page_title: Red seal ships
section_title: Indonesia
hierarchical_section_title: Red seal ships / Destinations / Indonesia
context_page_description: Red-seal ships were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships bound for Southeast Asian ports with red-sealed letters patent issued by the early Tokugawa shogunate in the first half of the 17th century. Between 1600 and 1635, more than 350 Japanese ships went overseas under this permit system.
context_section_description: Although few Red Seal Ships are recorded for the areas of modern Indonesia (Java, Spice Islands), possibly because of the remoteness and because of the direct Dutch involvement there, Japanese samurai were recruited by the Dutch in the area. They distinguished themselves in the capture of the Banda Islands from the English and the defense of Batavia, until the practice of hiring Japanese mercenaries was prohibited by the Shōgun in 1621. In 1618, Coen, the Dutch governor of Java, requested 25 Japanese Samurai to be sent to him from Japan. In 1620, the Dutch record that 90 Japanese samurai were recruited from the islands surrounding Java, in order to reinforce the fort of Batavia.
  In 1623, during the Amboyna massacre, 9 Japanese mercenaries were recorded to have been with the 10 English traders of the British East India Company factory. They were tortured and killed by Dutch forces from the neighbouring factory. (See Chapter 11 "Trial by Fire and Water" in Nathaniel's Nutmeg.) This event was partly the cause for the advent of the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
caption: Nine Japanese samurai were employed at Amboyna in 1623, when they were victim of the Amboyna massacre.
exif: {}