The Dutch in Japan Essay -- History

The Red Haired Barbarians The Dutch in japanThe success of Dutch merchants in lacquer illustrates the uniqueness of the Dutch commonwealth amongst the 17th century European countries. Not only would the Dutch fatherto dominate trade in Asia, in Japan they would demonstrate a practicality that wouldenable them to be the singular Western force present in a country that would severelyisolate itself from any foreign intrusion. The V.O.C. could and so be a ruthless cartel insecuring trade from its rivalry and in dealing with indigenous populations aroundthe world, as in the chance of slavery where human beings were reduced to merecommodities to be bought and sold. Yet, the relationship among early Dutch traders, theV.O.C., and the Japanese people delineates an entrepreneurial and cultural adroitness thatwas beyond that of their European contemporaries and competitors in the 17th century.It was the Lusitanian, rather than the Dutch, were the basic Europeans to begin arelationship with the people of Japan. The Portuguese arrived in 1543 when Japan was awar torn country divided by incompatible warlords. Along with trade, the Portuguese broughtJesuit missionaries who successfully proselytized Christianity if not to a large-scale,which would thus far be significant to future Japanese rulers. During their time inJapan, the Portuguese would see the rise of the three great shogunal unifiers. The first ofthese was Oda Nobunaga, who actually back up Christian efforts in order to counter2the militant Buddhist domains that resisted his rule. The second unifier, ToyotomiHideyoshi was much less tolerant of the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries, and later on vacillated between policies of security deposit and b... ...to agreatly different culture. That the idea of tolerance was not prevalent for17th centuryEuropeans is demonstrated by the Portuguese convey in Japan, yet somehow theDutch managed a cultural cleverness that was remarkable for this time period.Works C itedDutch and Japanese Relations. Consulat-General avant-garde het Koninkrijk der Nederlandenhttp//www.oranda-cg.or.jp/english/relations.html, Retrieved 23 July 2007.Sayle, Murray. Japan Goes Dutch. London reassessment of Books. Vol. 23 No. 7 (5 April2001). Retrieved 22 July 2007.Totman, Conrad. Tokugawa Ieyasu Shogun A Biography, Tokyo Heian foreignIncorporated. 1983.Yonemura, Ann. Yokohama Prints from Nineteenth Century Japan. Arthur M.Sackler Gallery. Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C. artelino.com/.Articles/dutch.Nagasaki. Retrieved 23 July 2007. NIAS_User Page 8 10/3/07.