Nanban trade

Nanbantrade(南蛮貿易,Nanban bōeki, "Southern barbarian trade")or theNanbantrade period(南蛮貿易時代,Nanban bōeki jidai, "Southern barbarian trade period")was a period in thehistory of Japanfrom the arrival ofEuropeansin 1543 to the firstSakokuSeclusion Edicts ofisolationismin 1614.Nanban(南蛮, "Southern barbarian")is a Japanese word borrowed from ChineseNanman, which had been used to designate people fromSouthern China, theRyukyu Islands, theIndian Ocean, andSoutheast Asiacenturies prior to the arrival of the first Europeans. For instance, according to theNihon Kiryaku(日本紀略),Dazaifu, the administrative center ofKyūshū, reported that the Nanban (southern barbarian) pirates, who were identified asAmamiislanders by theShōyūki(982–1032 for the extant portion), pillaged a wide area of Kyūshū in 997. In response, Dazaifu orderedKikaijima(貴駕島)to arrest the Nanban.
TheNanbantrade as a form of European contact began withPortugueseexplorers, missionaries, and merchantsin theSengoku periodand established long-distance overseastrade routeswith Japan. The resulting technological andcultural exchangeincluded the introduction ofmatchlockfirearms,cannons,galleon-style shipbuilding, andChristianityto Japan, among other cultural aspects. TheNanbantrade declined in the earlyEdo periodwith the rise of theTokugawa Shogunatewhich feared the influence of Christianity in Japan, particularly theRoman Catholicismof the Portuguese. The Tokugawa issued a series ofSakokupolicies that increasingly isolated mainland Japan from the outside world and limited European trade toDutchtraders on the artificial island ofDejima, under total scrutiny.
Following contact with thePortugueseonTanegashimain 1543, the Japanese were at first rather wary of the newly arrived foreigners. Theculture shockwas quite strong, especially because Europeans were not able to understand theJapanese writing systemnor accustomed to using chopsticks.
The first comprehensive and systematic report of a European about Japan is theTratado em que se contêm muito sucinta e abreviadamente algumas contradições e diferenças de costumes entre a gente de Europa e esta província de JapãoofLuís Fróis, in which he described Japanese life concerning the roles and duties of men and women, children, Japanese food, weapons, medicine, medical treatment, diseases, books, houses, gardens, horses, ships and cultural aspects of Japanese life like dances and music.Several decades later, whenHasekura Tsunenagabecame the first Japanese official arriving in Europe, his presence, habits and cultural mannerisms gave rise to many picturesque descriptions circulating among the public:
Renaissance Europeans were quite fond of Japan's immense richness in precious metals, mainly owing toMarco Polo's accounts of gilded temples and palaces, but also to the relative abundance of surface ores characteristic of a volcanic country, before large-scale deep-mining became possible in Industrial times. Japan was to become a major exporter ofcopperandsilverduring the period. At its peak, 1/3 of the world's silver came from Japan.
Japan was also noted for its comparable or even exceptional levels of population and urbanization relative to the nations of the West (seeList of countries by population in 1600), and some Europeans became quite fascinated with Japan, withAlessandro Valignanoeven writing that the Japanese "excel not only all the other Oriental peoples, they surpass the Europeans as well".
Early European visitors noted the quality of Japanese craftsmanship and metalsmithing. The later sources, most notably those written after the end ofJapan's isolation period, also report Japanese blades and swords in general as good quality weapons with a notable artistic value.
Ever since 1514 that the Portuguese had traded withChinafromMalacca, and the year after the first Portuguese landfall in Japan, trade commenced between Malacca, China, and Japan. The Chinese Emperor had decreed an embargo against Japan as a result of piraticalwokouraids against China – consequently, Chinese goods were in scarce supply in Japan and so, the Portuguese found a lucrative opportunity to act as middlemen between the two realms.
Trade with Japan was initially open to any, but in 1550, the Portuguese Crown monopolized the rights to trade with Japan.Henceforth, once a year afidalgowas awarded the rights for a single trade venture to Japan with considerable privileges, such as the title ofcaptain-major of the voyage to Japan, with authority over any Portuguese subjects in China or Japan while he was in port, and the right to sell his post, should he lack the necessary funds to undertake the enterprise. He could charter a royal vessel or purchase his own, at about 40,000xerafins.His ship would set sail from Goa, called at Malacca and China before proceeding to Japan and back.
