Page "Red seal ships" Paragraph 6

From the 13th to the 16th century, Japanese ships were quite active in Asian waters, often in the role of " wakō " pirates who plundered the coast of the Chinese Empire.

Official trading missions were also sent to China, such as the Tenryūji-bune around 1341.

Wakō activity was efficiently curbed in the late 16th century with the interdiction of piracy by Hideyoshi, and the successful campaigns against pirate activity on the Chinese coast by Ming Dynasty generals.