After the abolition of the embassies to China, in the Japanese aristocratic society, in which an isolation policy was practiced based on a petit Sino centrism, there were accumulated discontent with and criticism of the tribute trade because Japan was treated as vassal to the emperors of Ming; but, as the aristocrats were not able to speak out publicly in the face of the Yoshimitsu's strong influence, they could do nothing but comment on their dissatisfaction in diaries or other documents.
遣唐使の廃止以来、独自の小中華思想に基づく孤立政策を採っていた公家社会では明皇帝の臣下となる朝貢貿易に対して不満や批判が多くあったが、義満の権勢の前では公な発言ができず日記などに記すのみであった。