Trade between Japan and Ming China

At the end of the 9th century, Japan was prohibited from sending any more envoys (trade representatives) to Tang China. The trade ban was not lifted until many centuries later in Japan’s Muromachi period (1392-1573), when the Japanese Shogun (military ruler) Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent a ship to Ming China in 1401 (Oei 8, by the Japanese calendar). This marked the re-opening of trade relations between Japan and Ming China.