in 1185. Naval battles of a very large scale, fought between Japanese clans and involving more than 1000 warships, are recorded from the 12th century. The decisive battle of the
Genpei War, and one of the most famous and important naval battles in pre-modern Japanese history, was the 1185
battle of Dan-no-ura, which was fought between the fleets of the
Minamoto and
Taira clans. These battles consisted first of long-range archery exchanges, then giving way to hand-to-hand combat with swords and daggers. Ships were used largely as floating platforms for what were largely land-based melee tactics.
Mongol invasions (1274–1281) boarding Mongol ships in 1281.
Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba (蒙古襲来絵詞), circa 1293. The first major references to Japanese naval actions against other Asian powers occur in the accounts of the
Mongol invasions of Japan by
Kublai Khan in 1281. Japan had no navy which could seriously challenge the Mongol navy, so most of the action took place on Japanese land. Groups of
samurai, transported on small coastal boats, are recorded to have boarded, taken over and burned several ships of the Mongol navy.
Wakō piracy (13th–16th century) During the following centuries,
wakō pirates actively plundered the coast of the
Chinese Empire. Though the term
wakō translates directly to "Japanese pirates", Japanese were far from the only sailors to harass shipping and ports in China and other parts of Asia in this period, and the term thus more accurately includes non-Japanese pirates as well. The first raid by
wakō on record occurred in the summer of 1223, on the south coast of
Goryeo. At the peak of
wakō activity around the end of the 14th century, fleets of 300 to 500 ships, transporting several hundred horsemen and several thousand soldiers, would raid the coast of China. For the next half-century, sailing principally from
Iki Island and
Tsushima, they engulfed coastal regions of the southern half of Goryeo. Between 1376 and 1385, no fewer than 174 instances of pirate raids were recorded in Korea. However, when
Joseon dynasty was founded in Korea,
wakō took a massive hit in one of their main homeland of Tsushima during the
Ōei Invasion. The peak of
wakō activity was during the 1550s, when tens of thousands of pirates raided the Chinese coast in what is called the
Jiajing wakō raids, but the
wakō at this time were mostly Chinese.
Wakō piracy ended for the most part in the 1580s with its interdiction by
Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Official trading missions, such as the
Tenryūji-bune, were also sent to China around 1341.
Sengoku period (15th–16th century) Various
daimyō clans undertook major naval building efforts in the 16th century, during the
Sengoku period, when feudal rulers vying for supremacy built vast coastal navies of several hundred ships. The largest of these ships were called
atakebune. Around that time, Japan seems to have developed one of the first
ironclad warships in history, when
Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese
daimyō, had six iron-covered
Ō-atakebune ("Great Atakebune") made in 1576 . These ships were called , literally "iron armored ships", and were armed with multiple cannons and large caliber rifles to defeat the large, but all wooden, vessels of the enemy. With these ships, Nobunaga defeated the
Mōri clan navy at the mouth of the Kizu River, near
Osaka in 1578, and began a successful naval blockade. The
Ō-atakebune are regarded as floating fortresses rather than true warships, however, and were only used in coastal actions.
European contacts The first Europeans reached Japan in 1543 on Chinese
junks, and Portuguese ships started to arrive in Japan soon after. At that time, there was already trade exchanges between Portugal and
Goa (since around 1515), consisting in 3 to 4 carracks leaving
Lisbon with
silver to purchase
cotton and
spices in India. Out of these, only one carrack went on to China in order to purchase silk, also in exchange for Portuguese silver. Accordingly, the cargo of the first Portuguese ships (usually about 4 smaller-sized ships every year) arriving in Japan almost entirely consisted of Chinese goods (silk, porcelain). The Japanese were very much looking forward to acquiring such goods, but had been prohibited from any contacts with by the Emperor of China, as a punishment for
wakō pirate raids. The Portuguese (who were called
Nanban, lit. Southern Barbarians) therefore found the opportunity to act as intermediaries in Asian trade. in
Nagasaki, 17th century. From the time of the acquisition of
Macau in 1557, and their formal recognition as trade partners by the Chinese, the Portuguese started to regulate trade to Japan, by selling to the highest bidder the annual "captaincy" (
ito wappu) to Japan, in effect conferring exclusive trading rights for a single
carrack bound for Japan every year. The carracks were very large ships, usually between 1000 and 1500 tons, about double or triple the size of a large
galleon or
junk. That trade continued with few interruptions until 1638, when it was prohibited on the grounds that the priests and missionaries associated with the Portuguese traders were perceived as posing a threat to the shogunate's power and the nation's stability. Portuguese trade was progressively more and more challenged by Chinese smugglers, Japanese
Red Seal Ships from around 1592 (about ten ships every year), Spanish ships from
Manila from around 1600 (about one ship a year), the Dutch from 1609, and the English from 1613 (about one ship per year). Some Japanese are known to have travelled abroad on foreign ships as well, such as
Christopher and Cosmas who crossed the Pacific on a Spanish galleon as early as 1587, and then sailed to Europe with
Thomas Cavendish. The Dutch, who, rather than
Nanban were called , lit. "Red Hair" by the Japanese, first arrived in Japan in 1600, on board the
Liefde. Their pilot was
William Adams, the first Englishman to reach Japan. In 1605, two of the
Liefde's crew were sent to
Pattani by
Tokugawa Ieyasu, to invite Dutch trade to Japan. The head of the Pattani Dutch trading post,
Victor Sprinckel, refused on the grounds that he was too busy dealing with Portuguese opposition in Southeast Asia. In 1609, however, the Dutchman
Jacques Specx arrived with two ships in
Hirado, and through Adams obtained trading privileges from Ieyasu. The Dutch also engaged in piracy and naval combat to weaken Portuguese and Spanish shipping in the Pacific, and ultimately became the only Westerners to be allowed access to Japan. For two centuries beginning in 1638, they were restricted to the island of
Dejima in
Nagasaki harbor.
