The Otomo Clan and their Smuggling (12)

     The letter from Otomo’s side in 1573 reads that the Otomo Clan had already established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Cambodia before the letter, but it is not clear whether the ship mentioned in the letter accidentally could not come back to Bungo or the Shimazu Clan intentionally blocked it.  In 1579, Shimazu Yoshihisa interrupted the ship mentioned in the letter on purpose, misappropriated the royal letter and tribute, and wrote a reply to the king of Cambodia for his loser, Otomo Yoshishige, obviously disregarding him.

     The tribute in 1579, which was grabbed by the Shimazu Clan, included an elephant, an elephant trainer, 2 mirror makers, a copper gun, and 60 kilograms of beeswax.

     Thus, the Shimazu Clan’s smuggling with South-East Asia started, which would be taken over by red-seal ships introduced by the central government which unified the whole country around the turn of the century.