Korean Embassy to Japan, 1655, attributed to Kano Toun Yasunobu.
The Joseon Tongsinsa were goodwill missions sent intermittently, at the request of the resident Japanese authority, by Joseon Dynasty Korea to Japan. The Korean noun identifies a specific type of diplomatic delegation and its chief envoys. From the Joseon diplomatic perspective, the formal description of a mission as a tongsinsa signified that relations were largely “normalized,” as opposed to missions that were not called tonginsa.
