Before the Dawn of Japanese Piracy

1. The Black Current, which Accidentally Introduced Aliens and Things Alien

     Before concluding the history of Japanese pirates by describing how Toyotomi Hideyoshi reorganized all the pirates and sea forces along and around the Japanese Archipelago into his allied sea forces, I realized I should refer to Kumano Pirates or Kumano Sea Forces, the most mysterious portion of Japanese pirates.

     Even during the Warring States Period in Japan, the sea forces under the direct control of the Mori Clan, the largest and strongest warlord along the Seto Inland Sea, were no match even against Awa Sea Forces or Awa Pirates, much less against Murakami Pirates.  Both Murakami and Awa Pirates were said to have developed under the strong influence of Kumano Pirates.  Kumano Pirates were said to have commanded the Seto Inland Sea before the written history of Japanese piracy.  Kumano Pirates exported their personnels even to Eastern Provinces in the Warring States Period.

First, I’m going to talk about the history of Kumano Pirates in historical documents, which does not reveal their mysterious influence nor their strength, though.

     The Japanese Archipelago has 34,600 kilometers of shoreline, which is shorter than America’s 56,700 kilometers but longer than Brazil’s 5,760 kilometers.  The islands are washed by the Black and Tsushima Currents from the south and by the Kuril Current from the north.

     The Black Current starts off Philippines, flows northward between the Formosa Island and the Ryukyu Islands, and, turning northeastward,  passes between the Ryukyu Islands and the Kyushu Island toward the south coasts of the Shikoku and Honshu Islands, transporting warm, tropical water.  The current brings not only tropical water but also fish, corals, seeds of tropical plants such as coconuts, blocks of dead aromatic trees, and even culturally, sometimes even militarily, advanced alien people.

2. The Arrivals of Aliens in Kumano in Prehistoric Times

     Let me show 2 examples of alien people introduced to Kumano.

     Ugaya (?-?), whose ancestors had come from somewhere else which would be called Takamagahara later, was ruling Hyuga Province in the eastern coast of Kyushu Island.  He had been abandoned by his mother in his infancy, and raised by his aunt, his mother’s younger sister.  When he came of age, he married the aunt, and had 4 sons, Itsue, Inahi, Mikenu, and Sano.

     Inahi drowned himself in the sea to see his mother.  Mikenu left eastward, that is, to the sea, for the land of the dead.  Itsuse left northward with his youngest brother, Sano.  The reason for their family breakdown is unknown and unknowable now.

     Itsuse first arrived at Usa in Buzen Province, and stayed at another place in the province for a year.  He moved on eastward along the Seto Inland Sea to Aki Province, and stayed there for 7 years.  And then to Kibi Province, and stayed there for 3 to 8 years.  He finally reached the eastern end of the Seto Inland Sea only to get face by Nagasune, who was hostile agains him.  Itsuse was shot, flew, got to O Port in Ki Province, and died there.  He was buried in Mt. Kama near the port.

     Itsuse’s younger brother, Sano, continued their eastward quest, and arrived at Kumano in the province.  Tempted by a local tribe, who had the token of a crow with 3 legs, he went upstream along Totsu River, crossed Yoshino River, beat his way through the bush, and reached Uda in Yamato Province.

     The 3-legged-crow tribe helped Sano rival other local tribes there, and successfully split one tribe.  Sano’s men committed an underhanded murder of another local tribe.  Sano also maneuvered pork-barrel politics against other tribes, and established his ruling in Iware.  He was later called Iware, related to his domain name.  Until the end of the World War II, the series of events was widely believed in Japan to have taken place more than 2 millennia before.

     Sano’s descendants eventually unified Yamato Province.  They even further continued the brothers’ eastward quest.  After Kumano, they reached Ise.  They built their advanced base, Ise Shrine, at the southern end of the Ise Plains.  Next, they invaded Nobi Plains, and built another advanced base, Atsuta Shrine, at the mouth of a river in Owari Prefecture.  They moved further east, got to an inland sea at the eastern end of the Kanto Plains, and built another advanced base, Katori Shrine, at the southern shore of the sea.  Across the inland sea, at the northern shore, they also prepared another advanced logistics base, Kashima Shrine, to invade Northern Japan.  Far later, Sano, or Iware, was honorably called with a Chinese-character name, Jinmu.

     2 districts in Kumano have another type of legend.  The both districts accepted Chinese boat people.  The refugees brought crop farming, fishing, whaling, shipbuilding, paper making, civil engineering, pottery, and medicine there.  That is, they brought civilization.  If the Chinese boat people were some of those who were led by Xu Fu (?278B.C.-?208B.C.) as is widely believed in 11 prefectures in Japan to have happened, the series of incidents must have occurred in 210s BC, more than 2 millennia ago.

