ABSTRACT
In the 240 years following the removal of the Emperor Nintoku to Osaka in 313, the capital of Japan was changed several times from one city to another, and during those years Japan established her protectorate over Korea and endeavoured to maintain it. Naturally, there was close intercourse, and frequent visits, official and otherwise, were exchanged, from which it appears that in spite of the undeveloped condition of her civilization, on the maritime side she was pretty well advanced. In 710 the capital was changed to Nara, and Japan lost her position in Korea, which fell under the control of the strong Tan Dynasty of China, and there was no more exchange of official visits between the Courts of Japan and Korea, though even in those days some groups of Koreans escaped from the maladministration in the three Korean states—Shiragi, Kudara, and Koma—and were naturalized in Japan ; and privately owned ships continue to ply. On her part, Japan admired the Tan civilization of China, and from time to time sent special commissions thither. Bokai, a small state in Manchuria, dispatched a mission to Japan, and Japan sent out an expedition to explore the South Seas. Thus encouraged, marine transportation made pretty good progress. According to records in the time of the Emperor Ninmei (835), the number of boats was increased at the principal places for facilitating travel in the Tokaido and Tosando districts, but these were only ferry-boats for crossing big rivers over which there were no bridges. In 840 the shipping board was revived in the Dazai-fu offices, and was instructed to build ships after the model of a Korean boat, brought back from Korea by the special envoy of Japan to China on his return journey, making it clear that Japan was still behind Korea in shipbuilding. In 894 Sugawara Michizane was appointed special envoy to China, but he declined to go, and at the same time the dispatch of special missions to China from time to time, which had done so much toward the importation of Chinese civilization into Japan, was discontinued altogether, because some Buddhist priests who had been on a visit to China told of their hard experiences at sea, and the officials of the Government began to tremble at the idea of facing such dangers. Thereafter there was no more exchange of official visits between Japan, 103China, and Korea, and no official ships were dispatched from Japan to China or Korea, though a very few privately owned boats continued to make the trip occasionally, all of which naturally diminished the chances of the Japanese seeing Chinese or Korean boats. In fact, for scores of years following the discontinuation of official intercourse with China, our ships were improved for the purpose of coastwise navigation, but were no longer deep-sea ships, just as the style of writing both official documents and otherwise suddenly changed from Chinese to Japanese in those days. Sugawara Michizane has been lauded by many historians who look at his lofty character only, but it must be remembered that it was during his administration that our boats began to be built for coast navigation only, which not a little affected the development of the shipbuilding industry as well as marine transportation in Japan.
