The Ingenious Samurai Pirates Who Ruled the Asian Seas

The fascinating pirate history of the Wokou/Wako

Samurai Pirates — Source

From the mid-1300s to the mid-1500s, the Wokou/Wako — which roughly translates to Japanese or Asian pirates — ruled the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan.

Interestingly, Wako can also be translated to mean “Dwarf pirate”.