In 1554, captain-major Leonel de Sousanegotiated with Chinese authorities the re-legalization of Portuguese trade in China, which was followed by the foundation ofMacauin 1557 to support this trade.
The state of civil-war in Japan was also highly beneficial to the Portuguese, as each competing lord sought to attract trade to their domains by offering better conditions.In 1571, the fishing village of Nagasaki became the definitive anchorage of the Portuguese and in 1580, its lord,Omura Sumitada, the first Japanese lord to convert to Christianity,leased itto theJesuits"in perpetuity".The city subsequently evolved from an unimportant fishing village to a prosperous and cosmopolitan community, the entirety of which was Christian.In time, the city would be graced with a painting school, a hospital, a charitable institution (theMisericórdia) and a Jesuit college.
Among the vessels involved in the trade linking Goa and Japan, the most famous were Portuguesecarracks, slow but large enough to hold a great deal of merchandise and enough provisions to travel safely through such a lengthy and often hazardous (because of pirates) journey. These ships initially had about 400–600 tons burden but later on could reach as many as over 1200 or 1600 tons in cargo capacity, a rare few reaching as many as 2000 tons — they were the largest vessels afloat on Earth, and easily twice or three times larger than common galleons of the time, rivalled only in size by the SpanishManila galleons.Many of these were built at the royal Indo-Portuguese shipyards atGoa,BasseinorDaman, out of high-quality Indianteakwoodrather than European pine, and their build quality became renowned; the Spanish in Manila favoured Portuguese-built vessels,and commented that they were not only cheaper than their own, but "lasted ten times as long".
The Portuguese referred to this vessel as thenau da prata("silver carrack") ornau do trato("trade carrack"); the Japanese dubbed themkurofune, meaning "black ships", on account of the colour of their hulls, painted black withpitchfor water-tightening, and later the name was extended to refer toMatthew C. Perry's black warships that reopened Japan to the wider world in 1853.
In the 16th century, large junks belonging to private owners from Macau often accompanied the great ship to Japan, about two or three; these could reach about 400 or 500 tons burden.After 1618, the Portuguese switched to using smaller and more maneuverablepinnacesandgalliots, to avoid interception from Dutch raiders.
By far the most valuable commodities exchanged in the "nanban trade" were Chinese silks for Japanese silver, which was then traded in China for more silk.Although accurate statistics are lacking, it has been estimated that roughly half of Japan's yearly silver output was exported, most of it through theWokou(Japanese and Chinese),Ryukyuansand Portuguese, amounting to about 18 – 20 tons in silverbullion.The English merchantPeter Mundyestimated that Portuguese investment at Canton ascended to 1,500,000 silvertaelsor 2,000,000Spanish dollars.The Portuguese also exported surplus silk from Macau to Goa and Europe via Manila.
Nonetheless, numerous other items were also transactioned, such as gold, Chineseporcelain,musk, andrhubarb; Arabian horses, Bengal tigers andpeacocks; fine Indian scarlet cloths,calicoandchintz; European manufactured items such as Flemish clocks and Venetian glass and Portuguese wine andrapiers;in return for Japanese copper,lacquerandlacquerwareor weapons (as purely exotic items to be displayed in Europe).Japanese lacquerwareattracted European aristocrats and missionaries from Europe, and western style chests and church furniture were exported in response to their requests.
Japanese and other Asians captured in battle were also sold by their compatriots to the Portuguese as slaves, but the Japanese would also sell family members they could not afford to sustain because of the civil-war. According to Prof.Charles Boxer, both old and modern Asian authors have "conveniently overlooked" their part in the enslavement of their countrymen.They were well regarded for their skills and warlike character, and some ended as far as India and even Europe, some armed retainers or as concubines or slaves to other slaves of the Portuguese.
