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Europeans, and in particular the Portuguese and Spanish who experienced the reformation and the renaissance in the 16th century, first sailed to Japan as part of an effort to spread Catholicism by extending their trading activities around the globe. The Portuguese arrived in 1543, bringing guns to trade, while the Catholic missionary Francisco Xavier landed in 1549.
Then, in 1600, one ship from a five-ship East Asian expeditionary fleet that had sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, drifted ashore on the Japanese coast. The fact that this ship carried both Dutch and English sailors made its arrival a major foothold for the sailors' two Protestant countries to move into Japan.
However, the governing Tokugawa shogunate (1630-1867) disliked the antagonism between the Catholic and Protestant countries, as well as the discord among the foreigners over trade with Japan. The shogunate enacted and resolutely enforced a ban on Christianity which was at the center of new restrictions on trade, and further cut off exchanges with the outside by forbidding Japanese people from entering or leaving the country. Amazingly, these policies did not unravel for over 200 years, until the arrival of warships from the United States. |
