Short Abstract

This paper analyzes question-and-answer records from shogunal inspections of Tsushima to to show how the domain controlled information about its Chosŏn diplomacy through repetition, partial explanation, and omission.

Long Abstract

Tsushima Domain played a central role in Tokugawa Japan’s diplomatic relations with Chosŏn Korea, yet the ways in which its diplomatic practices were questioned, explained, and recorded in interactions with the Tokugawa shogunate remain insufficiently examined. While incidents such as the Yanagawa affair (1635) have highlighted problems of diplomatic documentation, less attention has been paid to how Tsushima’s diplomacy was articulated in routine political settings.

This paper analyzes question-and-answer records produced during shogunal inspection missions (junkenshi) to Tsushima. Between 1633 and 1838, the shogunate dispatched such missions on nine occasions, with relatively detailed records surviving for the latter seven. These materials are preserved primarily in Tsushima-domain sources, while shogunal-side documentation is extremely limited. Rather than treating inspections as evidence of systematic supervision, this paper approaches the records as texts shaped by asymmetric knowledge and by Tsushima’s own modes of representation.

Focusing on questions concerning diplomatic documents, procedures, and past practices, the paper examines how inquiries were answered rather than assuming what the inspectors sought to achieve. Particular attention is paid to patterns of repetition, partial explanation, selective omission, and inconsistency within the recorded answers. Questions regarding the formats of diplomatic correspondence and the handling of Korean envoys recur across multiple inspections without leading to standardized clarification, suggesting that certain ambiguities were sustained rather than resolved.

The analysis demonstrates that shogunal inspection questioning did not necessarily produce transparency regarding Tsushima’s diplomatic practices. Instead, the records reveal ongoing efforts to manage and limit the information presented to shogunal representatives. By foregrounding the dynamics of questioning and answering, this paper reframes shogunal–domain interaction not as a simple relationship of supervision and compliance, but as an ongoing process of negotiation conducted under conditions of limited and asymmetric knowledge. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on the operation of diplomacy at the domain level in early modern Japan.