Kim Ju-song's Japan Research Trip Following the Path of the Joseon Tongsinsa (2)

On the afternoon of the second day of my trip following the path of the Joseon Tongsinsa, I visited the Murotsu Maritime Museum in Tatsuno City near Himeji. This was where the diplomatic mission anchored before heading to the Kobe area.

Because of this, the place I visited this time felt more deeply connected to the traces of the Tongsinsa than any other location.

The Murotsu Maritime Museum displays replicas of food that was supplied to the Joseon Tongsinsa during the Edo Shogunate period, allowing visitors to understand what meals were provided to the diplomatic mission upon their arrival in this region.

Additionally, there is a folding screen, a replica housed in another museum, that offers a glimpse of the Joseon Tongsinsa procession of that time, allowing us to observe the grand and dignified procession of the era.

Beyond this, lodging records remain from when the Joseon Tongsinsa sent to Japan in 1748 stayed here, providing a vivid picture of that time.

Besides the Joseon Tongsinsa, the Murotsu region was also a route taken by Japanese feudal lords who conducted sankin-kotai (the Edo-period system implemented by the Shogunate to control regional powers), traveling across the Seto Inland Sea to Edo. Many documents remain recording the stays of lords from Shikoku and other regions at the Murotsu Maritime Museum for their sankin-kotai duties.

It became clear that Murotsu Port served as a port of call providing comfortable rest for all who traveled across the Seto Inland Sea, including the Joseon Tongsinsa.

Although the maritime museum is a 19th-century structure, its construction as a two-story building suggests that it flourished significantly as an intermediate stopping point.

This research trip was a journey retracing the route the Tongsinsa took toward Osaka in reverse. On the first day, I was able to observe the Tongsinsa route from a high mountain where I could see the beach, the final anchorage and arrival point. On the second day, I examined Murotsu on the way to Osaka, and on the third day, I finally observed Shimonoseki, the gateway to the Seto Inland Sea, which the diplomatic mission departing from Busan passed through via Tsushima, Iki Island, and Ainoshima.

There were two places related to the Joseon Tongsinsa in Shimonoseki. One is a stele erected in 2001 at the region where they landed, and the other is the Akama Shrine, built at the site of Amidaji Temple where they stayed. The diplomatic mission that departed from Busan anchored at Shimonoseki before entering the Seto Inland Sea, passing through Tsushima, Iki Island, and Ainoshima, and at that time, they landed via a specially installed pier in front of Amidaji Temple.

Even today, examining these two places, there is a staircase leading down to the sea directly across from the shrine, and on one side stands the "Stele Commemorating the Landing and Stay of the Joseon Tongsinsa" erected to commemorate their landing here.

Shimonoseki was originally called Akama-no-Seki. The name changed to its current form in 1902, and the old name is preserved in the name of the shrine, Akama Shrine, which was built on the site of Amidaji Temple where the Joseon Tongsinsa stayed.

Additionally, from 1905, the Busan-Shimonoseki shipping route was established between Busan and Shimonoseki, which was severed after liberation in 1945 and resumed again from 1970. It became clear that the Shimonoseki region has served to connect Japan and Korea not only during the Joseon Dynasty but to the present day.

Furthermore, this region is known for catching many Heike crabs, and legends related to the Battle of Dan-no-ura that occurred during the Heian period in the Kanmon Strait between Shimonoseki and the Moji region of Kitakyushu have been passed down in connection with these crabs.

Specifically, it is said that people who died in this naval battle became crabs with human-like faces. Stories related to this war are also transmitted at the shrine where the Tongsinsa stayed, including an account that Taira no Tokiko and Emperor Antoku jumped into the sea together when the war was lost.

On the afternoon of the third day, I headed to the Nagoya Castle Museum and Nagoya Castle in Saga Prefecture.

Shortly after crossing the bridge over the Kanmon Strait, traffic became extremely congested, and upon arrival, the museum was on the verge of closing.

Thus, I hastily entered and looked around, and found that the Nagoya Castle Museum displays artifacts excavated from the surrounding region, explaining where on the Korean Peninsula these artifacts were transmitted from and during which period they were transmitted.

In the end, the artifacts here demonstrate that the Korean Peninsula and Japan had very close exchanges from even before the Three Kingdoms period. The exhibits were mainly formatted to explain culture transmitted from the Korean Peninsula, including official documents and artifacts related to the dispatch of the Joseon Tongsinsa.

Japan has two cities named Nagoya: one is Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, a major city, and the other is Nagoya in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture.

The place I visited this time is the latter Nagoya, which was established as a military base by Toyotomi Hideyoshi for the invasion of Joseon during the Imjin War. Centered on Nagoya Castle under Toyotomi Hideyoshi's command, daimyo from various regions across the country were stationed within a 3-kilometer radius.

Compared to other Japanese castles, Nagoya Castle can be said to be relatively small in scale, but the area where the castle is located was an open space from which one could broadly observe all the surrounding stationed troops as well as the sea heading toward the Korean Peninsula.

Through this, it was possible to understand how thoroughly Japan had prepared for the invasion of Joseon at that time.

The final destination of the research trip was Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka. In the alley leading to Kushida Shrine stands a stone torii gate built in Showa 9 (1934).

On the torii is written the name of the person called "Hakatakodate" who built this structure and dedicated it to Hakata Shrine. At this shrine, the sun goddess Amaterasu and the sea god Susanoo were enshrined.

They were enshrined as the main deities in the center, and around them were many small shrines in the shrine precincts enshrining various other deities believed in by the local region.

In the Hakata region where Kushida Shrine stands, the Hakata Gion Matsuri is held in July, and during this event, elaborately made portable shrines are carried in procession. Each neighborhood in the Hakata region makes one portable shrine to submit to the regional event.

In the precincts of Kushida Shrine, a portable shrine that was submitted and won this year was on display. Its height was very impressive, and it was decorated with various designs including waves, so I thought carrying this portable shrine must have been extremely difficult for those who shouldered it.

According to the guide, those who carry this portable shrine purify their minds and bodies like those observing religious abstinence and devote themselves to practice until the event proceeds. It was clear that the festival was conducted with sincerity.

Another noteworthy item at Kushida Shrine is two stones presumed to be anchor stones left behind by the Yuan-Mongol allied forces, displayed as support stones beneath an ancient ginkgo tree estimated to be over a thousand years old.

The artifacts presumed to be anchor stones are said to have been moved to Kushida Shrine to commemorate Japan's crisis during the invasion by the Yuan-Mongol allied forces in the Kamakura Shogunate period and the repulsion of the Yuan-Mongol forces by a sudden strong wind, which was regarded as divine protection.

Although this research trip was brief, by confirming the traces of the Yuan-Mongol allied forces, relics related to the Imjin War, and subsequently the route of the Joseon Tongsinsa, I was able to verify the history that occurred between Korea and Japan at that time.