For several months every year, when the trade winds allowed Chinese and Japanese ships to arrive, a vibrant marketplace would appear in the port, and Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese merchants engaged in trading a wide variety of goods. Among other factors which contributed to its prosperity, Hội An was well-placed to serve as a neutral port where Chinese and Japanese could trade without violating the Ming "hai jin" ban. During the rest of the year, members of the Japanese community in the port city prepared for the market by gathering goods from Chinese and Vietnamese merchants according to the particular demands of the Japan-based merchants who would be arriving with the ships.