Soon the Portuguese and then the Dutch established trading ties. Then Portuguese missionaries arrived. Christianity spread very rapidly in Japan, according to Shinichi Tani, a professor who contributed to a catalogue for a Nanban art show at the Japan Society in 1972. By 1582 the number of Japanese that had embraced Christianity had risen to 150,000, he wrote. The Japanese banned the practice of the Christian faith in 1613.
Nanban art appears in various media.
The best examples are folding Japanese screens that depict Portuguese galleons in detail. Often the foreign ship is shown entering a Japanese port, with welcoming dignitaries on shore. The Portuguese captains are usually tall and have long noses and scraggly beards, and the crew typically includes a few African sailors. The missionaries wear habits. Mr. Longhi said that Nanban screens were now fairly rare.