     Ina and Mike might have tried to sail eastward, but hindered by the Black Current.  Those Chinese people might have drifted along the Black Current.

3. The Black Current was Unrecognized till Edo Period

     The widely-known written records of the Black Current can date back only to the 18th century.

     During the Edo Period, with Pax Tokugawa established, the economy grew slowly but almost steadily.  The cultural level of the ordinary people was getting higher.  Even commoners could enjoy traveling.  The enthusiasm coupled with the higher literacy rate of commonalty brought the publication of guidebooks and travel essays flourishing.  We can find a couple of comments on the Black Current there.

     Furukawa Shoken (1726-1807) was a geographer in the latter half of the Edo Period.  He compiled topographies based on his own observation, and also integrated information based on hearsay into memorandums.  “The Memorandum of Hachijo” was a latter case, and was about the Izu Islands including Hachijo Island.  The memorandum was published in 1794, and he mentioned the Black Current in it.

     “The Black Current looks as if an ink stone were rubbed on the surface of the sea.  As hundreds of swirls are mysteriously flowing past, whoever sees the current feels just dazzled.”

     Tachibana Nankei (1753-1805) was a doctor of Chinese medicine in Kyoto, and made rounds of visits to various parts of Japan intermittently from 1782 to 1788.  He published travel essays from 1795 to 1798, which would be collectively called “Journey to the East and to the West” later.  In one of the essays, he recorded a scratch of hearsay information on the Black Current.

     “They say that about 5.5 hundred kilometers off the Izu Peninsula, there are desert islands in the south.  The sea around the islands is called the Black Current.  The current is tens of kilometers wide, and runs like a large river, raging and rolling.

     “Furthermore, if you sail out southeast off Awa and Kazusa Provinces too far, you are washed away east and shall never come back, as the current turns eastward away from our islands.”

     As we explored older records, we can find some which might have had something to do with the Black Current. 

4. The Landing of Drifted Aliens Entered in Nihon Shoki

     By the end of ancient Japan, it became common knowledge that the safest way to get to Kyoto from foreign countries was, besides the piracy there, to sail through the Seto Inland Sea along the seashores.  But there must have been countless trials and errors through the primitive age and the ancient times in Japan to find the safest way.  The errors could have included, intentionally or unintentionally, those from the south, along the Black Current.

     Taiwan, for example, is about 1800 kilometers away from Kumano, the southernmost area of the mainland of Japan near Kyoto.  The Black Current runs at a speed of about 3 meters per second, that is, about 250 kilometers per day.  If you can make perfectly efficient use of the current, you can reach Kumano from Taiwan in a week or so.  Only if you have enough water, you can get there alive.  Enough food?  That might be dispensable.

     We can find 2 entries of Nihon Shoki, which recorded 2 cases of aliens washed ashore.  They must have been lucky enough, or all too lucky, to reach the mainland of Japan.  If you had been captured in the middle of the main stream of the Black Current, you had had good chance to drifted across the Pacific Ocean to America, like some boats were after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, maybe with yourselves dead though.  If you had been released to the counter-currents of the Black Current, you might have been drifted southward into the midst of the open ocean only with too few chances to find a tiny island there.  Even if you had been lucky enough to be blown north toward the mainland of Japan, you still had a good chance to be slapped onto a rocky shore.  It is not odd, accordingly, that we can only find only 2 written records of aliens washed ashore alive during ancient Japan.

      "In April, Summer, 654, 2 men and 2 women from Dvaravati, and 1 woman from Shravasti were blown off and washed ashore in Hyuga Province."

     "On July 3, Autumn, 657, 2 men and 4 women from Dvaravati reached Tshukushi Province, saying they had first washed ashore on Amami Island.  Stage horses were provided to have them come to the capital."

     "April" in the lunar calendar was around May, and "July 3, 657" was August 20, 657.  Dvarati was a kingdom in ancient Thailand, and Shravasti was a city in ancient India.

     It is still controversial whether those 2 groups of aliens belonged to one convoy or to 2 different convoys.  In the first case, it is almost certain that they had been navigating somewhere around the Philippines or Taiwan, might have been blown east, had been washed north by the Black Current, had been blown farther north off the current, and had been washed ashore in Hyuga Province.  In the second case, it is almost certain that they had been navigating somewhere around the Philippines or Taiwan, might have been blown east, had been washed north by the Black Current, had been blown farther east off the current, and had been washed ashore on Amami Island.

     You might find "April" (around May) and "Summer" contradictory to each other.  There might have been some error or manipulation.

