Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / The Portuguese in Japan: A Hundred Years of Trade and Conflict
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Portugal's empire across Africa, India, and Brazil. But one of the most surprising chapters — at least to me — is their time in Japan. For about a hundred years, from the mid-1500s to the 1630s, the Portuguese were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan, and they had an outsized influence. Luna: Wait, how did they even get there? Japan is so far from Portugal. Lucas: It started almost by accident. In 1543, a Chinese junk carrying Portuguese traders was blown off course and landed on the island of Tanegashima, off the southern coast of Japan. The Portuguese had arquebuses — early matchlock firearms — and the local daimyo was fascinated. He bought a couple, and within a few years, Japanese smiths were mass-producing them. Lucas: This was a game-changer for Japan's civil wars. The Sengoku period was in full swing, and daimyos like Oda Nobunaga quickly realized that guns could decide battles. Nobunaga famously used massed arquebusiers at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575 to crush the Takeda clan's cavalry charges. So the Portuguese didn't just bring trade — they brought a military revolution. Luna: And the missionaries came with them, right? Like Francis Xavier. Lucas: Exactly. Francis Xavier arrived in 1549, just a few years after the first traders. He was a Jesuit, and he was incredibly effective. He learned Japanese, adapted to the culture, and by the time he left for China a few years later, he'd planted seeds that would grow into a Christian community of maybe 300,000 by the early 1600s. Lucas: The Jesuits were strategic. They targeted the ruling class — daimyos, samurai — because they knew conversion from the top down would be faster. And it worked. Some daimyos converted, often for a mix of spiritual and practical reasons: they wanted access to Portuguese trade goods and military technology. One daimyo, Ōmura Sumitada, even gave the Jesuits the port of Nagasaki in 1571, which became the hub of the Nanban trade — 'Nanban' meaning 'Southern Barbarians,' which is what the Japanese called the Portuguese. Luna: But it didn't last. I've heard about the Shimabara Rebellion and the expulsion of Christians. Lucas: Right. The tide turned when Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan in the 1580s. At first he tolerated the Jesuits, but by 1587 he issued an edict banning Christianity and expelling missionaries. He'd started to see them as a fifth column — a threat to his authority, especially after a Spanish shipwreck led to a boast by a Spanish pilot that missionaries paved the way for conquest. Lucas: Hideyoshi also distrusted the loyalty of Christian daimyos. He ordered a crackdown, and in 1597, he had 26 Christians — missionaries and Japanese converts — crucified in Nagasaki. That was the beginning of a long persecution. But it accelerated under the Tokugawa shogunate, which took power after 1600. Luna: The Tokugawas really sealed Japan off, didn't they? Sakoku. Lucas: Yes. The Tokugawa shoguns, starting with Ieyasu, were deeply suspicious of Christianity. They saw it as a destabilizing foreign influence. But the final break came after the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-1638. That was a huge uprising led mostly by Christian peasants — over 30,000 of them — who were angry about high taxes and religious persecution. They holed up in Hara Castle, and the shogunate had to call in 120,000 troops and even a Dutch ship to bombard them into submission. Luna: That's brutal. And after that, no more Portuguese? Lucas: Exactly. The shogunate blamed the Portuguese for the rebellion and expelled them in 1639. Only the Dutch were allowed to stay, confined to the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki, under strict supervision. Japan entered over two centuries of near-total isolation — sakoku, or 'closed country.' And the Portuguese were gone for good. Lucas: But their legacy survived. Tens of thousands of Japanese Christians went underground, becoming Kakure Kirishitan — 'hidden Christians.' They secretly passed down their faith through generations, using modified prayers and rituals that blended with Buddhism and Shinto. They were discovered by French missionaries in the 1860s, and many were shocked to find that a form of Christianity had survived for over 200 years without priests or scriptures. Luna: That's amazing. So Portugal's impact on Japan was huge, even if it ended badly. Lucas: Absolutely. The Portuguese introduced firearms, Western medicine, and even new foods like tempura — which is thought to come from the Portuguese word 'tempero,' meaning seasoning. They also influenced Japanese art and language: words like 'pan' for bread come from Portuguese 'pão.' And the Japanese mission to Europe in 1582 — the Tenshō embassy — was a diplomatic milestone, sending four young samurai to visit the Pope and kings of Spain and Portugal. Luna: Wait, there was a Japanese embassy to Portugal? Lucas: Yes! It was organized by the Jesuits. The four young samurai traveled to Goa, then to Lisbon, Madrid, and Rome. They were received by Philip II of Spain and Pope Gregory XIII. It was part of an effort to show Japan's openness and to build relationships. But by the time they returned eight years later, Japan was already turning against Christianity. One of the ambassadors, Hasekura Tsunenaga, later renounced his faith under pressure. Lucas: So the Portuguese-Japan story is a microcosm of global encounter: curiosity and exchange, but also exploitation and conflict. It shows how even a small nation like Portugal could reach across the world and leave a mark that lasted centuries. Luna: And it's a reminder that history is full of these unexpected connections. Lucas: Exactly. Next time you bite into a piece of tempura, think of the Portuguese caravels that made it possible.