『일본왕환일기』는 1596년 병신사행의 정사 황신이 저술한 통신사행록이다. 병신사행은 임진왜란의 와중에 일본에 파견된 통신사로, 표면적으로는 명의 책봉사를 호종하기 위해 파견되었으나 실제적으로는 일본의 현 정세를 파악하여 그들의 재침략 가능성을 탐지하는 것이 주목적이었다. 이에 따라 황신은 조선전기 통신사행록과는 다른 방식으로 사행기록을 남겼다. 우선 황신은 일기를 사행록의 서술체재로 선택하여 급변하는 일본의 정세를 신속하고도 정확하게 전달하고자 하였다. 그리고 일기의 말미에는 문견록의 형식을 수용하여 일본에 대한 종합적인 이해가 가능하도록 하였다. 『일본왕환일기』의 이러한 서술방식은 후대 통신사에게 영향을 미쳐, 조선후기에는 일기, 일기와 문견록이 결합한 형태가 통신사행록의 대표적인 체재로 자리잡았다. 한편 『일본왕환일기』는 조선후기 통신사행원들이 일본정보를 판단하는 준거가 되었다. 아울러 일본을 바라보는 황신의 인식과 그에 따른 서술 태도 역시 조선후기 통신사행록에 그대로 수용되었다. 이처럼 황신의 『일본왕환일기』는 조선후기 통신사행록의 형식적ㆍ내용적 전범이라 할 수 있다.

Ilbonwanghwan-ilgi (A Record of a Trip to Japan) is a Sahaeng-girok (Travel sketch) written by Hwang Shin that had been to Japan, following envoys of the Ming Dynasty. Especially, Ilbonwanghwan-ilgi is a record of a visit to an enemy country during a war and a work recording Japan by a method that could not be seen in Sahaeng-nok in the early Joseon period. Nevertheless, its volume was rough compared to other Sahaeng-nok, and its theme was not clear, so until now, no active research has been carried out. Sahaeng-nok during the early Joseon period was recorded by the king`s order or a need of the royal court, so it mainly contained limited information about Japan or was written in a direction that a necessary fact would be added to already known information. However, Ilbonwanghwan-ilgi, apart from the method of writing previous Sahaeng-nok, was recorded experiences in Japan in the form of a journal. Hwang Shin recorded every single experience in the journal so as to perceive Japan`s situations in the present time, accurately. He, also, explored a more variety of knowledge about Japan and left it in the form of Mungyeon-nok. Though it did not have an extra title of Mungyeon-nok, when the missions as an envoy ended, Hwang Shin arranged the forms of power, institutions, customs, flora and fauna of Japan on the back page of the journal, following a regular order. This method of description became a model of late Joseon Tongsinsa`s Sahaeng-nok. In addition, he recorded Mungyeon-nok, focusing on the heterogeneities between Joseon and Japan. Unlike early Joseon Tongsinsa`s Sahaeng-nok that aimed to maintain peaceful Gyorin (neighborly relations) System, Ilbonwanghwan-ilgi revealed Joseon`s hostility to Japan as well as the strained relationship between the two countries as it was. This perception of Japan, also, connected to late Joseon Tongsinsa`s Sahaeng-nok, intactly. In this sense, Ilbonwanghwan-ilgi is a material through which we can clearly understand the relationship between Joseon and Japan at the time, which was being transformed by Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592 and a work as an example of late Joseon Tongsinsa`s Sahaeng-nok.