Japanese Encounters

The closure of Japan and Dutch traders

Japan

Gokasho are 5 most important ports

Much domestic maritime trade – no instant mention of overseas.Kyusho in Nagasaki is in far reaches of territory – cannot easily be reached by outsiders

Barred from importing goods from foreignersThis few merchants and landed classes – mainly subsistence labourersHowever it is a good port so acts as base for the few foreigners who are permitted.After massacre of Christians in 1638, no other foreigners allowed in without permissionVERY CLOSED OFF

1688 - Governor for foreign presence.

In 1688 another governor introduced specifically to monitor rising foreign presence.Their attitude to foreign trade is to exploit to their benefit and to the detriment of the foreigners.All foreigners, not just Japanese, have to submit to the total control of governors It is his responsibility to direct foreign trade.They are suspicious that all foreign presence could be troublesome and thus it is monitored strictly.Especially development of Christianity – evidently seen as ideological intruder.Only have very basic level of interpretation of foreign languages. No real effort made by interpreters to really learn them, just basicsReflects lack of desire to ACCOMDATE FOREIGNERS.Guard battalions used to keep foreigners in check.When foreign vessels arrive they are monitored by gaurad barges for duration of stay.Very thorough control of all areas – strict preventative measures to avoid any outbreak of struggle.aAlmost like police state – guards on streets

TOPICS

Portuguese Reaction to the PortugueseDutchWere the Japanese open to the Dutch?Daily LifeReligion

First Contact with Portugal

The first contact occurred in 1543 when a Portuguese ship was forced ashore on Japan’s western coast. Commercial relations were established soon afterwards. From 1600 onward, Japan started to participate actively in foreign trade. During the Tokugawa Era (1603-1867), early European travellers from several nations encountered the work-ethos of previously secluded Japan. Of the contemporary Dutch sources, the first, Francois Caron, was a Hugenot merchant who reached Japan around 1620 and stayed for almost 20 years. Until 1635, the Shogun issued numerous permits for the so-called "red seal ships" destined for the Asian trade.

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La Carabela - Sailing ships used by Spanish and

Portuguese explorers in the 1400-1500s.

Reaction against Portuguese attempts to penetrate Japan after 1639

In 1640 two Portuguese envoys sent from Macao were immediately arrested. 61 of the 73 persons were beheaded, 12 of the lowliest were sent to return to report their treatment and to communicate that even the Portuguese king or Christian God would receive no different treatment – their message never arrived backStory of a three decked galleon anchoring near Nagasaki, greedily gathering gold, silver and precious Japanese goods. Japanese gathered large force of people and innumerable ships, seeking to exterminate all the foreigners. The crew defended themselves fiercely blowing up Japanese soldiers, and the skirmish lasted half a day and cost at least 3000 Japanese lives to kill all the crew.

After the Portuguese were expelled it left only the Dutch trading with Japan. They kept to trade

rather than getting involved in religion.

Dutch The first Dutch ship ever to arrive in Japan was the "Liefde " ("Charity" or "Love"); it was one of the five that originally left Rotterdam on June 27, 1598, and the only one to arrive safely in Japan - on April 19, 1600.

The Portuguese had first arrived in Japan in 1543, so contacts between Japan and the Netherlands were not the oldest and longest Japan had enjoyed with a western country. Contacts with Asian countries such as Korea, China and Taiwan naturally went back to much earlier times. However, during the `sakoku-jidai`, the so-called seclusion period, Holland and China were the only countries permitted to trade and have limited contacts with Japan. It was a status which actually lasted over two centuries, from 1641 to 1853, and as the only western country with such privileges, Holland held a very special position. It was the door through which knowledge on science and medicine, and products and armaments from the Netherlands and Europe were imported into Japan through the Dutch settlement on Deshima, the man-made fan-shaped island in the Bay of Nagasaki. Simultaneously the Dutch generated great wealth exporting Japanese products and knowledge to the west. For both sides, Deshima was more than just a window on a new world.

www.mfa.nl/tok-en/ dutch-japanese

View on Nagasaki Bay and the articial island of Deshima.

Japanese Map of Dutch Factory

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Osaka painting of Dutch VOC ship.www.swaen.com

Japan was ‘open’ to Dutch but with very strict conditions

Had to refrain from all forms of outward Christian devotionHad to live under constant inspection from guards – ‘confined and imprisoned’Had to be completely ‘subservient’ – no cost was too great for the Dutch in order to satisfy the Japanese court – in particular the Dutch sought to meet their demand for the strange and unique animals of Persia, India and Europe in order to maintain the commercial relationship.Had to refrain from all forms of smugglingWere not allowed to send messages to relatives, or send letters out of the country without them being noted down in Japanese.Were only allowed to leave their compound very rarely, and often under unofficial or false pretences that was against the will of the Japanese court.Had to behave properly in accordance with the demands of the locality and nation

DAILY LIFEStrict entrance procedure (Book 1; Chapter 2; “We arrive in Japan”)Tight Security (Book1; Chapter 2; “The Japanese Muster the People on Our Ship”)Took possession of the ship and all possessions on board (Book1; Chapter 2; “They take possession of the Ship”)Respect for Japanese customs (Book1; Chapter 2; “they read us orders…everybody’s eyes”.Confined to quarters at night.Had to communicate in Portuguese. The Dutch weren’t allowed to learn Japanese. Everything had to go through translators. (Om Prakash)Very limited in what commodities were allowed into or out of Japan.

ReligionDestruction of Christians at Shimabara in 1638, the Dutch had to denounce Christianity or they too be banished. Dutch hours of prayer and singing were abolished and in 1641. When all native Christians were exterminated and all Spaniards/Portuguese had been banished, the Dutch too had to vacate Hirado to be imprisoned on another island built in harbour of Nagasaki. Christian religion regarded as a plague besetting the country. The Dutch, as enemies of Spanish and Portuguese, were permitted to stay but had no freedom.Portuguese brought Jesuits into Japan. The japanese were worried that they would bond with the a small group of Christians already in Japan.Japanese saw Portuguese Jesuit groups as a threat. First banned Christianity in 1587. Relations got worse leading to Japanese expelling all Jesuits 1614. In 1636 promulgation of the Sakoku or closed country edict banning Japanese ships from going to foreign ports and adding stricter controls to ships coming in to Japan. In 1639 Portuguese were expelled from the country and ordered never to return. Japanese let the Dutch in because they were reformed Christians and the Dutch were concentration on trade.Wouldn’t let the English trade with them despite them being reformed Christians because of their links with Portugal. This shows they associated the Portuguese with religion which made them very wary.All religious symbols/texts had to be hidden before going into Japanese ports: (Book 1; Chapter 2; “I need to mention…”Inspections for religious symbols: (Book 1; Chapter 2: “they also inspected his chest…”

Strict PortsJapanese demanded highly over the top demands. Such as bringing in strange animals. Paying unreasonable prices. The Dutch appear to do anything to make sure that their relationship with the Japanese was on good terms. In relation to Portuguese who showed little respect.

Sources

Engelbert Kaempfer, Kaempfer’s Japan Tokugawa Culture Observed.

Om Prakash, ‘Trade in a Culturally Hostile Environment: Europeans in the Japan Trade, 1550-1700’ in O. Prakash (ed.), European Commercial Expansion in Early Modern Asia.

Susan B Hanley, Everyday Things in Premodern Japan; the Hidden Legacy of Material Culture.

Michael Copper (ed.), They Came to Japan: A anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543-1640.