Red seal ships

Red seal ships (Japanese朱 印 船Shuinsen ) were armed Japanese merchant ships to destinations in Southeast Asian ports, which had a provided with a red seal Patent of the early Tokugawa shogunate. Between 1600 and 1635 more than 350 Japanese ships traveled under this system overseas.

Origins

From the 13th to the 16th century, Japanese ships in Asian waters were quite active, but often in the role of " Wokou " - pirates who plundered the coasts of the Chinese Empire. Their activities were initially severely limited by a prohibition of piracy by Hideyoshi in 1588. It also official trade missions were sent to China, the Tenryūjibune to 1341st

Between the 15th and 16th centuries the most important intermediaries in East Asia was the island kingdom Ryukyu ( Okinawa today ), the Japanese products such as silver and swords and Chinese products to Southeast Asian Sappanholz and deer skins exchanged. A total of 150 cruises from Ryuku to Southeast Asia have been recorded, of which 61 to Siam, 10 to Malacca, 10 to Pattani and 8 to Java. This trade heard around 1570 with the rise of Chinese traders and the intervention of Portuguese and Spanish ships. This date corresponds to the beginning of the Red Seal system. The Kingdom Ryuku was finally conquered in 1609 by Japan.

When the first Europeans began to sail the Pacific, they met regularly Japanese ships. So received the Spaniards in Manila in 1589 a Japanese junk with severe storm damage that was on the way to Siam. The Dutch circumnavigator Olivier van Noort met in December, 1600 in the Philippines, a 110 -ton Japanese junk and on the same trip a Rotsiegelschiff with a Portuguese captain before Borneo, through which he learned of the arrival of William Adams in Japan.

The Red Seal system

The Red Seal system was first mentioned in 1592 under Toyotomi Hideyoshi in a document. The first surviving Shuinjō ( Red Seal license) is dated 1604, when Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa Shogun in Japan was. Tokugawa issued to the license in his favor standing feudal lords and important dealers who were interested in foreign trade. Thus he was able to control Japanese traders and reduce Japanese piracy in the southern ocean. His seal also guaranteed the protection of the ships, as he had vowed to pursue any pirate and any country that would attack them.

In addition to Japanese dealers possession of licenses by twelve Europeans is known ( among them William Adams and Jan Joosten ) and eleven Chinese citizens. At a time after January 1621 Joosten said to have had ten Rotsiegelschiffe for trade.

The Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English ships and the Asian rulers protected the Japanese Red Seal ships usually because they had diplomatic relations with the Shogun. Only Ming China was not involved in this practice, as the Empire had the Japanese ships arriving in Chinese ports officially banned ( but the Ming officials were on the other hand not in a position to Chinese smugglers to prevent them from traveling to Japan ).

Ship Design

The Red Seal ships usually had a size of 500-750 tons, which was as much or more than the European galleons, but less than the great Portuguese carracks with often more than 1000 tons. The crew was about 200 persons per boat ( the average of the 15 ships for which this number is known is 236 ).

The ships produced in different places. Some of them, built in Nagasaki, combined Western, Japanese and Chinese ship designs. Others were Chinese junks. After the trade with Southeast Asia had become firmly established, numerous ships were ordered in Ayutthaya in Siam and built since the construction of Thai ships and the quality of Thai wood were considered excellent.

The ships were managed by rich trading families. These include the Sumikura, Araki, Chaya and Sueyoshi. Even individual adventurer like Suetsugo Heizo, Yamada Nagamasa, William Adams Jan Joosten or Murayama Toan organized Rotsiegelschiffe. The funds to purchase the goods in Asia were borrowed from the organizers of the expedition at interest rates of 35 to 55 percent per trip, in the case of Siam up to 100 % interest were possible.

Import and Export

Japanese merchants mainly exported silver, diamonds, copper, swords and other craft products. They imported Chinese silk as well as Southeast Asian products such as sugar and deer skins. Black pepper and spices, which played an important role in the trade of Southeast Asia with Europe were rarely imported to Japan, because you did not eat there much meat that they could have spice. Southeast Asian ports offered themselves as places where Japanese and Chinese ships could meet.

Destinations

The crew of the ships was international, as many Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch as navigators and translator who joined the sailors. The first Red Seal ships were required to have a Portuguese navigator aboard the Japanese made ​​but increasingly navigators from their own ranks from. The data used by the navigators PORTOLAN cards were drawn by Portuguese models, but with sailing instructions in Japanese.

Important Southeast Asian ports, including the Spanish Manila, the Vietnamese Hoi An, Ayutthaya in Siam and the Malay Pattani, were the names of Japanese merchant ships welcome. Many Japanese people settled in these places harbor and formed small Japanese enclaves.

The Japanese seem to have been feared throughout Asia:

A Dutch frigate captain wrote about 1615: "You are a raw and fearless people, lambs in their own country, but downright vicious outside it. ".

Philippines

Around 50 Red Seal ships to Luzon in the Philippines are recorded for a period from 1604 to 1624, and 1635, only four more after that. The Japanese had established quite early an enclave in Dilao, a suburb of Manila, in 1593 they numbered 300 to 400 people. While the Sangley rebellion in 1603 there were in 1500, three years later already 3000th The Franciscan friar Luis Sotelo was 1600-1608 involved in the support of the enclave.

