Throughout the 16th century the Japanese dominated maritime trading. They had many relations including those with the Portuguese, the Spanish and the Dutch empires. Each empire could give the Japanese something that they desired. The relationships differed with each empire but the Japanese still continued to have control throughout each period.
The Portuguese were the first to have a relationship with Japan. Their relationship started in 1543 when Portuguese explores landed near the archipelago of Japan. At this time both the European and Asian territories would engage in mercantilism. The Japanese wanted the goods that the Portuguese had and were therefore established as intermediaries in Asian trade. The relationship quickly became strained when the Bafuku became suspicious of the Portuguese’s motives to aid the Christian community (Clulow). Christianity posed as a political threat to the Shogunate; therefore they banned the Portuguese from teaching Christianity. Around the end of their relations in 1639 the Tokugawa Shogunate prohibited the Portuguese from continuing to visit Japan and decided to officially trade only with the Dutch.
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In a way the Spanish tried to replicate the Portuguese’s success in their trading with the Japanese. In this relationship Tokugawa Ieyasu hoped to receive knowledge regarding cartography, and ship construction while the Spanish hoped to have a safe port that would help stop the growing Dutch empire. Unlike the other empires the Spanish had a relatively good relationship the entire time that they were trading with the Japanese. Although the Spanish wanted to stay in favor of the Japanese, their relationship came to an end so that they could protect the Pacific Trade. In contrast to the other empires it was the Spanish that ended the relationship rather than the
Spain, as one of the most powerful nations in the old world, had a great influence on many events in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Spanish also had an influence on many other empires/nations' fate. One of the empires that suffered a grave fate at the hands of the Spanish was the Aztec empire. The Aztec empire was not the oldest Mesoamerican empire and it was formed from an agreement between three city-states. The Aztec's class system had the emperor on top, then the priests, and everyone else below them. The priests were responsible for keeping the gods happy. The sacrifice of goods and people was a commonplace in the Aztec culture, and it was often the goods/people of other nations that were taken for sacrifices. As one can imagine,
In the early 1800’s, Japan had blocked off all trade from other countries. Foreign whaling ships could not even reload or repair their ships in Japan territory. This offended many other countries. In 1852, Matthew Perry was sent to Japan to negotiate open trade. Japan felt threatened by the United States, and gave in to their demands. Japan was frightened by their stipulations, and immediately began to reform. They developed a new education system that was similar to America and Europe’s. They also developed a Western style judiciary system.
In the late 16th and early 17th century, Jesuit missionaries went to Japan in order to spread their Christian faith. In the beginning these missions went well, with nearly 300k converting to Christianity. However, over time their presence was frowned upon, as they were seen as outsiders interested in changing Japan’s culture. As a result, Christian missionaries began to sneak back into Japan. This led to the systematic elimination of many Japanese Christians, and Jesuit missionaries. In the novel Silence, Shusaku Endo illustrates the discrimination, and suffering many Christians endured in Japan during this period.
Feudal Japan and Feudal Europe had similarities and differences. Both Feudal Japan and Feudal Europe had professional warriors, for Japan it was the samurai, and for Europe the knights. They both had religious beliefs such as Buddhism and Christianity. Japan was an island and was isolated, whereas Europe wasn’t isolated nor an island. Feudal Japan lasted from 1185-1603, while Feudal Europe lasted from the 9th to the 15th centuries.
According to Document F, an Excerpt for Secondary Source, along with trading goods between countries, religions were also traded. They shared their beliefs among each other, expanding their religion. The geographic locations of Japan, China and Korea definitely contributed to their trade. Being that China and Korea are extremely close to each other, their trade items such as silk, brocades, cotton, tea, etc. were divided amongst each other. Being that Japan was farther from them both, they travelled together to get to the archipelago of Japan for business and trade
The Japanese, as in document fifteen, said that innovations had to be reported, and listed them right next to factional conspiracies, as if they were both equally bad, showing that the Japanese didn't want to advance technologically, and wanted to stick with tradition. The Europeans, as we already know, where rapidly advancing technologically, because of their fierce rivals with each other, making Japan dislike them even more. The Europeans, who were trying to spread Christianity as well as become rich, thought that the Japanese would convert quickly, as Francis Xavier wrote in document thirteen, “They see clearly that their ancestral law is false and the law of God true, but they are deterred by fear of their prince from submitting to the Christian religion.” This caused them to dislike the leaders of Japan, and when as mentioned in document sixteen, the Closed Country Edict of 1635, this caused them to hate them, because then not only were they denied a lot of trade, but also the spreading of the cul Christianity.... ...
