Dejima

View of Dejima island in Nagasaki Bay (from Siebold's Nippon, 1897)

Dejima (出島? literally "protruding island"; Dutch: Desjima or Deshima, often latinised as Decima), was a fan-shaped artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch trading port during Japan's self-imposed isolation (sakoku) of the Edo period, from 1641 until 1853.

Contents

History

Dutchmen with Courtesans in Nagasaki c.1800.

The artificial island, constructed in 1634 on orders of shogun Iemitsu, originally accommodated Portuguese merchants. The Shimabara uprising of 1637, in which Christian Japanese took an active part, was crushed with the help of the Dutch. After the Portuguese and other Catholic nations were expelled from Japan in 1638, the shogunate ordered the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) to transfer its mercantile operations from the island port of Hirado to Dejima in 1641.

At its maximum, the Hirado trading facility, or "factory," covered a large area.[1] In 1637 and in 1639, stone warehouses were constructed within the ambit of this Hirado trading post. Dutch builders incorporated these very dates into the stonework, but the Tokugawa shogunate disapproved of the use of any Christian era year dates and so ordered the immediate destruction of the structures.[2]

This modest example of Dutch failure to comply with strict sakoku practices was then used as one of the bakufu's plausible rationales for forcing the Dutch traders to abandon Hirado for the more constricting confines of Dejima island in Nagasaki harbor.[2] However, modern research has led scholars to argue that "This was actually an excuse for the shogonate to take the Dutch trade away from the Hirado clan."[2] This strategic decision led to significant and unanticipated consequences for Hirado, for Nagasaki, and for Japan.

As an additional punitive measure, the bakufu ordered the annual replacement of the VOC Opperhoofd or Kapitan in Japan.[2] This, too, would lead to unanticipated consequences.

Organization

Dejima and Nagasaki Bay, circa 1820. Two Dutch ships and numerous Chinese trading junks are depicted.

From then on, only the Chinese and the Dutch could trade with Japan. It is significant that Dejima was an artificial island, and hence not part of Japan proper. Thus, the foreigners were kept at arm's length from the sacred soil of Japan. Dejima was a small island, 120 by 75 meters,[3] linked to the mainland by a small bridge, guarded on both sides, and with a gate on the Dutch side. It contained houses for about twenty Dutchmen, warehouses, and accommodation for Japanese government officials. The Dutch were watched by a number of Japanese officials, gatekeepers, night watchmen, and a supervisor (otona) with about fifty subordinates. There were a number of merchants for supplies and catering and about 150 tsūji ("interpreters"). They all had to be paid by the VOC. Dejima was under direct central supervision of Edo by a governor, called a bugyō, who was responsible for all contact between the VOC and all contacts with anyone in the Japanese archipelago.

Every Dutch ship that arrived in Dejima was inspected by the bugyō, and sails were seized until that ship was set to leave. Religious books and weapons were sealed and confiscated. No religious services were allowed on the island.

Despite the financial burden of the isolated outpost on Dejima, the trade with Japan was very profitable for the VOC, initially yielding profits of 50% or more. Trade declined in the 18th century, as only two ships per year were allowed to dock at Dejima. After the bankruptcy of the VOC in 1795, the Dutch government took over the settlement. Times were especially hard when the Netherlands (then called the Batavian Republic) was under French Napoleonic rule and all ties with the homeland were severed. For a while Dejima remained the only place in the world where the Dutch flag was flown.

The chief VOC official in Japan was called the Opperhoofd, or Kapitan. This descriptive title did not change when the island's trading fell under Dutch state authority. Throughout these years, the plan was to have one incumbent per year--but sometimes plans needed to be flexible.

Scale model of Dutch trading post on display in Dejima (1995)

Trade

Originally, the Dutch mainly traded in silk, but sugar became more important later. Also deer pelts and shark skin were transported to Japan from Asia, as well as woolen cloth and glassware from Europe. In return, the Dutch traders bought Japanese copper and silver.

To this was added the personal trade of individual Dutch traders in charge of Dejima, called kanbang trade, which was an important source of income for the employees and allowed the Japanese to procure books or scientific instruments. More than 10,000 foreign books on various scientific subjects were thus sold to the Japanese from the end of the 18th to the early 19th century, thus becoming the central factor of the Rangaku movement, or Dutch studies.

Ship arrivals

In all, 606 Dutch ships arrived at Dejima during two centuries of settlement, from 1641 to 1847.

Sakoku policy

Japanese painting of Dutch practicing astronomy at Dejima.

For two hundred years, Dutch merchants were generally not allowed to cross from Dejima to Nagasaki, and Japanese were likewise banned from entering Dejima, except for prostitutes from Nagasaki teahouses. These yūjo were handpicked from 1642 by the Japanese, often against their will. From the 18th century there were some exceptions to this rule, especially following Tokugawa Yoshimune's doctrine of promoting European practical sciences. A few Oranda-yuki ("those who stay with the Dutch") were allowed to stay for longer periods, but they had to report regularly to the Japanese guard post. European scholars such as Engelbert Kaempfer, Carl Peter Thunberg, Isaac Titsingh and Philipp Franz von Siebold were allowed to enter the mainland with the shogunate's permission.[4] Starting in the 1700s, Dejima became known throughout Japan as a center of medicine, military science, and astronomy, and many samurai travelled there for "Dutch studies" (Rangaku).

