Nanban trade

Did You Know?

• The Dutch were called Kōmō (紅毛, 'Red Hair') by the Japanese, rather than Nanban.
• In 1639, trade with Portugal was definitively prohibited, and the Netherlands became the only European nation allowed in Japan.
• The word Nanban originally came from Chinese Nanman, used for people from Southern China, the Ryukyu Islands, the Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asia.

First contacts

When the Portuguese first landed on Tanegashima in 1543, the Japanese were initially cautious toward the newcomers. The cultural gap was pronounced: Europeans could not read Japanese script and were unfamiliar with chopsticks. The first systematic European account of Japan was written by Luís Fróis, who described Japanese customs regarding gender roles, children, food, weapons, medicine, books, houses, gardens, horses, ships, dances, and music. Decades later, when Hasekura Tsunenaga became the first Japanese official to visit Europe, his habits generated public fascination. Observers noted that Japanese never touched food with their fingers but used two small sticks held with three fingers; they blew their noses into soft silky papers used once and discarded; and their swords could cut soft paper placed on the edge by blowing on it. Renaissance Europeans were drawn to Japan by Marco Polo's tales of gilded temples and by the country's surface ore deposits, which made it a major exporter of copper and silver. Japan also had high population and urbanization levels comparable to Western nations. Alessandro Valignano wrote that the Japanese excelled not only other Oriental peoples but surpassed Europeans as well.

Portuguese trade in the 16th century

Portuguese trade with China from Malacca had begun in 1514, and the year after the first landfall in Japan, commerce started among Malacca, China, and Japan. Because the Chinese emperor had embargoed Japan due to wokou pirate raids, Chinese goods were scarce there, and Portuguese traders profited as middlemen. Initially open to all, the trade was monopolized by the Portuguese Crown from 1550 onward. Each year a fidalgo received the rights to a single voyage to Japan, with the title of captain-major and authority over Portuguese subjects in China or Japan while in port; he could sell the post if needed. The ship sailed from Goa, calling at Malacca and China before reaching Japan. In 1554, Captain-Major Leonel de Sousa re-legalized Portuguese trade in China, leading to the founding of Macau in 1557. Japan's civil war benefited the Portuguese, as competing lords offered favorable conditions to attract trade. In 1571, the fishing village of Nagasaki became the permanent Portuguese anchorage, and in 1580 its lord, Ōmura Sumitada—the first Japanese daimyō to convert to Christianity—leased it to the Jesuits in perpetuity. Nagasaki grew into a prosperous, entirely Christian community with a painting school, hospital, charitable institution, and Jesuit college.

Technological and cultural exchanges

The Japanese encountered numerous new technologies and cultural practices through the Nanban trade, while Europeans also absorbed Japanese influences. Military introductions included the arquebus, cannon, European-style cuirasses, and galleon-type ships. Christianity was introduced, and decorative arts, language (with Western vocabulary entering Japanese), and cuisine were affected: the Portuguese brought tempura and European-style confectionery known as nanbangashi, including castella, konpeitō, aruheitō, karumera, keiran sōmen, bōro, and bisukauto. Other traded goods were clocks, soap, and tobacco. The Japanese were particularly interested in Portuguese hand-held guns. The first two Europeans to reach Japan in 1543—António da Mota and Francisco Zeimoto (Fernão Mendes Pinto may also have been aboard, though this conflicts with his other data)—arrived on a Chinese ship at Tanegashima and introduced these firearms. The Japanese already knew gunpowder weapons from China and had used basic cannon tubes called teppō for about 270 years, but the Portuguese guns were light, matchlock-fired, and easy to aim. Within a year, Japanese swordsmiths and ironsmiths reproduced the matchlock mechanism and mass-produced the guns, with early problems corrected by Portuguese blacksmiths. Fifty years later, Japanese armies surpassed any contemporary European force in gun use. Firearms aided the unification efforts of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu and were used in the invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597. European galleons also influenced Japanese shipbuilding and stimulated overseas ventures.

Timeline

1543: Portuguese sailors, possibly including Fernão Mendes Pinto, arrive in Tanegashima and transmit the arquebus. 1549: Francis Xavier arrives in Kagoshima and introduces Christianity. 1556: Luis de Almeida builds the first hospital with Western medicine in Ōita. 1557: Macau is established by the Portuguese, and annual trading ships are dispatched to Japan. 1560: The Siege of Moji occurs, with the Otomo clan using three Portuguese ships in an unsuccessful attempt to seize the Mōri castle. 1563: Luís Fróis arrives in Japan. 1565: The Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval clash between Europeans and Japanese. 1570: Japanese pirates occupy parts of Taiwan. 1571: Daimyō Ōmura Sumitada helps the Portuguese establish the port of Nagasaki. 1575: The Battle of Nagashino sees extensive use of firearms. 1576: Portugal presents Japan's first cannon to Ōtomo Sōrin. 1577: First Japanese ships travel to southern Vietnam; a private Portuguese junk voyage to Japan is blown off course to Korea. 1579: Jesuit Alessandro Valignano arrives in Japan. 1580: Ōmura Sumitada cedes Nagasaki in perpetuity to the Society of Jesus; Spain and Portugal enter a dynastic union; Franciscans from Japan escape to Vietnam. 1582: The Tenshō embassy to Europe departs from Nagasaki. 1584: Mancio Itō arrives in Lisbon, the first Japanese envoy to Europe. 1587: Toyotomi Hideyoshi issues a document expelling Portuguese missionaries but allowing free trade. 1588: Hideyoshi prohibits piracy. 1592: Japan invades Korea in the Seven-Year War with 160,000 troops; first known mention of Red Seal Ships. 1597: Martyrdom of 26 Christians in Nagasaki. 1598: Death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 1600: Arrival of William Adams on the Liefde; the Battle of Sekigahara unites Japan under Tokugawa Ieyasu. 1602: Dutch warships attack the Portuguese carrack Santa Catarina near Portuguese Malacca. 1603: Edo becomes the seat of Bakufu government; the English factory is established at Bantam, Java; the Nippo Jisho Japanese-to-Portuguese dictionary is published in Nagasaki. 1605: Two of William Adams's shipmates are sent to Pattani to invite Dutch trade. 1609: The Dutch open a trading factory in Hirado.