Trade, at first forced upon the Japanese by America, began to increase and Japan started trading with other countries. The Japanese mostly traded silks, and tea. Trading helped Japan gain more money and that contributed to their growth. The money helped Japan expand and colonize, and enlarge the size of their
The enduring voyage began on March 25, 1638 as the Santa Isabelle set sail toward Japan with Rodrigues, Garrpe, and Juan de Santa Marta on board.4 Sebastiao Rodrigues, an adoring student of Ferreira in Silence, was a depiction of the brave Giuseppe Chiara, an Italian missionary who traveled to Japan in search of Ferreira.5 The first part of their journey was documented by a series of Rodrigues’s letters sent to Rome that reported encounters with horrible weather, health hazards, and sub-par living conditions. The ship took the long path towards the Canary Islands, around the Cape of Good Hope, and then docked itself in Goa. It was there that the priests received the news that their Portuguese ship, the Santa Isabella, wasn’t safe to use during the last leg of their journey, due to the enforcement of new laws created to discontinue the spread of Christianity into Japan.6 This restriction coincided with the laws enforced by the Edict of 1635 that greatly secluded Japan from outer influences.7 With this, more attention was drawn to the Portuguese ships, thereby making the Santa Isabella an extremely dangerous method of transportation. Following Goa, Rodrigues and Garrpe continued onward to Macao, leaving an ill Juan de Santa Marta behind, where he eventually passed away from malaria.
Although Christian missionaries were welcomed in the 1540s by the Japanese rulers, Christianity was banned after the unification of Japan under a single shogun. The missionaries were welcomed primarily because they came with traders who brought weapons for the Japanese. During the Shimabara Rebellion, a large number of Christians rose up in a revolt that was violently put down. Silence is set in the aftermath of this rebellion - an atmosphere of vengeful
Christianity in Japan spread in various phases. Like many other parts of world, it was brought by religious missionaries and the European traders and invaders. It is almost in middle of the 16th century that the Portuguese traders arrived on the “land of rising sun”. The traders, who landed at Kyushu, brought along gunpowder that was not previously known to the Japanese. The local barons cordially responded to these traders mainly because of the weapons they possessed. The traders were also accompanied by Christian missionaries who were allowed to conduct their religious preaching by the local barons. A large number of Japanese were converted by these missionaries.
...that used latest of technology. They made Japan a major trade area so they could have access to other goods.
The Ottomans and Spanish built flourishing empires based on different philosophies from 1450 to 1800. The Ottoman and Spanish were two powerful empires during that time. During the building of the two empires, the Spanish and the Ottoman both developed similarities in their social, political, and economic structures. The Ottoman took control of Europe, while the Spanish saw it as easy to monitor new lands. The different tactics employed made the both empires flourish. For instance, the Spanish were not tolerant of religion. They conquered other areas with the aim of converting Christians to Islam, if they refused, they would be killed. On the other hand, the Ottoman leaders incorporated leaders of diverse culture
Our Connected World: Japan and Australia Japan and Australia have a complicated relationship, due to World War Two. Though in recent years Australia and Japan have both become good allies. Australia and Japans trade relationship has become greatly beneficial for both countries. Japans Tourism industry is also a huge bonus for the country. Japan and Australia’s Migration history extents a long way back, over 140 years ago.
The Ottoman empire had a long history of using foreigners as slaves. The Janissaries were boys taken from the Balkans to be soldier-slaves for the Ottomans. They took these boys from their homes and used them as a cavalry in their strong military. Near the end of the empire, the Janissaries had gained much power which eventually aided in the fall of the empire. The Ottomans were not scared of the outside world. They continued to expand their vast empire, almost until it fell. The Ottomans spread themselves out and had many various cultures and people living within their empire. This is very different from how Japan came to later view and treat foreigners. Under Nobunaga, Japan traded with foreigners and was tolerant of new religions. However under the Tokugawa shogunate, the empire completely changed these policies. The Buddhist uprisings in Japan had ended, so the need for Christians in court was nonexistent. Along with this, the people of Japan became more dedicated to their faith than to the shogun. They would refuse to follow some orders of the shogun if they believed it went against their newfound religion. This greatly angered Tokugawa and he began to persecute the Christians. He eventually led Japan into a period of isolationism. Isolationism has been long used in history, even in the United States. Before entering World War II, the United States took on a policy of isolationism to protect themselves. Japan turned away from the world as a way of keeping themselves safe from foreign invasion. Unlike the Ottomans, Japan never let foreigners gain significant power, and when it seemed like they may the shogun essentially removed all foreigners. Japan stopped trading with foreigners almost all together, save for the Dutch at a small port. No foreigners were to step on Japanese land. Japan shut themselves out of the rest of the world to protect
...ining power over its subjects. The Tokugawa instead took the wives and children of the shoguns semihostage in Edo to deter powerful families from taking over the Tokugawa. This is the way the Tokugawa handled the problem because they were no outsiders to Japan but they had many enemies within the state. The Tokugawa and Chinese, however, both closely maintained their contact with foreigners, especially in trade. The Chinese established the Canton system which limited the Europeans to trade in only one city and need a guild approval to trade. The Japanese solved this problem of foreign relations through directing all trade traffic to Honshu, a port city under Edo’s direct rule. This was significant because this direction of trade meant the Edo government could collect taxes on the products rather than another daimyo, drawing power and wealth away from rival families.