Information Revolution

After the collapse of the Chinese Yuan (Mongol) dynasty, the Japanese put back into action their old Continental trading habits. The shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was especially keen on trade with the new Ming dynasty. During the Onin Wars (1467-77) the Hosokawa and Ouchi daimyo houses seized monopolies on these lucrative ventures, with the Hosokawa relying on the merchants of Sakai, and the Ouchi those of Hakata. The two groups struggled for prominence. The Ningpo Disturbance in China in 1523 threw the balance in the Hakata/Ouchi favour, and this continued until the obliteration of the Ochi themselves in subsequent fighting.
In the second half of the 16th century Portuguese nao and chartered junk began to appear in Japanese ports, emanating from the colonies of Goa and Macao. They worked as middlemen in the Ming-Japanese trade.
A regulatory system of issuing a ‘shuin’ (vermilion seal) was introduced, whereby ships were accredited by the Japanese government. Daimyo from Kyushu and large-scale merchants from Kyoto, Sakai and Nagasaki participated.