Wokou (; Japanese: わこう Wakō; Korean: 왜구 Waegu), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea. Wokou came from a mixture of ethnicities. The term Wokou is a combination of Wō (倭) referring to "dwarves" or Japanese, and kòu (), meaning "bandit".