Japan’s relations with China and Korea in the Muromachi era

Abstract

The article describes the main stages and characteristics of Japanese-Korean and Japanese- Chinese relations in the Muromachi era (1333–1573). From an international relations perspective, it is an extremely important period – after six centuries, formal relations with China (Ming) and Korea (Choson) were reestablished (relations with the Korean state of Silla were interrupted in 779; the last Japanese embassy to Tang China was sent in 838), and East Asia in general experienced an explosive growth of international trade. In the early Muromachi period, Japan maintained overseas relations only with Ryukyu. Despite the sincere desire of the Ashikaga shoguns to reestablish formal relations with China (Ming) and Korea (Choson), it happened only at the beginning of the 15th century. The article deals with the main reasons why the restoration process turned out to be so long and complicated. Japan-Ming and Japan- Choson relations had both similarities and their own characteristics. There were also dramatic turns in both Japanese-Chinese and Japanese-Korean relations: breaking of diplomatic relations with Ming China under Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi, and even a military invasion of the Tsushima Island by Korean fleet in 1419. In Russian historiography, this topic is almost not developed, and therefore, at this stage, it seems important to characterize the key events and features of the Japanese interaction with the outside world using the example of its main partners, China and Korea. Meanwhile, a number of features of Japan’s interaction with the outside world during the Tokugawa period are rooted in the Muromachi period or inherit common East Asian cultural patterns.