During Song Dynasty China, Longquan celadon, which enjoyed a good reputation both in China and abroad, was exported to Japan. Wenzhou, a port located in the southeast of Zhejiang province, played an important role in the Longquan celadon export to Japan. Wenzhou has a long history of exchange with Japan. In the Yuan Dynasty, a Japanese monk landed at Wenzhou in order to learn Chinese Buddhism. Since then, although the friendly exchange between Wenzhou and Japan was at one time interrupted due to the harassment of Japanese pirates during the Ming Dynasty, the trade between Wenzhou and Japan developed at a fast rate. Merchant ships sailing from Wenzhou to Nagasaki increased rapidly from the time of the Kangxi period during the Qing Dynasty due to the ban on foreign trade（海禁） being lifted. These merchant ships sailing from Wenzhou to Nagasaki were described in a Japanese work called Kai hentai （華夷変態） written during the Edo Period. At present, research about the trade exchange between Wenzhou and Japan in ancient times, especially research that discusses the trading patterns between Wenzhou and Japan during the Edo Period is scarce. In this paper, the author will attempt to reconstruct the trading patterns between Wenzhou and Japan during the Edo Period by examining the records of the Kai Hentai.
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