Invasions of Korea and the Ryūkyūs In 1592 and again in 1598,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi organized invasions of Korea using some 9,200 ships. From the beginning of the War in 1592, the supreme commander of Hideyoshi's fleet was
Kuki Yoshitaka, whose flagship was the 33 meter-long
Nihonmaru. Subordinate commanders included
Wakisaka Yasuharu and
Katō Yoshiaki. After their experience in the
Ōei Invasion and other operations against Japanese pirates, the Chinese and Korean navies were more skilled than the Japanese. They relied throughout upon large numbers of smaller ships whose crews would attempt to board the enemy. Boarding was the main tactic of almost all navies until the modern era, and Japanese samurai excelled in close combat. The Japanese commonly used many light, swift, boarding ships called
Kobaya in an array that resembled a rapid school of fish following the leading boat. This tactic's advantage was that once they succeeded in boarding one ship, they could hop aboard other enemy ships in the vicinity, in a wildfire fashion. Japanese ships at the time were built with wooden planks and steel nails, which rusted in seawater after some time in service. The ships were built in a curved pentagonal shape with light wood for maximum speeds for their boarding tactics, but it undermined their capability to quickly change direction. Also, they were somewhat susceptible to capsizing in choppy seas and seastorms. The hulls of Japanese ships were not strong enough to support the weight and recoil of cannons. Rarely did Japanese ships have cannons, and those that did usually hung them from overhead beams with ropes and cloth. Instead, the Japanese relied heavily on their muskets and blades. The Korean Navy attacked a Japanese transportation fleet effectively and caused extensive damage.
Wŏn Kyun and
Yi Sun-sin at the
Battle of Okpo has destroyed the Japanese convoy, and their failure enabled Korean resistance in
Jeolla province, in the south-east of Korea, to continue.
Wakisaka Yasuharu was ordered to dispatch a 1,200 man navy during the Keicho Invasion and annihilated the invading Korean navy led by Wŏn Kyun during a counterattack in July 1597 (
Battle of Chilcheollyang). Korean Admiral
Yi Ŏkki and
Wŏn Kyun of Korea were killed in this combat.
Hansan Island was occupied by Japan, consolidating the Japanese hold on the west coast of Korea. To prevent Japan from invading China by way of the Korean peninsula west coast, China sent naval forces. In August 1597, the Japanese Navy was ordered to occupy the
Jeolla. In the
Battle of Myeongnyang, the Joseon fleet inflicted huge damage on the Japanese fleet. The Japanese were unable to counterattack even after the Joseon made a strategic withdrawal to the northern side of
Jeolla province. While the Japanese navy had made a few minor incursions along the southwestern coast of
Jeolla province, including the capture of
Kang Hang, they ultimately failed to occupy
Jeolla province by the end of the war. Remnants of the Korean navy led by Yi Sun-sin joined the Ming Chinese fleet under
Chen Lin's forces and continued to attack Japanese supply lines. Towards the end of the war, as the remaining Japanese tried to withdraw from Korea, they were beset by Korean and Chinese forces. To rescue his comrades,
Shimazu Yoshihiro attacked the allied fleet. At the
Battle of Noryang, the Shimazu defeated Chinese general
Chen Lin and Japanese forces succeeded in escaping the Korean Peninsula Yi Sun-sin was killed in this action. Japan's failure to gain control of the sea, and their resulting difficulty in resupplying troops on land, was one of the major reasons for the invasion's ultimate failure. After the death of Hideyoshi, the main proponent of the invasion, the Japanese ceased attacks on Korea.
Invasion of the Ryūkyūs In 1609,
Shimazu Tadatsune, Lord of
Satsuma, invaded the southern islands of
Ryūkyū (modern
Okinawa) with a fleet of 13 junks and 2,500
samurai, thereby establishing
suzerainty over the islands. They faced little opposition from the Ryukyuans, who lacked any significant military capabilities, and who were ordered by King
Shō Nei to surrender peacefully rather than suffer the loss of precious lives.
