Update! Japan Banned Voyages to Both Ulleungdo and Dokdo in 1696

Who is Ikeuchi Satoshi?
Ikeuchi Satoshi (池内敏) is a prominent Japanese historian and professor emeritus at Nagoya University who is widely known for his research on the Takeshima / Dokdo territorial dispute between Japan and South Korea. Ikeuchi Satoshi specializes in early modern Japanese history and foreign relations during the Edo period. He is recognized by international scholars for analyzing the dispute from a neutral, highly detailed historical perspective. Because of his expertise he was given special access to the Otani family archives to review previous research from Kenzo Kawakami.

Professor Satoshi Ikeuchi of Nagoya University published a paper titled “Less Than a ‘Border’” in Issue 630 of *Japanese Historical Studies*, released in February 2015, in which he noted that the “Murakawa Family Documents” held at the Yonago City Library contain a passage reading “Prohibition on Crossing to Takeshima and Matsushima.” In this record Takeshima refers to Ulleungdo and Matsushima is Dokdo.

Because the Murakawa and Otani Clan both were issued voyage passes to Ulleungdo it was only natural Professor Satoshi Ikeuchi would assume the Ulleungdo Dokdo travel ban would extend to the Otani Clan as well. Through the professor’s research he confirmed thare was in fact a travel ban issued toward Matsushima (Dokdo) too. In his review of the Otani Clan records, here it what Professor Satoshi Ikeuchi wrote.

“…The document is a petition submitted in Genbun 6 (1741) by the fourth-generation Otani Kyū emon Katsufusa to the Edo Shogunate’s Commissioner of Accounts, seeking protection for his family’s business. Following the Genroku 9 (1696), the Genroku Ban on Voyages to Takeshima brought an end to the Ohtani family’s voyages to Takeshima (Ulleungdo).

The part of this historical document that deserves attention is this bold section. When asked by the Accountant-General,

Japanese Text:
竹嶋松嶋両嶋之渡海を御願奉申上内存ニ而有之哉と御尋御座候、依之私共申上候ハ、全以前之通両嶋之渡海之儀奉願候儀ニ而ハ無御座候、嶋渡海之儀者先年御制禁ニ被為仰付候上.

Translation:
“Do you intend to request permission to cross to both Takeshima and Matsushima Islands as before?”,

Otani Kyūemon reportedly replied, “I have absolutely no intention of requesting permission to cross to both islands as before. Crossing to the islands was prohibited by imperial decree several years ago…”

The Murakawa and Oya families were wealthy 17th-century merchants from Yonago, Japan. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate gave them official permission to sail to Ulleungdo Island (then known in Japan as Takeshima).They took turns traveling to the island every year. There, they built a thriving monopoly by catching abalone, hunting sea lions, and logging timber. Their voyages eventually expanded to include the Liancourt Rocks, which the Japanese called Matsushima (Dokdo)