| Research Abstract |
The trade between japan and korea in pre-modern era was active throughout the whole of the Edo period, in spite of Sakoku policy. The feature of the trabe was such that it was carried out by Japanese, especially those of Tsushima han, going to the japanese concession in Pusan at the fartherest end of the peninsular. There, they traded with Korean bureaucrats. The form of the trade was irregular when one considers the fact that Japanese were forbidden to go abroad by the government. My aim in the research was to collect and investigate original documents consisting of the papers left by the merchants within Tsushima han, bureaucrats, and interpreters. Comparison and investigation, then, was conducted for the whole of the pre-modern era, including the fluctuations in price and quantity of the trabe, the items involved, as well as the method of the trade. Large import of Chinese products found inthe former half of the early modern era proves that the trade was:
1, In accrdance with the tra
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de policy of the government outlined at the beginning of Sakoku policy. 2, accompanied by the mass export of the silver specie, and 3, powerful in enhancing the growth of private trade which dealt with the Korean merchants, and, as a result, bringing immenese profit to the Tsushima han.
In comparicon, the latter half of the period saw the decline of the private trade, due to difficulty in procuring the specie, thus ending up with the government and private trade sharing the equal portion. Although the latter half of the period saw the decline in trade, Tsushima han who had to sustain its economy by this trede was active in promoting its management. For example, it gave the copper, main export good, to the Korean merchants in advance and then procured specified import goods. The trabe based on this consignment was the main method wheredy the contemporary trade between Japan and Korea was carried out. It was an important form of the trade linking limited market such as Japanese concession in Pusan and the domestic market in Korea.
As an appendix, I have given a list of 103 people who were employed in the business as of April, 1711, classifying their names, occupations, and the content of their business. Less
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