Japanese Pirates in the Beginning of the Heian Period [2-1]

It is from the year 838 that we can find the term “pirate” appear in official documents. In the year, governors along the Seto Inland Sea were ordered to arrest pirates, exactly just pirates. The day before the order was issued, however, governors around Kyoto were demanded to severely accuse bandits who openly set fire and killed people. And two days after the first order with the term “pirate”, imperial guardsmen were detached around Kyoto to chase and arrest those bandits. That implies pirates are only a part of major social unrest. After these actions, the authorities tried to chase and arrest bandits in 849 and in 857, but we can find no order against pirates until 862.