     While volumes 19, 20, 21 and 22 recorded 217 months in total, and had 4 leap months, 1.8%; volumes 23, 24, 25, and 26 recorded 145 months in total, and had no leap month, 0%.  After the death of Prince Shotoku (574-622), which occurred during the months recorded in volume 22, the central government entered a turbulent period.  The secretariat might have been too busy, or too much troubled, to date leap months correctly.  Some scholars even argue that those 4 volumes could have been manipulated by the later rulers to rationalize their souvereignity.  In 645, Emperor Tenji restored the central government.  Volumes 27, 28, 29, and 30 recorded 352 months in total, and had 8 leap months, 2.3%.

5. The Landing of Drifted Aliens Entered in Nihon Koki

     After Nihon Shoki, Shoku Nihongi was compiled, and the compilation was completed in 797.  And then there came Nihon Koki, which covered the years 792-833.  Its compilation was completed in 840.  Its volume 8 had an entry:

     "In July, Autumn, 799, one man on a small boat drifted ashore in Mikawa Province.  He wore full-length cloth, a loincloth, but not trousers.  He covered his left shoulder with a piece of dark blue cloth, which looked like a Buddhist priest’s sash.  He was about 20 years old, was about 167 centimeters tall, and had 10-centimeter-long ears.  We couldn’t understand his language, nor could identify his nationality.  When Chinese people saw him, they said he was a Kunlun man.  Later, he mastered Japanese, and said he was from India.  He was always playing an one-string harp.  His singing voice was always melancholy and sorrowful.  When we checked his belongings, we found something like grass seeds.  He said they were cotton seeds.”

     Those days, Chinese called those from South-East Asia as Kunlun people.  The man might have been blown eastward somewhere in South China Sea, and washed on the Black Current as far as off Mikawa Provinces.

     Ruiju Kokushi was a historical text that categorized the events listed in the Six National Histories, which included Nihon Koki as one of the six.  Its compilation was completed in 892.  According to volume 199, the cotton seeds which were brought to Japan by the man were planted in southern provinces such as Kii, Awaji, Awa, Sanuki, Iyo, and Tosa next year.

6. The Incorporation of the Southwestern Islands into Japan under the Yamato Imperial Court

     From the end of the 7th century till the beginning of the 8th century, the central imperial government was expanding its realm into the Southwestern Islands.  Imiki Hakase (?-?), who belonged to the Fumi Clan, an immigrant clan from China, played an important role in the incorporation of the islets.  In the ancient ranking system in Japan at the end of the 7th century, royal families were classified into 12 ranks, and subjects were classified into 48 ranks.  Hakase was ranked 28th in the latter.

     According to Shoku Nihongi, whose compilation was completed in 797:

     “On the 13th day of April, Summer, 698, Imiki Hakase and other officers were sent to the Southwestern Islands to explore for nations, and were provided with weapons.”

     “On the 19th day of July, Autumn, 699, Tane, Yaku, Amami, and Toku people paid tribute to the imperial central government, accompanied by the officers who had been dispatched.  The islanders offered local products, and were granted different ranks and rewards accordingly.  This was the first contact with Toku Island.”

     “On the 4th day of November, 699, Imiki Hakase of the Fumi Clan and others came back from the Southwestern Islands.  Each of them was given a different promotion accordingly.”

     “On the 5th day of December, 714, Okaji of the O Clan and others came back from the Southwestern Islands to the central government, bringing 52 people from Amami, Ishigaki, Kume, and other islets.”

     At the beginning of the 8th century, subjects were classified into 30 ranks, and Okaji was ranked 30th.

     “On New Year’s Day, 715, the Emperor received the celebration of subjects at the main building of the Inner Palace.  The Prince, in formal wear for the first time, gave celebration to the Emperor.  The barbarians from Mutsu and Dewa Provinces, and the islanders of Amami, Yaku, Toku, Ishigaki, Kume, and other southern islets visited the court and presented their own local products.”

     “On the 20th day of February, 754, the following imperial order was given to the Regional Government of Kyushu at Dazai:  In 735, the First Undersecretary at the time, Oyu of the Ono Clan, who was ranked 9th, sent Ushiki of the Takahashi Clan to the Southwestern Islands to put up noticeboards.   However, those noticeboards have got rotten and deteriorated over time.  According to their condition, the noticeboards should be either restored or erected, based on the last ones.  Each noticeboard should clearly show the name of the island, where they can anchor their ship, and where they can get water.  In addition, the names of islands which can be seen in the far distance on their way from or back to Japan should be written, so that drifted ships can know which way they should head for.”