The Japanese in Dilao led from 1596 to 1607 an unsuccessful rebellion against the Spaniards through, but then their number increased again, up to the prohibition of Christianity by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1614. At that time, 300 Japanese Christian refugees under Takayama Ukon settled in the Philippines. They are the ancestors of today approximately 200,000 -member group of Japanese Filipinos.

Siam

The Siamese " Chronicles of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya " already record 1592 that 500 Japanese soldiers helped under the King of Siam to repulse an invasion by the Burmese army ( Yoko Nagazumi ).

About 56 Rotsiegelschiffe to Siam are recorded for the years 1604-1635. The Japanese community in Siam seems to have been in the hundreds, as described by Father Antonio Francisco Cardim. He reports that he had donated in 1627 in the capital of Thai, Ayutthaya, about 400 Japanese Christians, the sacraments ("a 400 japoes christaos " Source: Ishii Yoneo, Multicultural Japan).

The colony has been actively involved in trade, especially in the export of deer hides and Sappanholz to Japan in exchange for Japanese silver and Japanese articles of crafts ( swords, lacquered boxes, high-quality paper ). She was known that she put the trade monopoly of the Dutch East India Company (VOC ) in question, because of its strong position in the king allowed her to buy at least 50 percent of the total production and leave the other dealers only relatively small amounts of low-value qualities.

The Japanese adventurer Yamada Nagamasa gained great influence and ruled at that time part of the Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand). The colony also played an important role militarily in Thailand.

Macao

Although they were forbidden to enter Chinese soil of China, Japanese sailors from Red seal ships arrived in some numbers from Macao to the country. In November 1608 there was a fight between about 100 Japanese samurai, armed with muskets and Katana, and Portuguese soldiers under the ruling governor and captain of the Japan trip, André Pessoa. This cost 50 Japanese life, the other 50 were dismissed after they had signed an affidavit that she was responsible for the incident. Ieyasu forbade in 1609 the visit of Macau by Japanese citizens:

Indonesia

Some Red seal ships are recorded for the territory of present-day Indonesia (Java, Spice Islands ), perhaps because of the direct Dutch influence here. Japanese Samurai, however, were recruited by the Dutch in the region. They distinguished themselves during the conquest of the Banda Islands from the English and the defense of Batavia. 1621, the practice of signing on Japanese mercenaries was prohibited by the shogun. 1618 called Koon, the Dutch governor of Java at 25 samurai from Japan. 1620 90 Samurai were recruited from the islands of Java, to reinforce the fort of Batavia to the Dutch records.

India

From the Japanese adventurer Tenjiku "India " Tokubei is mentioned that he traveled aboard a Red Seal ship with Jan Joosten to Siam and India. After his return, he wrote a book about his journey.

Other destinations

Other important destinations included:

• Cochin (74 ships),
• Cambodia ( 44 vessels ),
• Taiwan (35 ships),
• Annam in Vietnam ( 14 vessels ).

Relative importance

The 350 Red seal ships, which are recorded for the period 1604-1634, an average of 10 ships per year, must be set a Portuguese carrack, who came to Nagasaki each year from Macao to the value added, although this ship a large tonnage had (2-3 times as much as a single Rotsiegelschiff ), and a rich cargo of silk led directly from China.

• Rotsiegelschiffe: Goods to the value of 1.05375 million kilograms of silver (of which 843,000 Silver)
• Portuguese ships: 813 375 ( 650 700 )
• Chinese ships: 429 825 ( 343 860 )
• Dutch ships 286 245 ( 228 996 )
• Total: 2,583,195 ( 2,066,556 )

In comparison, only four ships came from England in the English factory at Hirado during the ten years of its existence (1613-1623) to, further comprising mainly of low charge. In fact, the trading post had to be based on trade between Japan and Southeast Asia under the Red Seal system. She organized seven expeditions, four of which William Adams.

The Japanese Shogun was Spain against very negative and Spain did not disperse to distant areas of his available ships. So came up to a few shipwrecks of the Spanish Manila galleon on the Japanese coast, only about a Spanish ship per year to trading to Japan. The Spaniards had a small base in Uraga, where William Adams was taken on several occasions for the sale of goods to complete.

Only Chinese ships seem to have been quite significant in the last years of the Ming Dynasty. Richard Cocks, head of the English factory at Hirado, reported that 60 to 70 Chinese junks visited Nagasaki in 1614, led by fujianesischen smugglers. 1612 reported the priest Valentim de Carvalho, head of the Jesuit mission that the annual "Big Ship " from Macau brought 1300 quintals of silk, while 5000 quintals by Rotsiegelschiffe and ships from China and Manila were delivered.

End of the system

In 1635, the Tokugawa Shogunate forbade the Japanese to travel overseas. Thus ended the life of the Red Seal trade. This measure was then welcomed even by the Europeans, especially the Dutch East India Company, who saw limited to their disadvantage the competition.