Japanese missions to Joseon represent a crucial aspect of the international relations of mutual Joseon-Japan contacts and communication.한일관계사연구논집편찬위원회. (2005). 통신사・왜관과한일관계 (Han Il kwangyesa yŏngu nonjip), Vol. 6, p. 29. The bilateral exchanges were intermittent.

The unique nature of these bilateral diplomatic exchanges evolved from a conceptual framework developed by the Chinese.Kang, Etsuko H. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, p. 81. Gradually, the theoretical model would be modified. The changing model mirrors the evolution of a unique relationship between two neighboring states.Toby, Ronald P. (1991). State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu, p. 87.

Muromachi shogunate missions to Goryeo In 1377 Goryeo envoy Chŏng Mong-ju travelled to Tsukushi in Japan where he met Imagawa Ryōshun;Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 313; Korea-Japan Relations> Middle Ages> 4. Waegu and the Korea-Japan Relationship. and the consequences of his efforts were only seen later.

Muromachi shogunate missions to Joseon The Muromachi bakufu's diplomatic contacts and communication with the Joseon court encompassed informal contacts and formal embassies. Muromachi diplomacy also included the more frequent and less formal contacts involving the Japanese daimyo (feudal lord) of Tsushima Island.

In addition, trade missions between merchants of the area were frequent and varied.Ferris, William. (2009). Japan to 1600: a Social and Economic History, 181.

Year Sender Japanese chief envoy Joseon monarch Comments1403Ashikaga Yoshimochi – Taejo .1404Ashikaga YoshimitsuHall, John Whitney. (1997). The Cambridge History of Japan: Early Modern Japan, p. 242.– Taejong .1432Ashikaga YoshinoriTitsingh, Issac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 335. – Sejong .1447-1448Ashikaga YoshinariZuikei Shūhō (瑞渓周鳳)Sejong Akamatsu Samanosuke (赤松左馬助; 赤松則繁) came back from Korea and plotted an uprising, but he was found guilty and sentenced to death, his head was sent to Kyoto1456Ashikaga YoshimasaTitsingh, p. 348. – Sejo The shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a letter to Sejo, the king of Korea.1474Ashikaga YoshihisaTitsingh, p. 358.– Seongjong The shōgun sent an embassy asking to the emperor of China for a seal.1499Ashikaga YoshizumiTitsingh, p. 363. – Yeonsangun .

1403 – A Japanese diplomatic mission from the Japanese shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimochi, was received in Seoul; and this set in motion the beginnings of a decision-making process about sending a responsive mission to Kyoto.Kang, Etsuko H. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, p. 275.(1404-10-28) (in Korean) 태종 8권, 4년(1404 갑신 / 명 영락(永樂) 2년) 10월 24일(임진) 2번째기사 전서(典書) 여의손(呂義孫)을 일본국(日本國)에 보내어, 국왕에게 보빙(報聘)하였다. Taejong Sillok, Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, vol. 8.(1404-10-24) (in Korean) 태종 8권, 4년(1404 갑신 / 명 영락(永樂) 2년) 10월 24일(임진) 2번째기사 일본 국왕의 사신이 예궐하여 하직인사 하다 Taejong Sillok, Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, vol. 8. 1404 – Former-Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu causes a message to the Joseon king to be sent; and the sender is identified as "king of Japan". The salutation construes the Joseon monarch as the sender's co-equal peer. 1422 – Nihonkoku Minamoto Yoshimochi sent the Joseon king a letter in Ōei 29, as time was reckoned using the Japanese calendar system.Kang, Diplomacy and Ideology, p. 276. 1423 – Nihonkoku Dosen sent the Joseon king a letter in Ōei 30. 1424 – Nihonkoku Dosen sent the Joseon king a letter in Ōei 31. 1428 – Nihonkoku Dosen sent the Joseon king a letter in Ōei 35. 1432 – Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori sent an ambassador to the Joseon court. 1440 – Nihonkoku Minamoto Yoshinori sent the Joseon king a letter in Ryakuō 3, which the Japanese era at that time. 1447 – Nihonkoku ō Minamoto Yoshinari sent the Joseon king a letter in Jōwa 3, which was the Japanese era at that time. 1456 – Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa caused a letter to be sent to the king of Joseon. 1474 – Shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa sent an ambassador to China, stopping en route at the Joseon court in Seoul. The ambassador's charge was to seek an official seal from the Imperial Chinese court. 1499 – Shogun Ashikaga Yoshizumi dispatched an envoy to the Joseon court asking for printing plates for an important Buddhist text; and although the specific request was not fulfilled, the Joseon court did agree to offer printed copies.

Tokugawa shogunate missions to Joseon In the Edo period of Japanese history, diplomatic missions were construed as benefiting the Japanese as legitimizing propaganda and as a key element in an emerging manifestation of Japan's ideal vision of the structure of an international order with Edo as its center.Walker, Brett L. "Foreign Affairs and Frontiers in Early Modern Japan: A Historiographical Essay," Early Modern Japan. Fall, 2002, p. 48.

Japanese-Joseon diplomacy adapting Japanese-Joseon bilateral relations were affected by the increasing numbers of international contacts which required adaptation and a new kind of diplomacy.Kang, Woong Joe. (2005). Struggle for Identity, pp. 38-78.

1876 The Korea-Japan Treaty of 1876 marked the beginning of a new phase in bilateral relations.

See also Joseon missions to Japan Joseon missions to Imperial China Japanese missions to Imperial China Korean Empire Japanese missions to Paekche Japanese missions to Silla

Notes

References

Ferris, William Wayne. (2009). Japan to 1600: a Social and Economic History. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Hall, John Whitney. (1997). The Cambridge History of Japan: Early Modern Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ; 한일관계사연구논집편찬위원회. (2005). 통신사・왜관과한일관계 (Han Il kwangyesa yŏngu nonjip, Vol. 6). 경인문화사. . Kang, Etsuko Hae-jin. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Basingstoke, Hampshire; Macmillan. ; Kang, Woong Joe. (2005). The Korean Struggle for International Identity in the Foreground of the Shufeldt Negotiation, 1866-1882. Latham, Maryland: University Press of America. ; OCLC 238760185 Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 84067437 Toby, Ronald P. (1991). State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ; Walker, Brett L. "Foreign Affairs and Frontiers in Early Modern Japan: A Historiographical Essay," Early Modern Japan. Fall, 2002, pp. 44–62, 124-128.

External links UNESCO: Map of South and North Korea in Eight Province