Portugal's Silk Road to Japan: The Nanban Trade

The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History · Oct 3, 2026 · 7m · transcript

While previous episodes have explored Portugal’s gold routes in Africa and sugar plantations in Brazil, this episode shifts focus eastward to the intricate web of the Nanban trade. We examine how Portuguese merchants established a foothold in Japan during the Sengoku period, introducing firearms like the Tanegashima matchlock and Catholicism through figures like Francis Xavier. The conversation details the cultural exchange known as Nanban-jin interactions, the role of Nagasaki as a treaty port, and the complex diplomatic maneuvers involving Daimyos like Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi…