Looking for Missing Links between Fujiwara Sumitomo, the First Pirate King in Japan, and the Murakami Clan, the Most Notorious Pirates in Medieval Japan (1)

     In 1129, Taira Tadamori (1096-1153) brought the sea between Honshu and O-Mishima Islands, where O-yamazumi Shrine is located,  under his control by suppressing pirates there, and named the sea Tada-no-umi (Tada Sea).

     In August, 1135, Tadamori arrested 70 pirates including Fr Hidaka and returned to Kyoto with them in triumph, carrying Fr Hidaka on a horse with his hands bound on his back.

     Who were those pirates?  And what was the difference between the pirates in the 12th century and those in the 9th century, when the Seto Inland Sea had been infested with pirates for the first time in the history of Japan?  And why were they suppressed so easily in such a short period?