Dazaifu Heightens Vigilance Against Foreign Envoys (1240s)

Timeline

1. 1241–1246Tsushima Strait · Tsushima StraitAs the Mongol invasions of Goryeo continued, refugees, merchant ships, and war reports reached Kyushu via islands such as Tsushima and Iki. Dazaifu, in charge of western defense and receiving foreign envoys, began receiving intelligence on Mongol military expansion. After Güyük's accession in 1246, Amukan's renewed campaign against Goryeo further heightened vigilance in western Kyushu against arrivals from the sea.
2. 1246–1250Dazaifu · Chikuzen ProvinceAs a transit point for foreign envoys heading to the capital, Dazaifu imposed stricter inspections and quarantine on ships from the Korean Peninsula. There is no record of Mongol envoys formally arriving at Dazaifu in this period, but local guards intensified patrols along the western coast. This defense tradition later provided an institutional precedent for receiving the Mongol letter-bearing envoys in 1268 and for handling Yuan embassies thereafter.