The Kentoshisen was a vessel for Japanese missions despatched a dozen times to ancient China during the Tang dynasty between the seventh and ninth centuries to bring back advanced culture from that country. Usually two to four Kentoshisen ships, each with over 120 persons on board, were organized for a single mission. The Kentoshisen appears to have been built with the technique of making large junks, developed in China. The exact size of the ship is not known, but from the number of crewmen and shipped items, it presumably was capable of loading 150 tons of goods. The shipbuilding yards were concentrated in the province of Aki (present Hiroshima Prefecture), where shipbuilding engineers appear to have been available. An advanced method of putting wickerwork sails to two masts was used. However unlike those of the improved ships developed in later periods, the sails were useless when the wind blew from abeam or ahead. When the direction of the wind was bad, the crew members had to scull the vessel, so the ships were fitted with thwarts for the sculls.
Sea Breezes May 1976.
Japan SG1406