Ming Dynasty, "Japanese pirates" (wokou) were a chronic problem. Do we have accounts of them from the Japanese perspective? How did they fit into contemporary Japanese society (eg were they sponsored by daimyo)?

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/cv9aj8/during_the_ming_dynasty_japanese_pirates_wokou/


I'm aware that the wokou were more multinational than the name suggests, but I've understood the core of them were still Japanese.


mpitelka
10 months ago

Great question. The best study of Japanese pirates (J: wakô; Ch: wokou; K: waegu) available in English is Peter Shapinsky's 2014 book, Lords of the Sea: Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan. He focuses on the pirates that occupied the various islands of the Inland Sea and who became increasing caught up in the "terracentric" concerns of the Japanese unification process in the late sixteenth century, until they disappeared under the heavily regulated policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He goes into great detail about how they cooperated with, fought against, manipulated, and were patronized by the land-based powers of the age, including daimyo/warlords.

Unfortunately we don't have useful personal narratives from the point of view of the pirates for really any period in Japanese history. It is worth mentioning that although the Chinese and Koreans were convinced that the pirates that harassed their coastal settlements and that preyed upon merchant vessels (and in many cases demanded protection money in order to not attack) were universally Japanese, all evidence points to multiple, mixed populations of pirates operating in different parts of East Asia, so simply calling these heterogeneous groups "Japanese pirates" is probably ahistorical.

Two first-person accounts of the maritime East Asian world in this period that might be of interest are Ch'oe Pu's Diary: A Record of Drifting Across the Sea, translated by John Meskill and published in 1965 by the Association for Asian Studies; and A Korean War Captive in Japan, 1597-1600, translated by the late, great JaHyun Kim Haboush and Kenneth R. Robinson, published in 2013 by Columbia University Press.




Tiako
10 months ago

Thank you for the suggestions, I'll check them out!

So what I am getting is that the pirates who were Japanese (question about that later) may have had relations with daimyo and "official politics" in certain respects but were themselves independent. That is, there were not daimyo going on the account or equipping raiding parties to supplement their coffers.

Regarding their makeup, it is my understanding that the later wokou raids were made up of roughly 30% Japanese, 70% Chinese (getting this from Swope's Dragon's Head and Serpent's Tail, where he quotes a Ming official). But was there still a certain crucial "Japaneseness" to them, as I understand their fortune more or less tracks the political situation of Japan and even Chinese syndicates often were based in Japan (like I think Wang Zhi was based on Kyushu)? Or is it better not to think of them as so connected and instead look at things like Ming maritime policy as being most important?


https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/cv9aj8/during_the_ming_dynasty_japanese_pirates_wokou/ey66ur2/



Ming Maritime History
10 months ago


Something to keep in mind about Japanese piracy of this period is that they are usually divided into two distinct groups: those who raided the Japanese seas (called kaizoku), and those who went overseas to raid places like Korea and China and lands further south (called wokou/wakō). The two groups are closely related, but generally the kaizoku like the Murakami pirates of the Seto Inland Sea were content with collecting tolls and running protection rackets within their zones of influence and - in the opinion of Peter Shapinsky - rarely ventured in continental piracy. The wokou, on the other hand, were based on island bases off the continent that not only included Japanese islands like Kyushu and the Goto Islands, but also far-flung places like Ryukyu, Taiwan, and even the Philippines.

Japan's state of civil war surely exacerbated the wokou troubles, since both Chinese and European sources record the denizens of Kyushu seeking fortunes in piracy due to the devastation of war. While we do not have Japanese sources detailing their involvement in wokou activities (as opposed to kaizoku), Chinese sources allege that Wang Zhi was freely recruiting Japanese desperados into his fleets. Wang Zhi not only had the approval of the local daimyo to do business in their ports, but in some cases he was even sponsored by the daimyo. The Hirado domain, which earned a name for itself as the base of the notorious Matsura band of pirates over the centuries, invited Wang Zhi to maintain a residence there. The ÅŒtomo clan of eastern Kyushu accompanied Wang Zhi's fleet to China where they eventually fought with the Ming army. Both the Matsura of Hirado and the ÅŒtomo clan had trade relations in mind, since Wang Zhi presented himself as a man of trade, but they must have known about the piratical activities of Wang Zhi's associates. To be sure, the line between trade and piracy was not clearly delineated in Japanese minds, and the Ming imperial court consider private maritime traders the same as pirates anyway.

However, the Japanese daimyo were not alone in supporting pirates such as Wang Zhi. Rather, the daimyo were just part of a group of coastal elites that were acting as the pirates' patrons. Just as the Japanese daimyo like Matsura Takanobu benefited from Wang Zhi's presence, Chinese gentry along the coast were profiting off the pirates by sponsoring them in spite of the Ming sea ban. In a way, this patronage on the Chinese side was more insidious, since the Chinese gentry also had political connections, both locally and in Beijing. The sea ban worked in the gentry's favour, as it guaranteed their near-monopoly on the maritime trade when they can easily influence government officials to look the other way. Also, if the pirates became too unruly and started demanding better pay, the gentry could intimidate the pirates by threatening to call in the Ming army.

