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영어

For 157 years, from Keicho(慶長) 12(1607) to Meiwa(明和) 1st (1764), on 23 occasions the Ryukyu Processional Delegation and the Korean Processional Envoys passed through Osaka and Nagoya to reach Edo. The Japanese people who observed these processions were able to distinguish the differences between the Ryukyu people and the Korean people. However, after the Meiwa (明和) 1st(1764), the delegation from Korea stopped coming to Osaka and Edo. For 86 years from Meiwa 1st year(1764) to Kaei(嘉永) 3rd year(1850), only the Ryukyuan delegation came to participate in the processions for a total of 9 times. In Japan, as memories of the Korean delegation processions faded away, the Japanese people found it more difficult to distinguish the Ryukyu people from the Korean people. The eyes of the professional painters were sharp, however, and they excelled in observing, depicting, and distinguishing such differences as the attire, behavior, and culture of the people in the Ryukyuan delegation and the Korean delegation. The Japanese people did not necessarily distinguish such differences because to the Japanese there was only a general awareness of “foreigners” and “foreign countries.” The country which most Japanese people were familiar with as a “foreign country” was “Ryukyu.” In the Japanese mind then, when drawing an illustration of "Ryukyu" it was not necessity to draw specific Ryukyuan images. People came to regard "foreigners” vaguely as “people from Tang(唐人)” During this time, the culture of Edo flourished; Kabuki plays were in fashion, and people read and purchased illustrated books in increasing numbers. International consciousness spread more widely among people as foreign countries became much more familiar and common among the general public. “The festival of Tang people(唐人祭り)” and “the people dance from Tang(唐人踊 り)” were handed down in various places in Japan. The term “people of Tang” will be discussed in more details later. In this paper, I describe a delegation from Korea which passed through Nagoya in Horeki(宝暦) 14th year, Meiwa(明和) 9th year, Bunka(文化) 4th year and Tenpo(天保) 3rd year. In particular, the way in which the procession was viewed by local spectators is clearly shown in an illustrated picture-book(drawn in Nagoya) in those days. Further, I explain how certain aspects of the Ryukyuan delegation and the Korean delegation may be confused or unintentionally misrepresented in illustrations.