Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / The Portuguese and the Samurai: Why Japan Expelled Its Western Allies
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked a lot about Portugal's empire in Asia — the fortresses, the trade routes, the battles. But there's one relationship that's both fascinating and tragic: Portugal's connection with Japan. It lasted less than a century, but it changed both sides in profound ways. Luna: Right — the Nanban trade period. I remember you mentioning it briefly in the episode on Macau. Lucas: Exactly. The first Portuguese arrived in Japan in 1543, quite by accident. Three Portuguese merchants on a Chinese junk were blown off course and landed on the island of Tanegashima. They had arquebuses — early firearms — which the local lord, Tanegashima Tokitaka, was immediately fascinated by. Luna: And that single event sparked a revolution in Japanese warfare. Lucas: Absolutely. The Japanese had never seen guns before. The local smiths managed to replicate them within a year, and within a decade, firearms were being mass-produced. During the Sengoku period — the Warring States era — daimyo like Oda Nobunaga used them to devastating effect. At the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, Nobunaga's volley fire of arquebuses annihilated the famed Takeda cavalry. It was a turning point. Luna: So the Portuguese didn't just bring trade — they brought the technology that helped unify Japan. Lucas: Exactly. But alongside the guns came the missionaries. The first Jesuit, Francis Xavier, arrived in 1549. He was followed by others — most notably Alessandro Valignano, who adapted Catholicism to Japanese culture, even allowing samurai to keep their swords in church. By the 1590s, there were an estimated 300,000 converts, including powerful daimyo in Kyushu who saw Christianity as a way to secure Portuguese trade. Luna: But that success inevitably created friction. Lucas: Right. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified Japan after Nobunaga, initially tolerated the Christians. But in 1587, he issued an edict expelling the missionaries. He distrusted their loyalty and worried they were a vanguard for European colonization. He even pointed to the Spanish takeover of the Philippines as a warning. However, the edict wasn't strictly enforced — trade was too valuable. Luna: So the real crackdown came later, under the Tokugawa. Lucas: Yes. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, was initially welcoming. He allowed the Portuguese to trade and even sent a samurai embassy to Europe in 1613 — a mission led by Hasekura Tsunenaga. But over time, he grew suspicious. He saw the missionaries as political agents, and the daimyo converts as potential rebels. In 1614, he issued a formal ban on Christianity. Luna: And that's when the persecution began. Lucas: It was brutal. Missionaries were tortured and executed. Japanese Christians were forced to trample on images of Christ or the Virgin Mary — the Fumi-e practice — to prove they weren't believers. Those who refused were killed, often by crucifixion or burning alive. Thousands died. The faith went underground, becoming what's called the Kakure Kirishitan — the hidden Christians. Luna: And the breaking point was the Shimabara Rebellion. Lucas: Exactly. In 1637, in the Shimabara Peninsula near Nagasaki, a peasant uprising broke out, led mostly by ronin and impoverished farmers — many of them Christians. It was partly a protest against high taxes and famine, but it also had a religious dimension. The shogunate saw it as a Christian revolt and crushed it with massive force. Over 37,000 rebels were killed, including women and children. Luna: And after that, Japan closed its borders entirely. Lucas: Yes. The shogunate enacted Sakoku — 'closed country' — in the 1640s. No Japanese could leave, and no foreigners could enter, except for a small Dutch trading post on the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay. The Portuguese were expelled entirely. Their ships, their merchants, their missionaries — all gone. Any Portuguese who returned were executed. Luna: So the Dutch became the only European window into Japan for over two centuries. Lucas: That's right. And it's ironic — the Portuguese had brought the guns that helped unify Japan, and the Christianity that tore it apart. Their entire Asian network, from Goa to Macau to Nagasaki, collapsed in Japan. But the legacy lingered. The hidden Christians preserved their faith in secret for generations, and when Japan reopened in the 19th century, they emerged — still practicing a version of Catholicism mixed with Buddhist and Shinto elements. Luna: It's a reminder that empires can't control everything. The Portuguese tried to bring Japan into their orbit, and instead, Japan chose isolation. Lucas: Exactly. And speaking of choices — if you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you know we keep this show ad-free because of listeners like you. We don't run commercials, we don't have sponsors, and that's how we want it. If you appreciate these deep dives, you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a small way to keep the conversations going — no pressure at all. Luna: Yeah, it really helps us keep doing this. And it's nice to know people are getting something out of it. Lucas: So, back to Japan — one of the most remarkable aspects of the Portuguese encounter was the cultural exchange. The Japanese called the Europeans 'Nanban' — southern barbarians — but they were fascinated by their ships, their maps, their globes, and their clothing. Portuguese fashions even influenced Japanese art, in the Nanban screens that depicted exotic foreigners. Luna: Those screens are beautiful — I've seen them in museums. They show Portuguese ships arriving, priests in black robes, merchants with ruffs. Lucas: Exactly. There's a whole genre of art called Nanban byobu — folding screens that depict the foreigners with striking detail. They're not just decorative; they're historical documents. They show the Portuguese arriving in carracks, the black slaves that accompanied them, the trade goods being unloaded. It's a visual record of a world that disappeared. Luna: And after the expulsion, the Japanese tried to erase that memory. Lucas: Right. Christianity was outlawed, foreign books were banned, and even the word 'Nanban' fell out of use. But the Dutch presence in Dejima kept a tiny window open. Dutch scholars — the rangaku scholars — studied Western medicine, astronomy, and science through that window. So in a way, the Portuguese legacy survived, even if indirectly. Luna: It's incredible how a relationship that lasted barely a hundred years had such a lasting impact. Lucas: Absolutely. And it's a cautionary tale too — about how trade and religion can become entangled, and how a host nation can decide that the price of foreign influence is too high. For Portugal, losing Japan was a major blow to their Asian empire. But for Japan, it was a choice that defined their identity for centuries.