

Wakō activity was efficiently curbed in the late 16th century with the interdiction of piracy by Hideyoshi, and the successful campaigns against pirate activity on the Chinese coast by Ming Dynasty generals.īetween the 15th and the 16th century, the main trading intermediary in Eastern Asia was the island kingdom of the Ryūkyū (modern Okinawa), which exchanged Japanese products (silver, swords) and Chinese products for Southeast Asian sappan wood and deer hides.

Official trading missions were also sent to China, such as the Tenryūji-bune around 1341. Record of a Red Seal license, dated 11 January 1608.įrom the 13th to the 16th century, Japanese ships were quite active in Asian waters, often in the role of " wakō" pirates who plundered the coast of the Chinese Empire.
