Kim Ju-song's Japan Study Tour Following the Path of the Joseon Envoy Mission (2)

On the afternoon of the second day of the trip following the path of the Joseon Envoy Mission, the schedule took us to the Murotsu Maritime Museum in Tatsuno City, near Himeji. This was where the envoy delegation anchored and stayed before proceeding to the Kobe region.

As a result, this place felt more deeply imbued with traces of the Envoy Mission than anywhere else we visited.

The Murotsu Maritime Museum has replicas of food that was supplied to the Joseon Envoy Mission during the Edo period on display, allowing us to understand what meals were provided to the envoys upon their arrival in this region.

Additionally, there are folding screens—replicas housed in other museums—that offer glimpses into the processions of the Joseon Envoy Mission at the time, allowing us to observe the grand and majestic nature of the processions.

Beyond this, lodging records remain from when the Joseon Envoy Mission dispatched to Japan in 1748 stayed here, allowing us to catch vivid glimpses of the period.

Besides the Joseon Envoy Mission, the Murotsu region was also a route taken by Japanese feudal lords conducting sankin-kōtai (a system implemented by the shogunate during Japan's Edo period to control regional powers) as they traveled through the Seto Inland Sea to Edo. Numerous documents remain of daimyō from regions such as Shikoku staying at the Murotsu Maritime Museum for sankin-kōtai.

It became clear that Murotsu Harbor served as a comfortable waystation and place of rest for everyone traveling through the Seto Inland Sea, including the Joseon Envoy Mission.

Although the Maritime Museum is a 19th-century structure, the fact that it was built as a two-story building suggests it flourished considerably as an intermediate stopping point.

This survey trip traced the route of the Envoy Mission to Osaka in reverse. On the first day, from a high mountain overlooking the final anchorage and arrival point on the beach, we could survey the Envoy route. The next day, we examined Murotsu on the way to Osaka. On the third day, finally, we could observe Shimonoseki, the gateway to the Seto Inland Sea, from where the envoy delegation that departed from Busan traveled through Tsushima, Iki Island, and Ainoshima.

There were two locations in Shimonoseki related to the Joseon Envoy Mission. One was a stone monument erected in 2001 at the landing site of the envoys, and the other was Akama Shrine (赤間神宮), built at the site of Amitaji Temple (阿彌陀寺) where they stayed. The envoy delegation that departed from Busan anchored at Shimonoseki before entering the Seto Inland Sea after passing through Tsushima, Iki Island, and Ainoshima. At this time, they landed using a specially constructed pier in front of Amitaji Temple.

Even today, examining these two locations, one can see steps leading to the sea directly across from the shrine, and on one side stands the Monument to the Landing and Stay of the Joseon Envoy Mission (朝鮮通信使 上陸淹留之碑) erected to commemorate the envoys' landing here.

Shimonoseki was originally called Akama-Seki (赤間關). The change to the current place name occurred in 1902, and the old name is preserved in the name of the shrine built at the site of Amitaji Temple (阿彌陀寺) where the Joseon Envoy Mission stayed—Akama Shrine (赤間神宮).

Furthermore, from 1905, the Busan-Shimonoseki Ferry service connected routes between Busan and Shimonoseki. This service was discontinued after Korea's liberation in 1945 but resumed in 1970. It became clear that the Shimonoseki region served as a connector between Korea and Japan not only during the Joseon period but continues to do so today.

Additionally, this region is where many Heikegani crabs are caught. Legends related to the Battle of Dan-no-ura, which took place during the Heian period in the Kanmon Strait between Shimonoseki and Moji in Kitakyushu City, are transmitted in connection with these crabs.

According to the legend, those who died in this naval battle became crabs bearing human facial features. At the shrine where the Envoy Mission stayed, there are also accounts related to this war, with one account telling of Taira no Tokiko and Emperor Antoku jumping into the sea together as they faced defeat.

On the afternoon of the third day, we headed to the Nagoya Castle Museum and Nagoya Castle in Saga Prefecture.

As soon as we crossed the bridge spanning the Kanmon Strait, traffic became severely congested, and upon arrival, the museum was on the verge of closing.

We hurriedly entered and looked around. The Nagoya Castle Museum displays relics excavated from the surrounding area, with explanations of where on the Korean Peninsula these relics came from and when they were transmitted.

Ultimately, the relics here demonstrate that the Korean Peninsula and Japan have been in very close exchange since before the Three Kingdoms period. The exhibition was primarily organized to explain cultures transmitted from the Korean Peninsula, including official Joseon documents and relics related to the dispatch of the Joseon Envoy Mission.

There are two Nagoya cities in Japan: one is Nagoya (名古屋), a major city in Aichi Prefecture, and the other is Nagoya (名護屋) in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture.

The place we visited this time was the latter Nagoya, which served as a military base established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi for the invasion of Joseon during the Imjin War. With Nagoya Castle at its center, daimyō from various regions of Japan were stationed in a 3-kilometer radius area under Toyotomi Hideyoshi's command.

Compared to other Japanese castles, Nagoya Castle could be considered small in scale, but the location where the castle stood was an open area from which all the surrounding garrison troops and even the sea toward the Korean Peninsula could be widely surveyed.

This revealed how thoroughly Japan prepared for the invasion of Joseon at that time.

The final destination of the survey trip was Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka. In the alley leading to Kushida Shrine stands a stone torii gate built in Showa 9 (1934).

The torii bears the name of a person called Hakata (博多 産子中) who built this structure and dedicated it to Hakata Shrine. The shrine houses Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Susanoo, the god of the sea.

These are enshrined as the main deities in the center, and surrounding them are many small shrines built within the shrine grounds that enshrine various other gods believed in by the local community.

In the Hakata region where Kushida Shrine is located, the Hakata Gion Matsuri is held in July, and there is a procession where elaborately crafted mikoshi (portable shrines) are carried. Each town in the Hakata region makes one mikoshi to display at the local event.

Within Kushida Shrine, a mikoshi that was displayed and won this year's competition was on exhibition. Its height was quite impressive, and it was adorned with various decorative motifs including waves, so one could imagine how strenuously the people carrying this mikoshi must have worked.

According to our guide, the people who carry this mikoshi prepare their minds and bodies as if observing abstinence and purification rites and practice diligently until the event takes place. It was clear that the festival was conducted with sincerity.

Another noteworthy feature at Kushida Shrine is two stones presumed to be anchor stones left behind by the Yuan-Mongol allied forces. These stones are displayed beneath an ancient ginkgo tree estimated to be over a thousand years old, supported by foundation stones.

The relics presumed to be anchor stones are said to have been moved to Kushida Shrine to commemorate the urgency Japan faced under attack from the Yuan-Mongol allied forces during the Kamakura shogunate period and the divine intervention that repelled the Yuan-Mongol forces through a sudden fierce wind.

Although brief, this survey trip allowed us to confirm the history that occurred between Korea and Japan at the time by tracing the movements of the Yuan-Mongol allied forces, the sites related to the Imjin War, and subsequently the routes of the Joseon Envoy Mission.