In 1571,King Sebastian of Portugalissued a ban on the enslavement of both Chinese and Japanese, probably fearing the negative effects it might have on proselytization efforts as well as the standing diplomacy and trade between the countries.Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the de facto ruler of Japan, enforced the end of the enslavement of his countrymen starting in 1587 and it was suppressed shortly thereafter.However, Hideyoshi later sold Korean prisoners of war captured during theJapanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)as slaves to the Portuguese.
The overall profits from the Japan trade, carried on through the black ship, was estimated to ascend to over 600,000cruzados, according to various contemporary authors such asDiogo do Couto,Jan Huygen van LinschotenandWilliam Adams. A captain-major who invested at Goa 20,000cruzadosto this venture could expect 150,000cruzadosin profits upon returning.The value of Portuguese exports from Nagasaki during the 16th century were estimated to ascend to over 1,000,000cruzados, reaching as many as 3,000,000 in 1637.The Dutch estimated this was the equivalent of some 6,100,000guilders, almost as much as the entire founding capital of theDutch East India Company(VOC) (6,500,000 guilders).VOC profits in all of Asia amounted to "just" about 1,200,000 guilders, all its assets worth 9,500,000 guilders.
The monopoly of Portugal on trade with Japan for a European nation started being challenged by Spanish ships from Manila after 1600 (until 1620), the Dutch after 1609 and the English in 1613 (until 1623). Nonetheless, it was found that neither the Dutch nor the Spanish could effectively replace the Portuguese because Portugal had privileged access to Chinese markets and investors through Macau.The Portuguese were only definitively banned in 1638 after theShimabara Rebellion, on the grounds that they smuggled priests into Japan aboard their vessels.
TheDutch, who, rather than"Nanban"were called"Kōmō"(Jp: 紅毛, lit. "Red Hair") by the Japanese, first arrived in Japan in 1600, on board theLiefde("liefde" meaning "love"). Their pilot wasWilliam Adams, the first Englishman to reach Japan.
In 1605, two of theLiefde's crew were sent toPattaniby Tokugawa Ieyasu, to invite Dutch trade to Japan. The head of the Pattani Dutch trading post, Victor Sprinckel, refused on the ground that he was too busy dealing with Portuguese opposition in Southeast Asia. In 1609 however, the DutchmanJacques Specxarrived with two ships in Hirado, and through Adams obtained trading privileges from Ieyasu.
TheDutchalso engaged in piracy and naval combat to weakenPortugueseand Spanish shipping in the Pacific, and ultimately became the only westerners to be allowed access to Japan from the small enclave ofDejimaafter 1639 and for the next two centuries.
The Japanese were introduced to several new technologies and cultural practices (so were the Europeans to Japanese, seeJaponisme), whether in the military area (thearquebus,cannon, European-stylecuirasses, European ships such asgalleons), religion (Christianity),decorative art, language (integration to Japanese of aWestern vocabulary) and culinary: thePortugueseintroduced thetempuraand European-style confectionery, creatingnanbangashi(南蛮菓子), "southern barbarian confectionery", with confectioneries likecastella,konpeitō,aruheitō,karumera,keiran sōmen,bōroandbisukauto. Other traded goods brought by Europeans to Japan were clocks, soap, tobacco, among other products.
One of the many things that the Japanese were interested in were Portuguese hand-heldguns. The first two Europeans to reach Japan in the year 1543 were the Portuguese tradersAntónio da Motaand Francisco Zeimoto (Fernão Mendes Pintoclaimed to have arrived on this ship as well, but this is in direct conflict with other data he presents), arriving on a Chinese ship at the southern island ofTanegashimawhere they introduced hand-held guns for trade. The Japanese were already familiar withgunpowderweaponry (invented by, and transmitted from China), and had been using basic Chinese originated guns and cannon tubes called "Teppō" (鉄砲 "Iron cannon") for around 270 years before the arrival of the Portuguese. In comparison, the Portuguese guns were light, had amatchlockfiring mechanism, and were easy to aim. Because the Portuguese-made firearms were introduced into Tanegashima, thearquebuswas ultimately calledTanegashimain Japan. At that time, Japan was in the middle of a civil war called theSengoku period(Warring States period).