     Around those years, precisely speaking, from 672 till 769, the Japanese missions to Tang China took the south route from the Southwestern Islands across the East China Sea, instead of the north route along the Korea Peninsula via the Liaodong Peninsula across the Yellow Sea to the Shandong Peninsula.  As Silla had unified the Korea Peninsula, the Tang-Silla relationship had got deteriorated.  The deterioration made it impossible for Japan to send their missions to Tang along the coast of the peninsula.

     Although the Southwestern Islands were all tiny islets, neighboring islets were all within a horizon each other between the southernmost cape of Kyushu Island and Okinawa Island.  In a sense, when they sail back from China with their immature art of navigation at the time, the Southwestern Islands played the role of a safe net, however large-meshed they were.

     What happened then to those who missed the net?  Let me introduce the luckiest case.

     “On the 17th day of January, 754, the Regional Government at Dazai reported:  On the 7th day of December, last year, the mission ship which Mabi of the Kibi Clan, who was the vice ambassador and was ranked 8th, was aboard reached Yaku Island.  Later, they left the island, but drifted, and was washed ashore on Cape Muro in Kii Province.”

     That was the only reported case that those who were aboard a wrecked ship came back alive.  There were more that were drowned at sea with the precious goods from China with them.  It means that there were more cases that those precious goods were washed ashore as flotsam.  In those days, flotsam and wrecks without crews were supposed to belong to those who found them.  Extra special income for Kumano sea people!

     After the last Japanese mission to Tang China in 838, precious goods from China came to be imported through Sillan smugglers, which led to the rise of Jang Bogo (787-846) partly, who became an arbiter of the commerce and navigation among Tang China, Silla, and Japan.

     Once they got accustomed to extra special income, it must have been difficult, as you can easily imagine, to live on a usual tight budget.  Their appetite for the extra special income might have led them to the Seto Inland Sea, which became the main route again between the continent, China and Korea, and the center of Japan, Kyoto.

7. The Advance of Kumano Pirates into the Seto Inland Sea

     Kuamno Sea People clearly had their own motivation to advance into the Seto Inland Sea.  Then, how about their skills?  What kind of skills made it possible for them to gain and maintain their supremacy over the sea people in the Seto Inland Sea in piracy, and even over imperial military forces?

     At the end of the Warring States Period, sea forces in western provinces including the Murakami Clan were employing a tactic to fire and burn down enemy boats, whereas those in eastern provinces were making good use of a tactic to chase and land enemy boats.  Kumano Sea Forces exported their human resources westward to the Seto Inland Sea in ancient times, and to eastern provinces in the Warring States Period.  It is natural to think those in eastern provinces kept the prototype of Kumano Sea Forces.  Their prototype tactic is still kept today among Kumano Sea People in their dolphin drive hunting.  Or rather Kumano Sea People might have developed their pirate tactics through hunting dolphins and whales.

8. Additional Cases of Flotsam and Wrecks in Kumano

     Lastly, let me add 2 cases of flotsam and a Wreck Related to the Black Current

     First, a written case of flotsam from the Southwestern Islands to Kumano.

     “Genpei Seisui Ki”, an anonymous war tale whose writing and/or compilation was finished by the latter half of the 14th century, depicted Taira Yasunori (1146?-1220) floating 1,000 wooden stupa sculptures on the sea.  He was exiled to Io Island, which was located in halfway between Kyushu and Yaku Islands.

     “Yasunori prayed that his written words should be blown and washed to Japan so that his old mother in his home town could read them.  He floated a wooden stupa sculpture on waves whenever west winds blew.  His thoughts became winds and his wishes became waves.  Even the Dragon God must have accepted his prayers.  One of the sculptures was washed on the port of Shingu.”  Shingu was located in Kumano, Kii Province.  His wooden sculpture was not sent to Kyoto, though.

     Next, a documented case of a wrecks from Southeast Asia.

     Specific cases of flotsam and/or wrecks were scarcely documented, but the Marine Traffic List, a compilation of documents related to the foreign relations of the Tokugawa Clan, which was compiled in 1853 by Hayashi Akira (1800-1859), Miyazaki Seishin (?-?), and et al, had the following entry:

     “In 1566, a foreign ship was washed ashore on Katahama Beach, Atsumi County, Mikawa Province.  3 samurais, Takariki Sakon (?-?), Honda Saemon (?-?), and Amano Saburobe (?-?), inspected the inside, and found many furs, which used to be said to be the best imported goods, among the cargoes.  The samurais offered the furs to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), and he was very pleased.  He later asked Confucian medicine men about the animal, but nobody could answer.  Motsugai (?-?), a priest, said that they were animals in Vietnam.”

     Its crews?  It sounds they might have been all dead by the time, or survivors were killed on the spot, as was often the case in piracy.