In addition, the Opperhoofd was treated like a Japanese daimyo, which meant that he had to pay a visit of homage to the Shogun in Edo regularly (the so-called sankin kotai). In contrast to a daimyo, the Dutch delegation traveled to Edo yearly between 1660 and 1790 and once every four years thereafter. This prerogative was denied to the Chinese traders. This lengthy travel to the imperial court broke the boredom of their stay, but it was a costly affair to the Dutch. The shōgun let them know in advance and in detail which (expensive) gifts he expected, such as astrolabes, a pair of glasses, telescopes, globes, medical instruments, medical books, or exotic animals and tropical birds. In return, the Dutch delegation received some gifts from the shogun. On arrival in Edo the Opperhoofd and his retinue (usually his scribe and the factory doctor) had to wait in the Nagasakiya, their mandatory residence until they were summoned at the court. After their official audience, they were expected, according to Engelbert Kaempfer, to perform Dutch dances and songs etc. for the amusement of the shogunate. But they also used the opportunity of their stay of about two to three weeks in the capital to exchange knowledge with learned Japanese and, under escort, visit the town.

New introductions to Japan

Scene of badminton playing in Dejima.
Dutch playing billards in Dejima.

Nagasaki Naval Training Center

The Nagasaki Training Center, in Nagasaki, next to Dejima (in the background).

Following the forcible opening of Japan by US Navy Commodore Perry in 1854, the Bakufu suddenly increased its interactions with Dejima in an effort to build up knowledge of Western shipping methods. The Nagasaki Naval Training Center (Jp:長崎海軍伝習所/Nagasaki Kaigun Denshūsho), a naval training institute, was established in 1855 by the government of the Shogun right at the entrance of Dejima, allowing maximum interaction with Dutch naval know-how. The center was also equipped with Japan's first steamship, the Kankō Maru, given by the government of the Netherlands the same year. The future Admiral Enomoto Takeaki was one of the students of the Training Center.

Reconstruction

The Dutch East India Company's trading post at Dejima was closed in 1857, once Dutch merchants were allowed to trade in Nagasaki City. Since then, the island has been surrounded by reclaimed land and merged into Nagasaki. Extensive redesigning of Nagasaki Harbor in 1904 has obscured the location.[5] The footprint of Dejima island's original location has been marked by rivets; but as restoration progresses, the ambit of the island will be easier to grasp at a glance.

Edo-era boundaries of Dejima island (outlined in red) within the modern city of Nagasaki.

Dejima today has plainly become a work in progress. The island was designated a national historical site in 1922, but further steps were slow to follow. Restoration work was started in 1953, but that project languished.[5]

In 1996, restoration of Dejima began with plans for rebuilding 25 buildings to their early 19th century state. To better display Dejima's fan-shaped form, the project anticipated rebuilding only parts of the surrounding embankment wall that had once enclosed the island. Buildings that remained from the Meiji Period were to be used.

In 2000, five buildings including the Deputy Factor's Quarters were completed and opened to the public.

In the spring of 2006, the finishing touches were put on the Chief Factor's Residence, the Japanese Officials' Office, the Head Clerk's Quarters, the No. 3 Warehouse, and the Sea Gate.

The long-term planning now anticipates that Dejima should again be surrounded by water on all four sides, which means that Dejima’s characteristic fan-shaped form and all of its embankment walls will be fully restored. This long-term plan will involve a large-scale urban redevelopment in the area. If Dejima is to be an island again, the project will require rerouting the Nakashima River and moving a part of Route 499. The project is ambitious, but the eventual completion of this restoration project will create a unique window through which Nagasaki's past can be glimpsed.

Chronology of Dejima

Scene in the modern reconstruction of Dejima
Monument erected in Dejima by Siebold to honor Kaempfer and Thunberg

VOC outpost

Opperhoofd is a Dutch word (plural Opperhoofden) which literally means 'supreme head[man]'. In its historical usage, the word is a gubernatorial title, comparable to the English Chief factor, for the chief executive officer of a Dutch factory in the sense of trading post, as lead by a Factor, i.e. agent.

See more at VOC Opperhoofden in Japan
View of VOC compound at Hirado island -- west coast of Kyushu (c1669).
The last of the Dejima-based Opperhoofden handled the 1855 delivery of the Kankō Maru (観光丸), Japan's first modern steam warship -- a gift from the Dutch King Willem III to the Tokugawa Shogunate.

At Hirado

At Dejima

References

  1. ↑ Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibition catalog. (2000). A Very Unique Collection of Historical Significance: The Kapitan (the Dutch Chief) Collection from the Edo Period -- The Dutch Fascination with Japan, p.206.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibition catalog, p. 207.
  3. ↑ Ken Vos - The article "Dejima als venster en doorgeefluik" in the catalog (Brussels, 5 October 1989 - 16 December 1989) of the exhibition Europalia 1989 : "Oranda : De Nederlanden in Japan (1600-1868)
  4. ↑ In the context of Commodore Perry's "opening" of Japan in 1853, American naval expedition planners did have the reasonable forethought to incorporate reference material written by men whose published accounts of Japan were based on first-hand experience. J.W. Spaulding brought with him books by Japanologists Engelbert Kaempfer, Carl Peter Thunberg, and Isaac Titsingh. Screech, T. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, p.73.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibition catalog, p. 47.
Hendrik Doeff and a Balinese servant in Dejima, Japanese painting.

See also

Sources and external links

Gallery views

A bird's-eye view of Nagasaki harbor as published in the Illustrated London News (March 23, 1853). In the center -- the fan-shape of the Dutch traders' Dejima island compound and the Chinese compound is shown just to the left, separated from each other by narrow stretch of water. Bakufu supervision of these foreigners was under the control of the Governor of Nagasaki (the Nagasaki bugyō.
The Chinese traders at Nagasaki were confined to a walled compound which was located in the same vicinity as Dejima island; and the activities of the Chinese, though less strictly controlled than the Dutch, were closely monitored and scrutinized by the Nagasaki bugyō.
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