Oceanic trade (16th–17th century) , the 1613
Date Maru. Japan built her first large ocean-going warships at the beginning of the 17th century, following contacts with the Western nations during the
Nanban trade period.
William Adams In 1604,
Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered William Adams and his companions to build Japan's first Western-style sailing ship at
Itō, on the east coast of the
Izu Peninsula. An 80-ton vessel was completed and the
shōgun ordered a larger ship, 120 tons, to be built the following year (both were slightly smaller than the
Liefde, the ship in which William Adams came to Japan, which was 150 tons). According to Adams, Ieyasu "came aboard to see it, and the sight whereof gave him great content". The ship, named
San Buena Ventura, was lent to shipwrecked Spanish sailors for their return to Mexico in 1610.
Hasekura Tsunenaga In 1613, the
daimyō of
Sendai, in agreement with the
Tokugawa shogunate, built the
Date Maru, a 500-ton
galleon-type ship that transported a Japanese embassy to the Americas, and then continued to Europe.
Red Seal ships (1590–1630), a merchant and soldier who traveled to
Ayutthaya (Thailand) From 1604, about 350
Red seal ships, usually armed and incorporating some Western technologies, were authorized by the shogunate, mainly for
Southeast Asian trade. Japanese ships and samurai helped in the defense of
Malacca on the side of the Portuguese against the
Dutch Admiral Cornelis Matelief in 1606. Several armed ships of the Japanese adventurer
Yamada Nagamasa would play a military role in the wars and court politics of
Siam. William Adams, who participated in the Red Seal ship trade, would comment that
"the people of this land (Japan) are very stout seamen".
Planned invasion of the Philippines The Tokugawa shogunate had, for some time, planned to invade the
Philippines in order to eradicate Spanish expansionism in Asia, and its support of Christians within Japan. In November 1637 it notified Nicolas Couckebacker, the head of the
Dutch East India Company in Japan, of its intentions. About 10,000 samurai were prepared for the expedition, and the Dutch agreed to provide four warships and two yachts to support the Japanese ships against Spanish galleons. The plans were cancelled at the last minute with the advent of the Christian
Shimabara Rebellion in Japan in December 1637.
Seclusion (1640–1840) The Dutch's cooperation on these, and other matters, would help ensure they were the only Westerners allowed in Japan for the next two centuries. Following these events, the shogunate imposed a system of
maritime restrictions (海禁,
kaikin), which forbade contacts with foreigners outside of designated channels and areas, banned
Christianity, and prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships on pain of death. The size of ships was restricted by law, and design specifications limiting seaworthiness (such as the provision for a gaping hole in the aft of the hull) were implemented. Sailors who happened to be stranded in foreign countries were prohibited from returning to Japan on pain of death. A tiny Dutch delegation in Dejima, Nagasaki was the only allowed contact with the West, from which the Japanese were kept partly informed of western scientific and technological advances, establishing a body of knowledge known as
Rangaku. Extensive contacts with Korea and China were maintained through the
Tsushima Domain, the Ryūkyū Kingdom under Satsuma's dominion, and the trading posts at Nagasaki. The
Matsumae Domain on Hokkaidō managed contacts with the native
Ainu peoples, and with
Imperial Russia. Many isolated attempts to end Japan's seclusion were made by expanding Western powers during the 19th century. American, Russian and French ships all attempted to engage in relationship with Japan, but were rejected. These largely unsuccessful attempts continued until, on July 8, 1853, Commodore
Matthew Perry of the
U.S. Navy with four
warships:
Mississippi,
Plymouth,
Saratoga, and
Susquehanna steamed into the Bay of Edo (Tokyo) and displayed the threatening power of his ships'
Paixhans guns. He demanded that Japan open to trade with the West. These ships became known as the
kurofune, or
Black Ships. Barely one month after Perry, the Russian Admiral
Yevfimy Putyatin arrived in Nagasaki on August 12, 1853. He made a demonstration of a steam engine on his ship the
Pallada, which led to Japan's first manufacture of a steam engine, created by
Tanaka Hisashige. The following year, Perry returned with seven ships and forced the
shōgun to sign the "Treaty of Peace and Amity", establishing formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States, known as the
Convention of Kanagawa (March 31, 1854). Within five years Japan had signed similar treaties with other western countries. The
Harris Treaty was signed with the United States on July 29, 1858. These treaties were widely regarded by Japanese intellectuals as unequal, having been forced on Japan through
gunboat diplomacy, and as a sign of the West's desire to incorporate Japan into the
imperialism that had been taking hold of the continent. Among other measures, they gave the Western nations unequivocal control of tariffs on imports and the right of
extraterritoriality to all their visiting nationals. They would remain a sticking point in Japan's relations with the West up to the start of the 20th century. ==Modernization: Bakumatsu period (1853–1868)==