5th International Conference on Okinawan Studies Edo Nobori and Envoys from Korea in the Context of Taikun Diplomacy

In 1635 the Tokugawa bakufu created taikun diplomacy by which it succeeded in creating its own international order distinct from the traditional Chinese world order. In this new order the Tokugawa shōgun became called Nihon koku taikun at the international level. Closely connected with taikun diplomacy was the reception by the bakufu of the Korean (chōsentsūshinshi) and Ryukyuan missions. The bakufu succeeded in legitimizing and elevating its power outside and inside Japan by receiving these foreign missions.
Korea sent 12 missions during the Edo period, from 1607 to 1811. The first three (1607, 1617, 1624) were to normalize relations between Korea and Japan after the invasions of Korea by Hideyoshi. From 1636 the Korean envoys were called chōsentsūshinshi and symbolized the good-neighbor relations between the two countries. They were sent on the occasion of the enthronement of a new Tokugawa shōgun.
Edo nobori started as a consequence of the invasion of the Ryukyuan kingdom by Satsuma in 1609. The Ryukyuan kingdom sent 18 missions to Japan , from 1634 to 1850. These were of two kinds: congratulatory missions were sent for the enthronement of a new Tokugawa shōgun and missions of gratitude were sent for the enthronement of a new Ryukyuan king.
In this paper I will examine the different treatment accorded by the bakufu to these two foreign embassies and also the attitude of Arai Hakuseki to Chōsentsūshinshi and Edo nobori. The different treatment accorded by the bakufu reflected the relative importance that Japan accorded to Korea and Ryūkyū: Korea was considered a peer of Japan while the Ryūkyū kingdom was subordinated to it. This difference of status accorded to their envoys was reflected in all the aspects of the missions from the diplomatic protocol to the banquets offered by the bakufu and the treatment reserved along the way to Edo .
During the Shōtoku period (1711-1716), the central figure of the bakufu who profoundly reformed the reception of the two missions was Arai Hakuseki. In particular, Hakuseki aimed to eliminate the dualism of power between the Tokugawa shōgun and the Tennō by elevating Tokugawa Ienobu as the sole ruler of Japan . His most important reform, in fact, was the change of the international name of the Tokugawa shōgun from Nihon koku taikun to Nihon koku ō. He changed taikun diplomacy into Nihon koku ō diplomacy. Without a doubt, Hakuseki wanted more parity with Korea and considered Ryūkyū as a tributary state of Japan. But while he seemed concerned and nervous in the relationship with Koreans, he showed a more relaxed attitude when relating with Ryukyuans. The contact with the Ryukuan missions had had a great influence on his attitude toward the small kingdom. Hakuseki became deeply interested in Ryukyuan culture and ―as demonstrated by his works about the small kingdom written after his retirement from political life, works destined to have a great influence on Japanese knowledge about the Ryūkyū islands― he described the Ryūkyū kingdom as a state not far from but close to Japanese culture.