Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / The Portuguese Discovery of Japan: First Contact and the Nanban Trade
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked about Portuguese influence in Africa, India, and Brazil, but there's one part of Asia where they made a huge impact that we haven't touched yet: Japan. The story of how these two cultures met is absolutely wild. Luna: I didn't realize the Portuguese ever reached Japan. Was it some kind of planned expedition? Lucas: Not at all. It was an accident. In 1543, a Chinese junk carrying three Portuguese merchants was blown off course during a storm and washed up on the shores of Tanegashima, a small island south of Kyushu. Those three men—among them a Portuguese adventurer named Fernão Mendes Pinto, though his accounts are notoriously exaggerated—became the first Europeans to set foot in Japan. Lucas: The local daimyo, or feudal lord, was fascinated by their strange appearance and, more importantly, by the arquebuses they carried. The Portuguese demonstrated the guns, and the daimyo immediately ordered his swordsmiths to replicate them. Within a few years, Japanese gunsmiths were mass-producing these firearms, and they completely changed the nature of samurai warfare. Luna: So the Portuguese basically introduced the gun to Japan? That must have had massive consequences. Lucas: Yes, it was a huge deal. Japan was in the middle of the Sengoku period—a century of constant civil war. The arquebus gave a huge advantage to any daimyo who could afford them and train his men. Oda Nobunaga, one of the great unifiers, famously used massed arquebus fire to devastating effect at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. But the Portuguese impact went far beyond firearms. Lucas: The Portuguese called Japan the 'Nanban' — meaning 'Southern Barbarian' — and a lively trade sprang up. Portuguese ships from Goa and Macau brought Chinese silk, gold, and spices, and they traded for Japanese silver, which was a huge commodity. The port of Nagasaki became the center of this trade, and the Jesuits, led by Francis Xavier, used the opportunity to spread Christianity. Luna: Francis Xavier actually went to Japan? I thought he was mostly in India. Lucas: He did both. After his work in Goa, he traveled to Japan and landed at Kagoshima in 1549. He spent about two years there, making converts and establishing the first Christian communities. He was amazed by Japanese culture—he described them as 'the best people yet discovered'—and he believed they would be receptive to Christianity. And they were, at first. Daimyos in Kyushu saw trade with the Portuguese as a way to get weapons and wealth, so many converted and allowed Christian missionaries to work freely. Luna: Interesting. So for a while, it was a mutually beneficial relationship. Lucas: Definitely. The Portuguese got silver and a new market; the Japanese got firearms, Chinese silk, and access to European knowledge. But sooner or later, these things are bound to shift. You know, if today's episode has given you a clearer picture of this fascinating encounter, it's worth remembering that the show stays ad-free thanks to listeners who feel the same way. If you'd like to support the work, you can buy me a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep these stories of global connection alive. Luna: Absolutely. It's amazing how one accidental landing led to so much exchange. Lucas: Right. So, as the trade grew, so did the number of Christians. By the early 1600s, there were around 300,000 converts, including some powerful daimyo. But the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu grew wary. He saw Christianity as a threat to his authority—the missionaries were seen as a potential fifth column for European colonization. Plus, the Spanish and Portuguese were rivals, and Japan didn't want to get caught in their games. Lucas: The turning point came with the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-1638, where thousands of mostly Christian peasants and samurai rose up against the shogunate. It was brutally suppressed, and after that, the shogunate expelled the Portuguese—though the Dutch, who didn't bring missionaries, were allowed to stay on a small island. Japan entered its Sakoku isolation period, which lasted until the 1850s. Luna: So after nearly a century of exchange, it all came to an end. That's a dramatic shift. Lucas: It is. But the legacy of that brief Portuguese presence is still visible today: words like 'tempura' and 'pan' come from Portuguese, and some traditional Japanese crafts were influenced by European designs. It's a reminder that even a small nation like Portugal could reach across the world and leave a lasting mark, for better or worse. Luna: Fascinating. And it shows how interconnected the early modern world really was. Lucas: Exactly. Next time, we'll look at another corner of the empire that often gets overlooked. But for now, I think that's a good place to stop.