Within a year after the first trade in guns, Japanese swordsmiths and ironsmiths managed to reproduce the matchlock mechanism and mass-produce the Portuguese guns. Early issues due to Japanese inexperience were corrected with the help of Portuguese blacksmiths. The Japanese soon worked on various techniques to improve the effectiveness of their guns and even developed larger caliber barrels and ammunition to increase lethality. Barely fifty years later, Japanese armies dwarfed any contemporary European army in the use of guns. The daimyo who initiated the unification of Japan,Oda Nobunaga, made extensive use of guns (arquebus) when playing a key role in theBattle of Nagashino, as dramatised inAkira Kurosawa's 1980 filmKagemusha(Shadow Warrior). Guns were also strongly instrumental in the unification efforts ofToyotomi HideyoshiandTokugawa Ieyasu, as well as in theinvasions of Koreain 1592 and 1597.
European ships (galleons) were also quite influential in the Japanese shipbuilding industry and actually stimulated many Japanese ventures abroad.
The Shogunate established a system of commercial ventures on licensed ships calledred seal ships(朱印船,shuinsen), which sailed throughout East and Southeast Asia for trade. These ships incorporated many elements of galleon design, such as sails, rudder, and gun disposition. They brought to Southeast Asian ports many Japanese traders and adventurers, who sometimes became quite influential in local affairs, such as the adventurerYamada NagamasainSiam, or later became Japanese popular icons, such asTenjiku Tokubei.
By the beginning of the 17th century, the shogunate had built, usually with the help of foreign experts, several ships of purelyNanbandesign, such as the galleonSan Juan Bautista, which crossed the Pacific two times on embassies toNueva España(Mexico).
With the arrival of the leadingJesuitFrancis Xavierin 1549, Catholicism progressively developed as a major religious force in Japan. Although the tolerance of Western "padres" was initially linked to trade, Catholics could claim around 200,000 converts by the end of the 16th century, mainly located in the southern island ofKyūshū. The Jesuits managed to obtain jurisdiction over the trading city ofNagasaki.
The first reaction from thekampakuHideyoshicame in 1587 when he promulgated the interdiction of Christianity and ordered the departure of all "padres". This resolution was not followed upon however (only 3 out of 130 Jesuits left Japan), and the Jesuits were essentially able to pursue their activities. Hideyoshi had written that:
Hideyoshi's reaction to Christianity proved stronger when the SpanishgalleonSan Felipewas wrecked in Japan in 1597. The incident led totwenty-six Christians(6 Franciscans, 17 of their Japanese neophytes, and 3 Japanese Jesuit lay brothers – included by mistake) being crucified inNagasakion February 5, 1597. It seems Hideyoshi's decision was taken following encouragements by the Jesuits to expel the rival order, his being informed by the Spanish that military conquest usually followed Catholic proselytism, and by his own desire to take over the cargo of the ship. Although close to a hundred churches were destroyed, most of the Jesuits remained in Japan.
The final blow came withTokugawa Ieyasu's firm interdiction of Christianity in 1614, which led to underground activities by theJesuitsand to their participation inHideyori's revolt in thesiege of Osaka(1614–1615). Repression of Catholicism became virulent after Ieyasu's death in 1616, leading to the torturing and killing of around 2,000 Christians (70 westerners and the rest Japanese) and the apostasy of the remaining 200–300,000. The last major reaction of the Christians in Japan was theShimabara rebellionin 1637. Thereafter, Catholicism in Japan was driven underground as the so-called "Hidden Christians".
The Nanban also had various other influences:
The intensive exchange with the “southern barbarians” did not remain without influence on the Japanese vocabulary. Some loanwords fromPortugueseandDutchhave survived to this day:pan(パン, from pão, bread),tempura(天ぷら, from tempero, seasoning),botan(ボタン, from botão, button),karuta(カルタ, from cartas de jogar, playing cards),furasuko(フラスコ, from frasco, flask, bottle),marumero(マルメロ, from marmelo, quince), etc. Some words are now only used in scientific texts or in historical context, e.g.iruman(イルマン, from irmão, brother in a Christian order),kapitan(カピタン, from capitão, captain),kirishitan(キリシタン, from christão, Christian),rasha(ラシャ, from raxa, type of cotton fabric),shabon(シャボン, from sabão, soap). Some things from the New World came to Japan along with their names via the Portuguese and Spanish, such as:tabako(タバコ, from tabaco,tobaccoderived from theTaínoof the Caribbean). Some terms only known to experts today only became extinct in the 19th century:porutogaru-yu(ポルトガル油, Portugal oil, i.e. olive oil),chinta(チンタ, from vinho tinto, red wine),empurasuto(エンプラスト, from emprasto, plaster),unguento(ウングエント, from unguento, ointment).
After the country was pacified and unified byTokugawa Ieyasuin 1603 however, Japan progressively closed itself to the outside world, mainly because of the rise ofChristianity.
In 1639, trade with Portugal was definitively prohibited and the Netherlands became the only European nation to be allowed in Japan. By 1650, except for the trade outpost ofDejimainNagasaki, for the Netherlands, and some trade with China, foreigners were subject to the death penalty, and Christian converts were persecuted. Guns were almost completely eradicated to revert to the more "civilized" sword.Travel abroad and the building of large ships were also prohibited. Thence started a period of seclusion, peace, prosperity and mild progress known as theEdo period.  But not long after, in the 1650s, the production ofJapanese export porcelainincreased greatly when civil war put the main Chinese center of porcelain production,in Jingdezhen, out of action for several decades. For the rest of the 17th century mostJapanese porcelainproduction was inKyushufor export through the Chinese and Dutch. The trade dwindled under renewed Chinese competition by the 1740s, before resuming after the opening of Japan in the 1850s.
The "barbarians" would come back 250 years later, strengthened by industrialization, and end Japan's isolation with the forcible opening of Japan to trade by an American military fleet under the command of CommodoreMatthew Perryin 1854.
Nanbanis aSino-Japanese wordderived from the Chinese termNánmán, originally referring to the peoples ofSouth AsiaandSoutheast Asia. The Japanese use ofNanbantook a new meaning when it came to designate the early Portuguese who first arrived in 1543, and later extended to other Europeans that arrived in Japan. The termNanbanhas its origins from theFour Barbariansin theHua–Yi distinctionin the 3rd century in China. Pronunciation of the Chinese Character isJapanised, the 東夷 (Dōngyí) "Eastern Barbarians" called "Tōi" (it includes Japan itself), 南蛮 (Nánmán) "Southern Barbarians" called "Nanban", 西戎 (Xīróng) "Western Barbarians" called "Sei-Jū", and Běidí 北狄 "Northern Barbarians" called "Hoku-Teki". AlthoughNanbanjust meant Southeast Asia during the Sengoku and Edo periods, through time the word turned into the meaning "Western person", and "from Nanban" means "Exotic and Curious".
Strictly speaking,Nanbanmeans "Portuguese or Spanish" who were the most popular western foreigners in Japan, while other western people were sometimes called "紅毛人" (Kō-mōjin) "red-haired people" but Kō-mōjin was not as widespread asNanban. In China, "紅毛" is pronouncedAng moinHokkienand is a racist word againstwhite people. Japan later decided to Westernize radically in order to better resist the West and essentially stopped considering the West as fundamentally uncivilized. Words like "Yōfu" (洋風 "western style") and "Ōbeifu" (欧米風 "European-American style") replaced "Nanban" in most usages.
Still, the exact principle of westernization wasWakon-Yōsai(和魂洋才 "Japanese spirit Western talent"), implying that, although technology may be more advanced in the West, Japanese spirit is better than the West's. Hence though the West may be lacking, it has its strong points, which takes the affront out of calling it "barbarian."
Today the word "Nanban" is only used in a historical context, and is essentially felt as picturesque and affectionate. It can sometimes be used jokingly to refer to Western people or civilization in a cultured manner.
There is an area whereNanbanis used exclusively to refer to a certain style and that is cooking and the names of dishes.
Nanban dishes are not American or European, but an odd variety not usingsoy sauceormisobut rather curry powder and vinegar as their flavoring, a characteristic derived from Indo-PortugueseGoan cuisine. This is because when Portuguese and Spanish dishes were imported into Japan, dishes from Macau and other parts of China were imported as well.