Japan and Dutch relations

Portugal

A primary source depicting a Portuguese ship arriving at Japan (drawn in 1600)

This primary source is an artwork depicting a Portuguese ship arriving at Japan. The source has no identified producer but is assumed to be Japanese and it was also created early edo period. The Portuguese ship is on the left side of the artwork and is portrayed as menacing whilst the left side is the Japanese and is shown as relatively poorer as the big Portuguese ship is contrasted with the small Japanese rowboat. This primary source tells us that at the time the Portuguese were more powerful economically than the Japanese and that the Japanese wanted to trade with the Portuguese as they seemed more developed and were likely to be fascinated at the difference in culture and items they had despite the foreigners looking scary and overwhelming. Mostly the wealthy Japanese traded with the Portuguese. The source is a painted source which is not always reliable as they may not have been present at the event or have been asked to draw it. The source is useful as it tells us that the Portuguese were more economically developed at the time and that they conducted trade with each other.

Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Trading Company

The Primary source shows a shipyard of the Dutch East India company (created in 1603)

The Primary source is an artist's impression of a shipyard of the Dutch East India company of Netherlands. The company was created in order to compete with other big European trading companies such as the Portuguese and to profit in the Asian spice trading market. The Netherlands government invested lots of money and resources in order to establish the company and manufacture lots of trading ships as can be shown by the source above. The source tells us at at the time, the dutch were not yet a European trading giant as they still needed to build many trading ships. The source also shows that the dutch were very invested into their trading company as in the source, there are a lot of resources and workers being put into building the ship. The source is reliable to an extent as there would've been many spectators at the scene so the artist could not just have made it up however it could be slightly biased in favor of the dutch to make their ships look more overwhelming. This source is useful as it tells us that the dutch spent a lot of resources and workforce into establishing its trade.

Primary source depicting trade alliance between Japanese and Dutch

Contact between Netherlands

and Japan

This Primary source is a trade pass, written by the Japanese shogunate of the Edo period, depicting the allowance of dutch merchants to trade with the Japanese. The Dutch arrived on Hirado in Kyushu in 1609, offering gifts and riches from the Netherlands royal house, Tokugawa Ieyasu then granted the Dutch a trade pass to allow the two countries to begin trading. The source shows that the Japanese and Dutch were looking to grow their nations as establishing a trade alliance is a great way to do so. Since the issue of the trade pass, the dutch and Japanese maintained good ties. This source is reliable as many historians would study the legitimacy of the trade pass and there is no evidence that disputes the validity. The source is useful as it proves the trade alliance established between the two countries. There is no bias from this source as there is no influence from either Japan or Dutch on this source. Even when Japan turned into an isolationist country in 1623 due to foreign promotion of Christianity, the dutch were an exception and still were granted trading permission with the country which shows Japan’s demand for foreign resources and the ongoing success between the countries’ trade.

Dutch Golden Age

After success with trading with Japan, the Dutch were very wealthy

Success in trading

The above source depicts one of the many lavish buildings created during the golden age of trade in netherlands

The source above was created in 1667 however the photo was taken in 2003. The building is a cheese weigh house. The source tells us that the Dutch were very rich at the time as the building clearly took much architectual planning and workers, the building is also said to have cost a fortune. Dutch society must have been very wealthy at the time as there would have been many other buildings with similar value as if a town's cheese weigh house was rich, the other buildings must have been even more in value. Furthermore, the wealth of the dutch ties in with the the trading industry as it was built during the period where dutch trading strived. The source is extremely reliable as it is a building and is still standing today, people would've also written down the building's creation date. The source is somewhat useful as it gives us information about how rich the dutch were at the time but even if the building wasnt created, there would be other sources that would allow us to know that they were wealthy at the time.

The Japanese Isolation policy

Isolation Policy

The above source is a depiction of Dejima, the man-built trading port that the dutch were allowed to trade with the Japanese from during the years of isolation. Before the creation of the artificial island, the Dutch helped the shogunate ban the Portuguese traders who were there to spread the word of Christianity in Japan. After this, the Japanese banned all foregin traders, EXCEPT for the Dutch who were allowed to trade with them in the artifical island as depicted in the source.

The source shows that the Japanese were dependent on the Dutch for foreign resources and positive cultural influence. The source also tells us the lengths that Japan went to in order to still maintain trade with foreign countries as building an artificial island is no easy job. The source is reliable as although it is just a depiction of the island, it is very similar to the actual island which still exists. The source is only fairly useful as without the source, the island still stands today and historians can easily find out about Dejima island and its context without the source. There is no bias to the source as there is no influence to the Japan or the Dutch.