Introduction
Comment: Kyushu was the main "door" into Japan for direct Western contact from the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century. Thus Kyushu tends to be the focus of most Western academic literature on West-Japan contacts. And the Kansai region also gets considerable attention because it was the imperial capital of the country. But the effective capital of Japan from the beginning of the 17th century to the present has been Edo-Tokyo. Furthermore, in order to understand the full extent of Western influence on Japan and the Japanese from the middle of the 16th century, the provinces need to be studied thoroughly. A good start for such research would be the western part of Tokyo, the western countryside of old Edo. It is both very accessible and very well studied and published in Japanese. All that really needs to be done is analyze the Japanese reports and publish the results in English.Here are (1) a brief outline of contacts with the West, both direct and indirect, and also possible but not certain, (2) recent news articles dealing with West-Japan contacts, and (3) a list of finds in western Tokyo that reflect contact between Japan and the West. The news articles and list of finds will be up-dated periodically.
Periods:
- pre-16th century
- 16th century
- Edo Period
- Meiji Period to present
Research Locations:
- Kyushu
- Kyoto and Kansai Region
- Edo and Kanto Region
- northern Japan
Before the 16th century, Japanese contacts with the west would have been indirect, mostly coming via China. Some possible mechanisms for indirect contact would have been:
16th Century Contacts with the West
The first direct contacts between Japan and the West apparently begin in the 16th century. These contacts were with Portugal and Spain.
Edo Period Contacts with the West
This period from about 1600 to 1868 is seen as a time when the country was closed. In fact, the country was officially closed by a series of orders in the 1630s and not officially opened until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. But the country was never fully closed to outside contacts or people.
Meiji Period and Later Contacts with the West
This period post-dating 1868 is largely outside the sphere of archaeological research.
This information also is reported in an article by Takenori Nogami, On Hizen Porcelain and the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, vol. 26, pp. 124-130, 2006.
The name was originally the Tsukushi no Murotsumi or Tsukushi no Tachi. This name first appears in 688 in the Nihon Shoki (Aston 1896 [1972], part 2, p. 387; 2nd month 10th day, "Sang-nim and his colleagues were entertained in the Tsukushi Government House, and received presents of various values."). The name Kourokan was first used in 838, and it last appears in old documents dated 1091.
Artifacts from China are common in the site, but bright green ceramics from the Islamic world and West Asian glass have also been found there.
Brief History
Pre-16th Century Contacts with the West
date
events
1543
A Portuguese ship runs aground on Tanegashima, south of Kyushu. The Japanese acquire guns.
1549
Francis Xavier lands in Kyushu. Christianity is brought to Japan.
1568
Ohmura Sumitada builds a church in Nagasaki.
1569
Luis Frois is premitted to live in Kyoto.
1575
Oda Nobunaga's light gun regiment defeats Takeda Katsuyori's forces at the battle of Nagashino.
1580
Ohmura Sumitada joins the Jesuits in Nagasaki.
1582
A group of youths were sent to Europe on the advice of Alessandro Valignano.
1587
Toyotomi Hideyoshi puts out the Bateren(?) expulsion order.
1596
The Spanish ship San Felipe runs aground at Urado in Tosa. Twenty-six Christians were martyred.
1612
The Edo Bakufu forbids Christianity on Bakufu lands.
1613
The Edo Bakufu forbids Chrisitianity in the entire country.
Reference:
date
events
1616
All but Chinese ships limited to Nagasaki Hirado.
1624
Spanish ships forbidden in Japan.
1633
Japanese forbidden to go abroad, except to China, or to return from abroad.
1634
Dejima established in Nagasaki.
1635
Japanese forbidden to go abroad or to return from abroad.
1636
The Portugese move to Dejima.
1939
The Portugese are forbidden in Japan.
1641
The Dutch consulate moved to Dejima.
1792
The Russian envoy Raksman(?) comes to Nemuro. The castaway Daikokuya Kotao returns with him.
1804
The Russian envoy V. Rezanov comes to Nagasaki.
1808
The English ship Phaeton trespasses at Nagasaki
1811
The Russian Gorovnin(?) is captured in the southern Kurile Islands
Reference:
Recent News Articles
Discusses the 1938 book by Mori Senzo, Oranda Shogatsu (listed below under "Bibliography").
Early Edo Period shards of Koimari ceramics were found in Mexico, and similar shards have been found in the Philippines. It was already known that Chinese and Dutch ships took Koimari ceramics to Southeast Asia and Europe. The finds in Mexico indicate that Spanish ships also carried Koimari ceramics.
The presently accepted interpretation is that guns arrived in Japan in 1543 when a Portugese ship ran aground on Tanegashima, off the southern coast of Kyushu. But Prof. Utagawa Takehisa, Japanese National Museum of History (Rekihaku), feels that guns came to Japan through several ports at about the same time. He bases this interpretation on the variety of guns and bullets found in Japan from the beginning.
The article reports 19 shards of Islamic chinaware from West Asia that were unearthed at the old grounds of the Saidai-ji temple of the Ancient Heizei-kyo (Heijo-kyo) capital in Nara City. These were found together with a mokkan (wooden stick writing tablet) with the date 768. This large jar is thought to have been brought to Japan via the "Marine Silk Road" instead of overland, to reduce the chance of breaking it. Numerous small shards of Islamic chinaware dating to the late 9th century have been reported at the sites of Kouro-kan in Fukuoka City and Dazaifu in Dazaifu City, both in Fukuoka Prefecture in northwestern Kyushu.
Evidence from Western Tokyo
Evidence from Other Regions
This is the site of the facilities that functioned as the greeting halls for foreign visitors from the late 7th century to the end of the 9th century. After that it became a trader's facility (Sendai-shi 2005, pp. 15-16).
Ogata, Tsutomu. (1989). Buson Haikushu (Collection of Haiku by Buson).
(26th printing, 2003). Iwanami Shoten, p. 14, haiku 21.
The Shoso-in storehouse was established in the middle 8th century, and it contains treasures from that time to the middle of the 10th century. Eighth-century treasures include many foreign objects, especially from China but also from India, Iran, Greece, Rome and Egypt. For more details in Japanese, see the Shoso-in web site: Shoso-in.
Bibliography
Other Reading
This report discusses in detail 33 excavated Christian medallions and 61 others from museum and other collections. These medallions all date to the late 16th century and the early 17th century. The excavated medallions are mostly from Nagasaki Prefecture, with some from Fukuoka Prefecture and Oita Prefecture, all in northern Kyushu. The 33rd medallion was excavated from one of several Christian graves found within the outer moat area of Edo castle in present-day Tokyo.
The original tiltle in Portugese was: Ensaios Luso-Niponicos, Lisaboa, 1986.
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