Chart of the Japanese Embassies to the Ming Court
| Voyage number | Year arrived in China | Chief Ambassador | Number of vessels | Comments |
| 1 | 1401 (Jianwen 3; Ōei 8) | Soa 祖阿 | Returned to Japan in 1402 with Ming ambassadors Tianlun Daoyi 天倫道彝 and Yian Yiru 一庵一如 | |
| 2 | 1403 (Yongle 1; Ōei 10) | Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 | Returned to Japan in 1404 with Ming with Ming ambassadors Zhao Juren 趙居任, Zhang Hong 張洪, and monk Daocheng 道成; brought “Yongle tallies” | |
| 3 | 1404 (Yongle 2; Ōei 11) | Myōshitsu Bonryō 明室梵亮 | First tally vessel, returned to Japan in 1405 with Ming ambassador Yu Shiji 俞士吉 | |
| 4 | 1405 (Yongle 3; Ōei 12) | (Minamoto no Michikata 源通賢) | On orders of Ming emperor, repatriated captured Chinese pirates; returned to Japan in 1406 with Ming ambassadors Pan Ci 潘賜 and Wang Jin 王進 (eunuch) | |
| 5 | 1406 (Yongle 4; Ōei 13) | Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 | Tribute mission of gratitude to the Ming; returned to Japan in 1407 with Ming ambassador | |
| 6 | 1407 (Yongle 5; Ōei 14) | Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 | With a embassy of 73, Keimitsu paid tribute and returned captured pirates | |
| 7 | 1408 (Yongle 6; Ōei 15) | Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 | With an embassy of over 100, Keimitsu paid tribute, offered captured pirates, and returned to Japan in 1409 with Ming ambassor Zhou Quanyu 周全渝 due to Yoshimitsu’s death | |
| 8 | 1410 (Yongle 8; Ōei 17) | Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 | Mission of thanks for installation of new shogun Yoshimochi 義持; returned to Japan in 1411 with Ming ambassador Wang Jin, who was presented from reaching the capital | |
| 9 | 1433 (Xuande 8; Eikyō 5) | Ryūshitsu Dōen 龍室道淵 | 5 | Emassay of 220; returned to Japan in 1434 with “Xuande tallies”; accompanied by Ming ambassadors Pan Ci and Lei Chun 雷春 |
| 10 | 1435 (Xuande 10; Eikyō 7) | Jochū Chūsei 恕中中誓 | 6 | Returned to Japan in 1436 with remaining “Yongle tallies” |
| 11 | 1453 (Jingtai 4; Kyōtoku 2) | Tōyō Inpō 東洋允澎 | 9 | Embassy of 1200 (of whom over 350 reached the capital; returned to Japan in 1454 with “Jingtai tallies” |
| 12 | 1468 (Chenghua 4; Ōnin 2) | Tenyo Seikei 天與清啓 | 3 | Returned left over “Jingtai tallies” to Ming and returned to Japan in 1469 with “Chenghua tallies”; |
| 13 | 1477 (Chenghua 13; Bunmei 9) | Jikuhō Myōbō 竺芳妙茂 | 3 | Embassy of 300, returned to Japan in 1478 |
| 14 | 1484 (Chenghua 20; Bunmei 16) | Ryōhaku Shūi 了璞周瑋 | 3 | Returned to Japan in 1485 |
| 15 | 1495 (Hongzhi 8; Meiō 4) | Gyōbu Jumei 堯夫壽蓂 | 3 | Returned to Japan in 1496 with “Hongzhi tallies” |
| 16 | 1509 (Zhengde 4; Eishō 6) | (Song Suqing 宋素卿) | 1 | Solo Hosokawa mission |
| 17 | 1511 (Zhengde 6 Eishō 8) | Ryōan Keigo 了庵桂悟 | 3 (2 Ōuchi; 1 Hosokawa) | Party of 600; returned to Japan in 1513 with “Zhengde tallies”; returned leftover tallies from the Jingtai and Chenghua eras |
| 18 | 1523 (Jiajing 2 Daiei 3) | Sōsetsu Kendō
宗設謙道
Rankō Zuisa 鸞岡瑞佐 |
3 Ōuchi 1 Hosokawa | Ōuchi had over 100 in party; Hosokawa had over 100; each domain sent own chief ambassador; parties clashed at Ningbo |
| 19 | 1539 (Jiajing 18; Tenmon 8) | Koshin Sekitei 湖心碩鼎 | 3 | Party of 456; solo Ōuchi mission; returned to Japan in 1541; vice-ambassador was Sakugen Shūryō |
| 20 | 1547 (Jiajing 26; Tenmon 16) | Sakugen Shūryō 策彥周良 | 4 | Party of 637; Ōuchi vessels; returned Hongzhi and Zhengde tallies; returned to Japan in 1549 |
Sources:
1) Sakuma Shigeo 佐久間重男, “Chūsei: Sō Gen Min jidai no Nit-Chū bunka kōryū,” 中世：宋元明時代の日中文化交流 (Medieval era: Sino-Japanese cultural exchange during the Song-Yuan-Ming dynasties), pp. 220-21. . In Nit-Chū bunka kōryū shi sōsho, vol. 1: Rekishi 日中文化交流史叢書１：歴史 (Compendium of the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange, vol. 1: History), ed. Ōba Osamu 大庭修 and Wang Xiaoqiu 王曉秋, pp. 164-253 (Tokyo: Taishūkan shoten, 1995).
2) Yamane Yukio 山根幸夫, Chūgoku no rekishi 7: Min Teikoku to Nihon 中国の歴史７：明帝国と日本 (History of China, vol. 7: The Ming empire and Japan) (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1977), p. 56.
3) Tanaka Takeo 田中健夫, Wakō to kangō bōeki 倭冦と勘合貿易 (The "Japanese" pirates and the tally trade) (Tokyo: Shibundō, 1961, rpt. 1966).
4) Tanaka Takeo 田中健夫, “Ken-Min shi,” 遣明使 (Embassies to the Ming court). In Kokushi dai jiten 国史大辞典 (Encyclopedia of Japanese history), 5:225-26 (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan, 1985).
5) Sakuma Shigeo 佐久間重男, Nichi-Min kankei shi no kenkyū, 日明関係史の研究 (Studies in the history of Ming-Japan relations), pp. 154-55 (Tokyo: oshikawa kōbunkan, 1992).
6) Zheng Liangsheng 鄭樑生, Min-Nichi kankei shi no kenkyū 明・日関係史の研究 (Studies in the history of Ming-Japanese relations) (Tokyo: Yūzankaku shuppan, 1985), pp. 68-69.
7) Kobata Atsushi 小葉田淳, Chūsei Nis-Shi tsūkō bōeki no kenkyū 中世日支通行貿易史の研究 (Studies in the history of Sino-Japanese diplomacy and trade in the medieval era) (Tokyo: Tōkō shoin, 1941).
Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Articulating the Sinosphere: Sino-Japanese Relations in Space and Time by Joshua A. Fogel, pp. 102-107, 110-113, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 2009 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.