Tsushima-Fuchu Domain

Origins

The So family had ruled Tsushima, between Kyushu and Korea, since the 13th century and depended on trade with Korea. After the Japanese invasions of Korea in the 1590s, So Yoshitoshi worked to restore relations, and Tokugawa Ieyasu confirmed his domain in 1600.

Rule and society

To secure peace the So forged diplomatic letters between the shogun and the Korean king, which led to the Korean embassy of 1607; the forgery was exposed in the Yanagawa affair of 1635 but the So kept their role. They staffed the Japan House at Busan, monopolised trade in Korean ginseng, rice and Chinese silk, and escorted the Korean embassies to Edo.

Decline and legacy

In 1861 a Russian warship occupied part of the island until British pressure forced it out. After abolition in 1871 the domain became Izuhara Prefecture and was later joined to Nagasaki Prefecture, and Korean relations passed to the Meiji foreign ministry.