Gateway to Japan: Hakata in War and Peace (500-1300)

By: Bruce L. Batten

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Synopsis: Addresses the below questions - How and why did Hakata-rather than some other point along the "natural" route from the Asian continent to central Japan- become Japan's gateway? What, in other words, determined the location of Japan's boundaries-geography, politics, or both? Was all contact with the outside world channeled through this single route, or were there other avenues of communication? If so, how important were they? How and why did communication routes change over time? What was the actual level of traffic through Hakata or other portals? More broadly, was Japan essentially a closed social system, or was it part of a larger, regional (or global) zone of interactions? How and why did the level of cross-border traffic change over time? What types of interaction predominated in different historical periods? Was all interaction peaceful, as Fukuoka's self-image implies, or were there periods of tension or war? Finally, and most fundamentally, why did "foreigners" come to Japan, and how did Japanese people deal with them?