02 : From Vessels of War to Vessels of Leisure

The two vessels bearing a lozenge emblem on their sails represent ships used by naval forces—and by seaborne bands commonly termed kaizoku—during the Sengoku (Warring States) period, Deployed as warships at Shimizu, they were fitted with loopholes for muskets and arrows, and their side bulwarks could be folded down to permit boarding of enemy craft. Contemporary doctrine favored seizure rather than destruction: enemy vessels were taken as prizes whenever possible, and crews were captured alive. The larger type carried cannon. The large model shown here is an atake-bune , a class of very large warship that appeared in the late Sengoku era.

With the consolidation of peace under Tokugawa Ieyasu, martial craft gave way to vessels of ceremony and leisure. When Ieyasu resided at Sunpu Castle in Shizuoka, he used a roofed gozabune—a refitted former warship with tatami-matted quarters. Sources record that he sat aboard to view Mount Fuji, enjoy sake, and receive distinguished guests, at times proceeding as far as the Miho Peninsula. In effect a shogunal or daimyō cruiser, the gozabune provided a precedent for later pleasure boats known as yakatabune (“pavilion boats”), the term deriving from yakata, the pavilion or audience hall where a lord was present.

Guard vessels accompanied the gozabune, crewed by samurai who patrolled the surrounding waters and conveyed maneuvering signals by voice and drum. Taken together, these craft trace a historical arc from vessels of war to vessels of leisure, the changing silhouettes upon Shimizu’s waters reflecting shifts in political order and maritime life.

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