Mines, ports and free markets

Wealth accumulated through trade with Ming China and Korea; the port repeatedly suffered warfare as the Ōuchi, Ōtomo, Ryūzōji, and Shimazu clans fought for control. After 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi restored it through Taikō urban planning, and it continued as a commercial port even under Kuroda clan rule.

In 1542, Matsuura Takanobu protected Ōshio and established the foundation of a trading port; in 1550, Portuguese ships arrived and southern barbarian trade began. The Matsuura incorporated wokou (Japanese pirates) and foreign merchants, leading international trade in northwestern Kyushu.

Succeeding Ōwada anchorage, it was developed as a Ming-Japan trade hub under Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Destroyed in the Ōnin-Bunmei War, its role as an international port shifted to Sakai. In the late Sengoku period, Ikeda Tsuneoki built Hyōgo Castle to control the port town; it was reorganized during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's era.

It formed a free city of merchants and prospered through commerce and maritime trade as a port city rivaling Sakai, Hakata, and Ōminato. After passing through the Nagashima Ikkō Ikki sphere, it fell under Oda and Toyotomi rule; after 1601, Honda Tadakatsu developed the castle town and harbor.

In 1571, Ōmura Sumitada opened it as a gateway for Portuguese trade and created six districts. In 1580, Nagasaki and Mogi were donated to the Society of Jesus; in 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi took direct control and established it as an overseas trading port.

One of the three great ports, it thrived as a commercial harbor with Echigo Fuchu and the Shinano region as its hinterland. Uesugi Kenshin protected it as a financial base; after the Uesugi clan's transfer, it served as an outer harbor under the castle-town policies of the Hori and Matsudaira clans.

As a relay port connecting the Japan Sea to Kyoto, it handled tribute rice, iron, and kelp; in the Sengoku period, it was compared to Sakai. Rulers changed successively from the Wakasa Takeda to the Asakura, Niwa, Asano, Kinoshita, and Kyōgoku clans.

It prospered as a center for Ming trade and southern barbarian trade, forming an autonomous city centered on the kaigō assembly and accumulating vast commercial capital. The Miyoshi and Oda Nobunaga valued its wealth and trade networks; after Nobunaga's rule, it was incorporated into the Toyotomi and Tokugawa regimes.

A key port on the Japan Sea side connecting the Kinai region to Hokuriku, it supported Asakura rule of Tsuruga in the Sengoku period. After Oda Nobunaga's 1570 Echizen invasion, rulers changed; through Hachiya Yoritsugu, Ōtani Yoshitsugu developed port functions and the castle town.

In the late medieval period, it thrived as a foreign trading port connecting to China, Ryukyu, and Southeast Asia, supporting Shimazu overseas commerce and control of southern Kyushu. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's pacification of Kyushu, it remained under Shimazu domain and was used as a controlled trading port.

Counted among the three great ports, it thrived as a transport hub connecting the Kuzu River basin to the Japan Sea. After the Asakura clan's collapse, the Morita family of the port authority cooperated with Oda Nobunaga and Shibata Katsuie in controlling ship traffic and conducting maritime reconnaissance.

A maritime and shipbuilding hub connecting Ise Bay's mouth to the Miya River system, it supported material transport for Ise Shrine. It passed from Kitabatake domain to Oda Ise rule; in the late Sengoku period, maritime merchants like the Kakuya family operated here and expanded into early-Edo vermillion-seal trading.