Yabitsu: A Midieval Port in Tsushima Island

Yabitsu: A Midieval Port in Tsushima Island

The medieval port of Yabitsu is located in an inlet at the northwest end of Tsushima Island. Yabitsu is geographically closest to the Korean peninsula, separated by the Korea Strait. It is difficult to use its small isolated hinterland as a field for farming because in the inlet, some stone-built remains, which seem to have been quay and jetty are present. Although no description on Yabitsu has been found in any Japanese historical materials, a few Korean documents have been discovered in the Korean peninsula. From these literal evidences, the port of Yabitsu looks to have been used as an inlet for anchorage in the first half of the 15th century. The name of the inlet appeared in ‘Song Hui-gyeong’s Chronicle’ written in 1420, which was known as ‘老松堂日本行録’ in Japan. This chronicle refers to the port of Yabitsu as ‘也音非梁 (Ya-i-hi-ryo)’, which is on the way to the village of Waniura in Tsushima island. Seongjong of Joseon, the 9th king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, recorded this port as ‘也音非道浦 (Ya-i-hi-do-ho)’ in his Annals of Joseon Dynasty written in 1499. The survey in 2018 showed that the port of Yabitsu had a long history from the 4th to 17th centuries with early Haji wares, Sue wares, Goryeo potteries, Chinese white porcelains, and old Karatsu wares being found, However, the exact date when the stone remains in the inlet were constructed and their entire structure have not been known yet, because no full-scale survey has been conducted so far. Additionally, we have not known the exact reason why the port was chosen to be built at Yabitsu. The survey on this port could contribute to restoring the maritime cultural landscape in Tsushima island, as well.

Kenzo Hayashida

The Museum of Underwater Archaeology

November 2021

English

Hayashida, Kenzo. 2021. “Yabitsu: A Medieval Port in Tsushima Island.” Edited by Brian Fahy, Hans Van Tilburg, Bill
Jeffery, T. Kurt Knoerl, and Riley Smith. In Proceedings of Fourth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater
Cultural Heritage: Keelung,Taiwan, and Virtual, November 1-5, 2021. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology URL:
https://apconf-much.org/proceedings/exhibits/show/apconf-muchproceedings/item/669

Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage