Ishin Sūden

[2] In March 1605, he became the 270th abbot of Nanzen-ji,[2][3] the highest position among the government temples, and received a purple robe from Emperor Go-Yōzei.

[2] Sūden oversaw the administration of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in the country alongside Itakura Katsushige, and was involved in a great many diplomatic affairs along with advisors Hayashi Razan and Honda Masazumi.

Sūden played an important role in negotiations with the Chinese Ming court over the reopening of trade and the problem of piracy.

He drafted a great many communications during this period, some of the more notable ones being rejections of the notion that the shogun should be referred to as a "king" (王, ō), as this would imply subordination to the Emperor of China and tributary status within the Sinocentric world order.

Sūden compiled all the diplomatic records of his period of service into the Ikoku nikki (Chronicle of Foreign Countries).