Self-governing peoples of Korea and Japan

Who rules

Name

not known as a single head

Title

Council of equals (tō, a league of small warrior families)

Family

Matsura families with a Saga Genji claim, and boat-warrior followers

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia (Matsura clan) describes the Matsura-tō as petty military families of Hizen with roots in the 11th century; the league as a written document is of the 13th century (brief).

Overlord

nominally the Dazaifu and Kamakura's constable; neither exercises day-to-day rule on the coast

What the realm holds

• The Matsura coast of Hizen: Hirado, Ikitsuki, the Karatsu bay and the Kashima shore
• The Gotō islands (Fukue, Naru, Wakamatsu and the northern isles)

How it was acquired

Local descent: families of the 11th century onward holding as stewards (jitō and gesu) of the estates of the coast.

Allies and rivals

Allied by marriage and shipping with the Munakata priests and the Hakata merchants; rivals of the Kanzaki and Saga estates inland.

The realm that morning

No war in force. The coast is quiet; the Song ships go to Hakata, not to the Matsura harbours. No raiding of Korea is recorded before 1223.

Wealth

Freight, fish, salt, the escort of merchant ships; their reputation for taking cargo is later.

Military

Boat-warriors in small ships; no numbers in any source we could read.

Threats

• A Kamakura constable or a Dazaifu steward who tries to hold the coast (the Shōni, later)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1223Goryeo's record names Japanese raiders on its coast (the earliest wakō notice)Depends on: The Matsura shipmen are among the raiders, per later tradition Stopped by: n/a

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: One English Wikipedia page and the brief; the Matsura-tō's own documents are of the 13th century and later.

On the map: The extent of the league's reach in 1200 is not pinned; the block is the later Matsura country.