Legendary Wokou - the history of the Japanese pirates

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Piracy is not only about boarding sabers, caravels and rum, but also katanas, junks and rice wine. Here you will learn about who the wokou are, why the pirates of the Far East were considered more dangerous and evil than the Mongol conquerors, and how Obama and Murakami are associated with medieval piracy.

Historically, the line between a merchant and a pirate has always been very shaky: the ancient Greeks, Scandinavians, Novgorodians and British were famous both as excellent navigators and as dangerous sea robbers. Not surprisingly, the nations of the Far East are no exception. However, it was Japanese sailors who became the basis and driving force for the developed piracy in the region. Suffice it to say that all the pirates of those years were habitually called "wokou", that is, "Japanese robbers", even if ethnically they were Chinese, Koreans or even Portuguese.

WHERE WOKOU COME FROM AND WHAT THEY WERE

The origins of any pirate movement can be found in several coinciding conditions. Initially, Japan was more of a victim of pirate raids, but by the Middle Ages its coastal regions became a breeding ground for piracy for the entire region. And there were many reasons for this: the Japanese were familiar with the sea from ancient times, many of them were fishermen and traders, and at the same time the land of this country was not fertile, so hunger seemed almost more familiar than abundance.

In medieval Japan, there was no strong centralized government, which meant that the local government could not fight piracy. In addition, foreigners could not solve the problem simply by negotiating with the "most important" in the country or among the pirates; there were so many gangs and local feudal lords that in fact no one represented Japan in international politics, and there was no one to make demands either. At some point, this pissed off the Chinese and Korean rulers so much that they wanted to solve the problem radically: by capturing all of Japan in general, but the Mongol invasion made this plan unrealizable.

Japanese pirate robbery map

The rugged coastline, narrow straits and many islands played into the hands of wokou: the pirate fortress could be arranged so that it was difficult to find and almost impossible to take by storm. All this is very reminiscent of the story with another trading and pirate nation, the ancient Greeks. Just like the Hellenes, the wokou loved innovation and military tricks: they often had the best ships, and not the government, besides, it was the pirates, not the samurai, who were the first to appreciate gunpowder, bombs and guns.

Initially, poor fishermen and traders became pirates, but already in the Middle Ages, the wokou became organized criminals with good equipment, a developed hierarchy, their own coats of arms and their own "kings". The ethnic composition also changed: by the New Time, Chinese and Koreans began to be massively recruited in wokou, so that 9 out of 10 "Japanese robbers" were foreigners, but robbed under their leadership. And later, the Chinese pirate gangs and their captains pushed the Japanese even into the waters of their own country.

WHAT IS WOKOU FAMOUS

The wokou's manner of attacking quickly and immediately killing as many people as possible seemed to the victims a confirmation of the demonic nature of the bandits. A Chinese author poetically describes pirates as "a multitude of dancing butcher knives, suddenly appearing and disappearing like flying monsters." Those, in turn, always tried to confirm their status as ghosts and devils: in the captured villages, they used incredibly cruel torture and destroyed everything that they could destroy, especially sanctuaries and temples.

In Korea and China, Japanese pirates were considered more dangerous and devastating than the steppe hordes. Moreover, this is completely justified, since it was possible to negotiate with the steppe inhabitants or buy off immediately, without leading to an invasion, while it was much more difficult to make a deal with the wokou. They preferred an honest robbery to Dani, and considered local residents exclusively as potential slaves. Having plundered the coast, they went inland and could, for example, reach the capital of Korea, Seoul, plundering and destroying everything in their path.

In addition, the pirates had an obvious advantage: the Japanese quarters in Korea and China always sided with the wokou and constantly provided information and shelter, and in addition, they could open the gates of a besieged fortress or even raise a riot. Any pirate felt at home in foreign cities, if only there was a Japanese enclave.

Japan's invasion of Korea in 1592, dubbed the "Imdin War", was the culmination of wokou's activities. This war was organized by the Japanese government and regular troops participated, but practically the entire fleet and a significant part of the army were pirate. The pirate kings and their subjects were brought in as the strike force of the operation. Unsurprisingly, for the Koreans, this invasion did not seem like a military campaign, but a massive invasion of sea robbers. For ordinary peasants, there was no difference, except for the incredible scale: Korea was able to fight back, but lost half of its entire population and many cities were simply destroyed.

WEAPONS AND ARMOR WOKOU

The Wokou were pirates, not warriors, so they put mobility over protection. Ordinary sailors dressed in only one underwear or kimono, occasionally allowing themselves a bib; wokou officers wore nearly full armor, with the exception of greaves, often leaving their legs bare altogether. It may seem strange, but the reason is that the pirates preferred not to land ashore, but immediately jump from ships in shallow water. Any pants and shoes would only get in the way in the raid.

The officer could also be identified by the fan with which he gave orders to subordinates, as well as by all kinds of horns, masks and ornaments that served to intimidate. Wokou were very fond of psychologically suppressing the enemy, they often very theatrically portrayed themselves as ghosts and demons, made eerie sounds and even performed whole performances in order to break the spirit of those with whom they fought.

The main weapon in the pirate's arsenal was the samurai katana; many even used two swords at the same time. Soon after becoming familiar with gunpowder, most pirates began to actively use arquebus and projectile bombs, horoku. Boarding devices were also used: chains with hooks, long spears-yari and halberds-naginata. Many of the wokou were excellent at archery and therefore the first phase of boarding looked like a shower of bullets, arrows and bombs.

WOKOU SHIPS

Vokou used all types of ships: from fragile vessels to huge flagships. The greatest preference was given to vessels that were roomy and capable of long-distance sea crossings.

The most common type of pirate ship is the Kemminsen, essentially a merchant ship converted for raids. As a rule, two towers for shooters were completed on Kemminsen, at the bow and stern, respectively.

Another type of ship popular with the wokou was the Akebune, which was a floating fortress: huge, with powerful wooden walls on the sides. On one such it was possible to transfer an entire pirate gang along with the loot.

Sekibune is a simplified and lightweight version of the attackebune. Plus, instead of wooden walls, these ships were protected by simple bamboo partitions.

WOKOU AND SAMURAI CLANS

Over time, the pirates of medieval Japan began to play such a large role in the economy and politics of the country that many of them entered the ruling circles and even enjoyed honor and respect at the court of emperors and shoguns. Almost every samurai clan had connections among pirates, but for some feudal lords, sea robbery became the basis of prosperity and power.

For example, the Murakami clan was a completely pirate formation: the head of the clan was considered both the imperial governor of the province and the king of pirates, ships and soldiers openly bore the family coat of arms of the Murakami house, and their leader was crowned with a kind of shell-shaped helmet. The fortress on the island of Nosima, in which the headquarters of the feudal lord was located, was considered impregnable: powerful currents defended it no worse than walls and cannons.

Murakami Clan Pirate Base on Noshima Island

Another example of a pirate samurai clan is the Obama house, whose members were known as a few, but skillful sailors and robbers. Eventually they merged into another, more influential house and their activities began to be overseen and sponsored by the state. A unique case is the So clan, which was based in a fortress on the island of Tsushima, which at one time survived more than one invasion of the Korean army. This clan was a kind of bridge between legal trade and piracy: they managed to become allies at the same time for the wokou and the Chinese administration. Almost all of Japan's trade was controlled by the leader of the So clan, and the sea robbers paid tribute to them from their raids.

The Taira samurai, on the other hand, have become famous as the most successful fighters against piracy; in fact, they enriched themselves and gained influence at the court of the emperor by plundering robbers. However, such a close relationship with the criminals played a bad joke with Tyra: at some point, they began to sell the contraband obtained from the pirates, and then completely raided themselves.

HOW WOKOU HAS BEEN TAKENED

In the end, after a thousand years of existence and several hundred years of the heyday of Japanese piracy, the activity of wokou faded for many different reasons. First, the so-called "sword hunt", during which the new centralized power of the shoguns withdrew weapons from the "lower classes", from which the pirate gangs were recruited. Secondly, the same shoguns defeated and tamed their rivals, among whom were the samurai pirate clans.

But the hardest hit the pirates suffered was the isolationist policies adopted by Japan and China. Both countries approached the solution of the issue of pirates and foreign influence as radically as possible: foreign trade was prohibited, sailing outside the country was punishable by death, and any vessel other than fishing was destroyed by the government. Of course, the wokou did not disappear, but their activities shifted to Southeast Asia, where piracy exists even today.