뉴스레터

The reason people from Joseon came to settle down in Japanese society during the Edo period was because they had originally been brought to Japan as piroin (被虜人), or captives of the Imjin War of 1592-1598. A majority of those war captives ended up in the areas of Kyushu (九州), Chūgoku (中國), and Shikoku (四國) where many Japanese feudal lords known as daimyō participated in the invasion of Joseon. That is why relatively more piroin wound up in western Japan. Many of them chose to stay there in villages named "Tojin-machi" (唐人町) or "Korai-machi" (高麗町) that were actually designated to accommodate Joseon piroin who became Japanese residents.

Among such people from Joseon, some went on to make notable achievements or became influential figures in Japanese society. The most well-known would be ceramists (陶祖) like Sim Su-gwan and Yi Sam-pyeong who each created Satsuma ware and Arita ware that now represent Japanese pottery all over the world. Then there was Bak Ho-in from Joseon who introduced tofu to Kōchi Prefecture (高知縣) in Shikoku (四國).

Fame Gained from Tofu

About 100 meters south of the Harimaya Bridge runs the Kagamigawa (鏡川) River through the town of Kōchi (高知市) at Kōchi Prefecture, and along that river was a Tojin-machi. During the Imjin War, Kōchi Prefecture was under the rule of a daimyō by the name of Chosokabe Motochika (長宗我部元親) who attacked Ungcheon Fortress (熊川城) in Joseon's South Gyeongnam Province. Bak Ho-in (朴好仁) and his family traveled from Gyeongju to Ungcheon Fortress as reinforcement, only to be captured there by Motochika. When they were first brought over to the Japanese prefecture known as the Tosa Province back then, they were placed nearby Motochika's Urado Castle. Apart from 30 of Bak Ho-in's family members, there were approximately 350 more captives who had been brought from Joseon. According to the record "Tosa monogatari" (土佐物語) authored near the end of the seventeenth century, Motochika took pity on eighty or so of the captives from Joseon. So he had houses built for them that went on to form a village named Tojin-machi (唐人町) where they spent the rest of their lives making and selling tofu (豆腐). Bak Ho-in was the leader (軍將) among them, so he was respectfully treated as an honored guest. His son Won-hyeok (元赫) became Motochika's koshō (小姓), an assistant samurai who accompanies the lord and takes care of all sorts of tasks, and his daughter became the maid of Motochika's lawful wife.

When Motochika was defeated in the Battle of Sekigahara (関ヶ原) in 1600, the Toso Province was assigned to another daimyō named Yamanouchi Kazutoyo (山內一豊). Kazutoyo exempted Bak Ho-in's family from feudal labor and especially bestowed on them 3 tan (反) of land in Nagahama (長浜). Even to this day, there is a place called Tojin yashiki (唐人屋敷跡) nearby Katsurahama (桂浜), Urado (浦戶) and the place name Tojinmachi still exists in the Nagahama area. When Kazutoyo moved his residence from Urado to Kōchi, he bestowed Bak Ho-in's family with a house the size of 221㎡ beside the Kagamigawa River and relocated other piroin to the area as well. The exclusive right to produce and sell tofu was given to Bak Ho-in's family so that no one else was allowed to sell tofu in or around the castle. In exchange, the family was to offer 2 mai (枚) of silver as a New Year's gift, so the family monopolized tofu sales up until end of the Edo period. And that was how a village of Joseon captives was formed on the Kagamigawa River's northern coast under the name Tojin-machi.

Joseon Tofu as Food for Japanese Commoners

On the origin of tofu, Kaizashu (皆山集) written in the early Meiji period mentions that "the desendents of a Joseon piroin named Bak Ho-in (朴候仁) first made tofu while living in Tojin-machi. Although it is now made in many other places, they are no match for the taste of tofu made in Tojin-machi." This shows that even in the modern Meiji period, Bak Ho-in and his descendents were still known as the creators of tofu from Kōchi prefecture. And it was Joseon people at Tojin-machi who disseminated and established tofu as a popular common cooking ingredient among the Japanese to this day. The introduction of tofu to Japan actually goes back to the ancient Nara or Heian period, but it had been a rare item only consumed by the nobility and high-ranking officials around the capital in some parts of the Kiani (畿內) area. So the Joseon-style tofu made by piroin in Kōchi prefecture and its spread to neighboring societies was a transformative case that made an impact on the Japanese diet.

The type of tofu the Japanese enjoy eating nowadays is soft, but the type produced at Tochin-machi was hard enough to be tied with string for transportation. The same kind of hard tofu is called "Tojin tofu" (唐人豆腐) and is still made in the Ōtoyo-chō area located on the border of Tokushima Prefecture to the north of Kōchi prefecture. The tofu shop in Tojin-machi run by Bak Ho-in's descendents can no longer be found, but up until a certain point before Japan lost the Pacific War, Tojin-machi used to be filled with the scent of tofu since it has been the city of Kōchi's specialty.

Bak Ho-in was treated with considerable respect from the fact that he used to be a military leader in Joseon and from being recognized for contributing to the dissemination of tofu-making skills. Nevertheless, he did not stay in Tosa province and eventually returned to Joseon after moving around several times in Japan. After leaving Tosa province, he relied upon the daimyō Kato Yoshiaki (加藤嘉明) of Iyo (伊予), today's Ehime prefecture. He was later bestowed with a house where he bore two more children in Hiroshima (廣島), which was ruled by Fukushima Masanori (福島正則) at the time. Then in 1617, when envoys from Joseon were visiting Japan, he followed them back to Joseon with his two children born in Hiroshima. Meanwhile, Bak Ho-in's eldest son Bak Won-hyeok remained in Tosa province, married the maid of Yamanouchi Kazutoyo's wife, and had four sons with her. He later changed his surname to Akizuki (秋月) and his first name to Chojiro (長次郞), which was again changed to Nagazaemon (長左衛門). His descendents prospered after his death in 1652. Bak Won-hyeok's grave is located at Hitsuzan (筆山) which overlooks the streets of Tojin-machi.