Japan's Cotton Textile Exports to Chosŏn and The Structural Changes in Japan-Chosŏn Trade

This paper explores the origins of Japan's cotton textile exports to Chosŏn. Since the mid-18th century, the most significant export item in Japan's trade with Chosŏn had been Japanese copper. However, following the Meiji Restoration, changes in the Japanese government's copper distribution policy led to a deterioration in Tsushima Domain's conditions for procuring copper, resulting in a failure to deliver the copper owed to Chosŏn. While in seeking alternative export items, the Hundo, an official managing the Waegwan in Choryang, proposed the export of Western cotton textiles. Although Chosŏn had long imported Western cotton textiles through China, the import of Western goods had been prohibited since the 1866 French Disturbance (Byeong-in Yangyo). To circumvent this ban, the Hundo suggested manufacturing Western cotton textiles to conform to the specifications of Chosŏn’s traditional cotton textiles. Beginning in 1872, Bōekisho(the trade office) in collaboration with Mitsui's Echigoya began exporting cotton textiles produced to meet these specifications. This marked the shift in Japan's primary export from copper to cotton textiles. Subsequently, Japan's trade with Chosŏn became increasingly structured around the re-export of Western cotton products. Between 1873 and 1875, the export value of cotton textiles exceeded that of copper in Japan's total exports to Chosŏn. As a result, a trade structure emerged where Chosŏn’s exports of cowhide, grain, and marine products were exchanged for Japan’s exports of Western cotton textiles. This trade structure continued for some time even after the opening of Chosŏn’s ports.