In the traditional Ming history, the wokou crisis of the 16th century officially began when the wealthy Xie clan of Yuyao in Zhejiang province refused to pay the pirates one too many times, and the pirates responded by allying with the Portuguese and burning the Xie family estate. This brought in the Ming army, who destroyed the "pirate den" of Shuangyu which had operated as an international trade hub of contraband in relative peace up to this point. The pirates scattered to other islands along Zhejiang and Fujian coast, arming themselves with Portuguese firearms and Japanese mercenaries in order to protect themselves from other pirates and the Ming army. The eventual "pirate king" Wang Zhi gathered his strength at this time by absorbing various merchant-pirate bands who were escaping the Ming army, before establishing himself in Japan and finding new sponsors there.

While the political situation of Japan no doubt contributed to the violence of the wokou, the harsh maritime policies of the Ming dynasty should be regarded as the primary cause of the 16th century wokou raids. The mountainous coastal province of Fujian had traditionally looked to maritime activities to maintain their livelihoods as opposed to land-based agriculture. At the same time, China had began to switch to a silver economy, and the Portuguese and Japanese were emerging as producers of silver. These pressures pushed the litoral people into the sea, but with the Ming sea ban in place, these people descended into piracy. When the sea ban was lifted in 1567, wokou piracy noticeably subsided. Toyotomi Hideyoshi united Kyushu in 1587 and outlawed piracy the next year, but by this time, the height of wokou piracy was already 20 years in the past.

Sources

Adam Clulow (2012). "The Pirate and the Warlord". Journal of Early Modern History

Jurgis Elisonas (1991). "The inseparable trinity: Japan's relations with China and Korea". The Cambridge History of Japan Vol. 4.

Roland L Higgins. (1980). "Pirates in Gowns and Caps: Gentry Law-breaking in the Mid-Ming". Ming Studies

Peter Shapinsky (2014). Lords of the Sea: Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan

So Kwan-wai (1975). Japanese piracy in Ming China during the 16th century.




Tiako
10 months ago

Very interesting, thank you for the response!



mpitelka
10 months ago

I'm not sure we have the sources to determine if the "Japaneseness" you reference is a relic of the putative Japanese origins of the wako or an actual ongoing organizational characteristic of these multinational bands. But these are interesting questions.

And yes, on a few occasions the Sengoku daimyo/unifiers did try to recruit pirates into their war efforts (notably Oda Nobunaga), but for most of their history the Inland Sea pirates/Japanese "sealords" maintained their independence from land-based authority.

[corsair91]

Murakami Kaizoku

see webpage links for further info


The legendary Murakami Kaizoku: Good guy pirates of the Seto Inland Sea
https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/the-legendary-murakami-kaizoku-good-guy-pirates-of-the-seto-inland-sea

Among the most interesting histories of the Seto Inland Sea is the phenomenon of the Murakami Kaizoku. Kaizoku, which literally means “sea tribe”, is usually translated as “pirates.”

As inhabitants of the Geiyo Islands, the Murakami Kaizoku understood the treacherous tidal currents, enabling them to pilot ships for less experienced sailors (for a fee). Ships could not pass through the area without them.

The Murakami Kaizoku never acted as looting pirates, but rather fought off such pirates and, over time, became guardians of all shipping moving east to west in the Seto Inland Sea. By the time warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) outlawed piracy, the Murakami Kaizoku had morphed into the Murakami Suigun (navy), effectively becoming a government-sanctioned coast guard.



Visiting the Geiyo Islands, the Home of Japan’s Largest Pirate Group, Murakami Kaizoku
https://wow-j.com/en/Allguides/hiroshima/sightseeing/01160_en/





The Murakami Kaizoku of the Seto Inland Sea

Benevolent seafarers the Murakami Kaizoku have left their mark on the Geiyo Islands.

https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/201703/201703_13_en.html


The Seto Inland Sea separates three of the Japanese archipelago’s four main islands, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, and is itself dotted with some 700 islands large and small. Extending from North to South near the center of the Seto Inland Sea are the Geiyo Islands. The distance between each of these islands is very short, and because the waters of the Seto Inland Sea are shallow, the currents here run perilously fast.

“The Geiyo Islands were a well known meeting place in this dangerous sea even in ancient times,” says Ken Tanaka of the Murakami Suigun Museum (“suigun” means “feudal navies” [such as the Murakami Kaizoku]), which is located on the “big island” of Oshima off Imabari in Ehime Prefecture. “Exploiting its knowledge of the characteristics of the Seto Inland Sea, the Murakami Kaizoku controlled the east-west sea route during the sixteenth century.”

