In this innovative study, Jun Kimura integrates historical data with archaeological findings to examine a wide array of eleventh- through nineteenth-century ships from China, Korea, and Japan. Chinese junks and Japanese sailing ships were known throughout the world, and this work illustrates why their innovative designs have survived the centuries.

Kimura presents an extensive dataset of excavated coastal and oceangoing ships that traveled the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. Three detailed case studies include the Shinan and Quanzhou wrecks and the Takashima underwater site. Using travel documents, cargo manifests, iconographic paintings, and other descriptive resources, as well as the archaeological evidence of hull components, wooden timbers, and iron remains, Kimura sheds new light on East Asian shipbuilding traditions.