In 1616, Murayama Tōan was directed by the Tokugawa Shogunate to invade Taiwan.^[28] This followed a first exploratory mission by Arima Harunobu in 1609. The objective was to establish a base for the direct supply of silk from China,^[29] instead of having to supply it from Portuguese-controlled Macao or Spanish-controlled Manila.

Murayama had a fleet of 13 ships and around 4,000 men, under the command of one of his sons. They left Nagasaki on 15 May 1616. The invasion attempt ended in failure however. A typhoon dispersed the fleet and put an early end to the invasion effort.^[30] The king of Ryukyu Sho Nei had warned Ming China of the Japanese intentions to capture the island and to use it as a trading base with China,^[29] but in any case only one ship managed to reach the island and it was repelled by local forces. The single ship was ambushed in a Formosan creek, and all her crew committed suicide ("seppuku") to avoid capture.^[28] Several ships diverted themselves to plunder the Chinese coast and are reported "to have killed above 1,200 Chinese, and taken all the barkes or junks they met withal, throwing the people overboard".^[31]