Japan

Siege of Moji, in Japan 1561

Siege of Moji, in Japan 1561

The Siege of Moji was a siege in 1561 against the castle of Moji in Japan. The castle belonged to the Mōri clan, whose capital was the city of Yamaguchi. Forces under Ōtomo Sōrin attacked the castle in alliance with the Portuguese, who provided three ships between 500 and 600 tons, each with a crew of […]

Nanban trade, The Cultural encounter

Nanban trade, The Cultural encounter

The Nanban trade, Southern barbarian trade or the Nanban trade period, Southern barbarian trade period in the history of Japan extends from the arrival of the first Europeans – Portuguese explorers, missionaries and merchants – to Japan in 1543, to their near-total exclusion from the archipelago in 1614, under the promulgation of the “Sakoku” Seclusion Edicts. First […]

Hidden Christians of Japan

Hidden Christians of Japan

History Christian missionaries were known as bateren (from the Portuguese word padre, “father”) or iruman (from the Portuguese irmão, “brother”). Both the transcriptions 切支丹 and 鬼利死丹 came into use during the Edo Period when Christianity was a forbidden religion. The Kanji used for the transcriptions have negative connotations. The first one could be read as “cut […]

Macao and the ‘Great Ship to Japon’

Macao and the ‘Great Ship to Japon’

The monopoly of eastern trade by the Portuguese was not absolute even in theory; apart from the fact that illicit dealings by officials and others soon crept in, Asian as well as Portuguese merchants were licensed to trade, except in spices and a few other commodities, in the areas under Lusian dominance. Except for de […]

The Nau do Trato, The Portuguese Black Ships

The Nau do Trato, The Portuguese Black Ships

The Black Ships (in Japanese, kurofune, Edo Period term) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries.   In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking Goa to Nagasaki. The large carracks engaged in this trade had the hull painted black with pitch, […]

Nagazaki City, Founded 1570 by Portuguese

Nagazaki City, Founded 1570 by Portuguese

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became a center of Portuguese and other European influence in the 16th through 19th centuries, and the Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki have been proposed for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Part of […]

Tanegashima Arquebus

Tanegashima Arquebus

Tanegashima, also hinawajū, was a type of matchlock or arquebus firearm introduced to Japan through the Portuguese in 1543. Tanegashima were used by the samurai class and their foot soldiers (ashigaru) and within a few years the introduction of the tanegashima in battle changed the way war was fought in Japan forever.   Origins The tanegashima seems to […]

Japan, Portuguese trade in Japanese slaves

Japan, Portuguese trade in Japanese slaves

After the Portuguese first made contact with Japan in 1543, a large scale slave trade developed in which Portuguese purchased Japanese as slaves in Japan and sold them to various locations overseas, including Portugal itself, throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Many documents mention the large slave trade along with protests against the enslavement of Japanese. […]