Japanese Shogunate Trade Licensing System

Timeline

1. 1601–1604Edo · JapanAfter the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu began issuing red-sealed permits to designated merchant ships in 1601, and by 1604 the system was formally institutionalized. The shogunate used it to replace the Muromachi-era kakō trade, authorizing private merchants to sail while effectively controlling overseas voyaging.
2. 1604–1635Japanese and Southeast Asian ports · Southeast AsiaBetween 1604 and 1635, over three hundred shuinjō were issued; permit holders regularly sailed to Annam (Vietnam), Siam (Thailand), Luzon (the Philippines), Cambodia, and Taiwan. The years 1621–1630 marked the system's peak, with Japanese settlements in each port reaching populations of several thousand; red-seal ship merchants such as Yamada Nagamasa even held high office in Siam. Japan exported silver, copper, and swords, and imported raw silk, spices, and deerskin.
3. 1635–1641Nagasaki · KyushuTokugawa Iemitsu issued the third sakoku edict in 1635, banning Japanese from sailing abroad and overseas Japanese from returning, effectively ending the shuinjō system. The Portuguese were expelled in 1639, and in 1641 the Dutch East India Company was relocated to Dejima in Nagasaki, finally establishing the Nagasaki-only 'four-port trade' control regime that replaced the earlier decentralized shuinjō licensing mechanism.