From around the middle of the fourteenth century to the fifteenth century, the Murakami Kaizoku protected the ships including those of the Muromachi feudal government (the shogunate of 1336 to 1573) passing through the Seto Inland Sea. Over time, the Murakami Clan took control of the major sea routes and ports using their knowledge and expertise navigating the rapid currents and narrow straits, and adopted the Geiyo Islands as their base.

The Murakami Clan typically piloted ships through the Seto Inland Sea by issuing them a flag as a “passport” or by boarding the vessels in return for a fee. In this way the Murakami Clan also protected the sea traffic from pirates and from the perils of the strong currents.

“Although the word kaizoku means ‘pirate,’ the Murakami Kaizoku were different from the traditional image of western pirates or from present-day pirates who unlawfully board ships and forcefully collect money or seize goods. The Murakami Kaizoku helped to maintain order in the sea by assuring the security of ships,” says Tanaka. “In addition, whereas pirates have a cut-throat image, the kaizoku of the Murakami Clan were religious and enjoyed cultural activities such as the tea ceremony and renga collaborative poetry.”

The activities of the Murakami Kaizoku ceased at the end of the sixteenth century with the piracy banning order issued by Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537–1598), who reigned over Japan at that time, but the cultural heritage of the Murakami Kaizoku is still very much in evidence on the Geiyo Islands.

On Oshima, the Murakami Suigun Museum exhibits a range of items associated with the Murakami Clan such as weapons, armor and ancient writings, as well as scale models of boats from the period. A sightseeing boat departs from a dock near the museum taking passengers across the strait and past numerous islands, including Noshima, location of the Murakami Clan castle. The boat navigates the same violently swirling current that the Murakami Kaizoku mastered centuries ago. Every July, immediately in front of the museum, crews of twelve race reconstructed rowing boats from the period, which are maneuvered from a standing position, in the Murakami Suigun Boat Race.

Oyamazumi-jinja shrine on the island of Omishima is where the military commanders of the Murakami Clan prayed to the gods for good fortune in war and for the safety of the vessels passing through the Inland Sea. Giant camphor trees stand guard on the grounds, and the shrine’s magnificent treasure hall exhibits weapons and armor reportedly offered by famous lords and military commanders.

On Mt. Shirataki on Innoshima Island, a part of Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, the head of the Murakami Clan reportedly constructed a temple in the sixteenth century. In the nineteenth century, a new religion leader and his followers on the island carved approximately 700 stone statues of Buddha and placed them along the path at the top of the mountain. The expression on each statue’s face is unique. From the top of Mt. Shirataki, visitors can enjoy spectacular views of the Seto Inland Sea.

“On the Geiyo Islands, you can experience scenery and history through each of your five senses,” says Tanaka. “We will discover more about the Murakami Kaizoku as archaeological investigations continue. I would like to spread the word “kaizoku” to the world so that it becomes as familiar as “ninja” and “samurai.”

[corsair91]

Murakami Takeyoshi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murakami_Takeyoshi

Murakami Takeyoshi (1533 – 1604) was a Japanese samurai and naval commander of the Sengoku period (1467 to 1615).

He was head of the Noshima Murakami pirates. Noshima Murakami navy helped the Mōri clan and played an important role during the Battle of Miyajima.Takeyoshi's eldest son Motoyoshi led the Murakami navy to defeat Oda Nobunaga`s navy in the first battle of Kizugawaguchi. Takeyoshi himself, however, was defeated by Kuki Yoshitaka's navy in the second battle of Kizugawaguchi because Kuki's navy used iron ships (Tekkōsen) to repel the arrows and bullets.


Battles of Kizugawaguchi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Kizugawaguchi



Mōri clan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Dri_clan

The Mōri clan was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. During the Edo period his descendants became daimyō of the Chōshū Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration with the abolition of the han system and daimyō, the Mōri clan became part of the new nobility.


Battle of Miyajima
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Miyajima

The 1555 Battle of Miyajima was the only battle to be fought on the sacred island of Miyajima; the entire island is considered to be a Shinto shrine, and no birth or death is allowed on the island. Extensive purification rituals took place after the battle, to cleanse the shrine and the island of the pollution of death.

The Battle of Miyajima was the turning point in a campaign for control of the Ōuchi clan and of Aki Province, a strategically important province for establishing control of western Honshu. It was an important step for the Mōri clan in taking the foremost position in western Japan, and cemented the reputation of Mōri Motonari as a cunning strategist.




Noshima Murakami
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noshima_Murakami

The Noshima Murakami were a Japanese family, involved in seafaring and piracy during the 16th century.
The family was based on Noshima, a small island off the coast of Shikoku in the Seto Inland Sea.

[corsair91]

Wakō - History of Piracy in Japan and China - Naval History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptixgsjGxqg


Kings and Generals
21 Jul 2022
runtime 20:50

[Pirate]

I wanted to do a mod on that even I put a kamikaze headband on Jack Sparrow’s skull for a tittle screen but it never got made.