Japan’s foreign trade in the late Heian period (10th and 11th centuries) was entirely with China and Korea, or with states located in what are now China and Korea. Trade goods were varied, but a lot of the trade was high-level cultural products (books and objects related to Buddhism) coming from the continent and raw materials and exotic substances coming back from Japan. The 10th and 11th centuries are about the time that trade relations are starting to slip out of the control of the court and the so-called tribute system and become more “normal” trade.

Most of what we know about the early period is official trade between the various courts. These would be missions from various states in what is now Korea or China. Japan refers to the imperial government although Bielenstein does refer to an Ainu delegation that came to China in 659. (pg 104)

These were diplomatic missions that involved an exchange of gifts, and also included a large number of people who were just there for the trading. The Japanese missions to Tang China would include hundreds of members, many of whom would get no farther than Yangzhou, near the coast, where they would hang out and trade, waiting for the more official mission to go to the capital of Changan and back. (pg 17-18-all cites to Verschuer book, unless otherwise noted.) The Korean (Silla) mission to Japan in 752 included 700 members, with only 370 being official members of the mission and the rest, presumably merchants. (pg. 11-12)

The Koreans brought medicines, dyes, aromatics, mirrors, felt rugs housewares made of white copper, ritual implements and pilgrim walking sticks, combs, belts, and fire prisms (crystals used to light fires)

The Korean delegates of 703 were given brocade and plain silk to take home for their ruler, and in 770 the Korean delegates were given plain woven silk and silk floss as personal gifts. (You don’t seem to often get lists of all the gifts and items on both sides for an individual mission.)

You will note that there seem to be basic goods going from Japan to the continent, and elite “civilized” goods going back. The Japanese were very interested in getting books from China (by 831 there were copies of 1,500 Chinese works in Japan, estimated to be about 1/3 of the literature in China pg 19) Individual Japanese went to China to study, and the Japanese court was always eager to get Chinese and Korean people to come and spread their knowledge in Japan. A Korean monk who came from the Korean state of Koguryo in 625 was promptly promoted to abbot, and the Japanese delegates of 653 were promoted in rank upon their return for their success in obtaining Chinese books. (pg. 8)

All of this early trade was at least in theory part of the so-called tribute system. (This is a problematic concept with a growing historiography.) Tribute missions would come to China drawn by the majesty of Chinese culture and civilization, pay tribute to the Chinese emperor and receive gifts in return. The emperor would confirm remote rulers in their offices, and the population of the Chinese capital would be entertained by the foreigners and weird animals parading through the streets. Any “trade” that went on was strictly incidental, at least from a Chinese perspective.

This system was problematic for Japan from the start. How do Korea/Japan exchanges fit in? Do the Japanese rulers really need or want to be confirmed in their offices by Chinese rulers? (Increasingly not) Also, the demand for trade outside the diplomatic system was growing. This was more true in China and Korea, but even in Japan the economy eventually became more commercialized.

By the 9th century Chinese and Koreans were coming to Japan to trade goods, having only the most tenuous connection to the official system at home. This might lead them being sent home, or force them to make up some story about being blown of course on their way somewhere else, but the Japanese wanted foreign goods, so even a simple letter to the court (or a connection to a Buddhist monastery) might get you in.

The Koreans or Chinese would be hosted by the Kyushu headquarters, the court’s official representative in Kyushu, who would pay for goods in gold dust and in theory all of the goods coming in were under the control of the Japanese court, who would get first dibs on things and then distribute them as gifts all over Japan. Edicts of 831, 841 885, 895 and 895 forbade members of the nobility from competing with the court to get hold of the goods coming into Kyushu (pg. 35), but, as Verschuer points out, if you are repeating an edict that often, people are probably disobeying it. Traders from the continent might deal outside of the official system. In 1028 a Chinese named Zhou Wenyi came to Japan and traded cloves, writing paper, lapis, and Indian myrobalans among other things, for sapanwood, orpiment, verdigris and other things. This trade was handled by the Munikata shrine, which was under the patronage of Minister Fujiwara no Sanesuke (pg. 42)

All of this still sounds a bit like elite gift exchanges. Vershauer points out that archologists have found lots of Chinese and Korea porcelain from these periods in Japan, but that this is almost never mentioned in the written sources. There were mentions of people trading outside of the official places and systems, but of course we know almost nothing about them. Exchanges were growing, however, and becoming more “commercial”

Vershauer calls the 12th century the beginning of the age of free trade, with Japanese and continental merchants going back and forth buying and selling for the purpose of profit, The Japanese economy was becoming more commercialized. Chinese coins were a major import into Japan (something that the Chinese court wanted to stop). Japanese swords, paper and lacquerware became popular luxury goods in China. By this point the economic relationship looks more like one of “normal” trade.

Bielenstein, Hans. Diplomacy and Trade in the Chinese World, 589-1276. Brill, 2018.

Verschuer, Charlotte von. Across the Perilous Sea: Japanese Trade with China and Korea from the Seventh to the Sixteenth Centuries. Cornell East Asia Series, 133. Ithaca, NY: East Asia Program, Cornell University, 2006.

Verschuer, Charlotte von. “Japan’s Foreign Relations 600 to 1200 A.D.: A Translation from Zenrin Kokuhο̄ki.” Monumenta Nipponica 54, no. 1 (1999): 1–39.

During the 10th and 11th centuries, Japan had trade relationships with a number of foreign countries, including China, Korea, and the Southeast Asian kingdoms of Srivijaya and Java.

1. China: Japan had a long history of cultural exchange with China, and during the 10th and 11th centuries, the two countries engaged in a significant amount of trade. Japan imported a variety of goods from China, including ceramics, metalwork, and textiles, and exported a range of products, including swords and other metal products.
2. Korea: Japan also had trade relationships with Korea, and imported a variety of goods from the Korean Peninsula, including metalwork, ceramics, and textiles.
3. Srivijaya and Java: Japan also had trade relationships with the Southeast Asian kingdoms of Srivijaya and Java, which were located in modern-day Indonesia and Malaysia. These kingdoms were important centers of Buddhist learning, and Japan imported a variety of Buddhist texts and other cultural items from these regions.

I hope this information is helpful in giving you an idea of the foreign countries that Japan had trade relationships with during the 10th and 11th centuries. Let me know if you have any further questions!