Closing the Country

General Context of the Closing of Japan

• Between the years of $-1633$ and $-1639$, the Tokugawa bakufu implemented a series of edicts that effectively isolated Japan from the outside world.

• This period of seclusion primarily excluded all Westerners except for the Dutch and the Chinese.

• The country remained closed until $1853$, when Commodore Perry arrived at the shores of Uraga.

• In total, the policy of seclusion lasted for a duration of $214\,years$.

Primary Motivations for Seclusion

• Religious Concerns: There was a profound fear of the spread of Christianity. The bakufu believed that the Christian faith served as the vanguard for territorial aggression by the Spaniards and the Portuguese.

• Economic Monopolization: The bakufu desired to centralize and monopolize all benefits from foreign trade.

• Political Control:

  • Nagasaki was placed under the direct governance of the bakufu to ensure strict monopolistic control.

  • The ito wappu system was established: the bakufu set the price for raw silk acquired from foreigners and then set quotas for its distribution to merchants from five specific cities.

  • In $1609$, western daimyō were explicitly forbidden from maintaining large ships.

  • In $1635$, the prohibition of Japanese ships going overseas became absolute.

International Rivalries and the Dutch Role

• The Dutch played on the bakufu's fear of Christianity's subversive nature to exclude their trading rivals.

• British: They found their Japan trade unprofitable and closed their factory in $1623$.

• Spaniards: They were expelled from the country in $1624$.

• Portuguese: They were officially excluded in $1639$.

• Dutch Duplicity: By influencing the prohibition of Japanese overseas trade, the Dutch eliminated Japanese-run commerce as a major source of competition.

The Edict of 1635: Structural Isolation

• Travel Restrictions:

  • Japanese ships are strictly forbidden from leaving for foreign countries.

  • No Japanese person is permitted to go abroad; secret attempts result in execution of the individual, impounding of the ship, and arrest of the owner.

  • Any Japanese person returning from overseas after residing there must be put to death.

• Religious Proscriptions:

  • A thorough investigation must be conducted wherever the teachings of padres (Christianity) are practiced.

  • Rewards are offered for informers: revealing high-ranking padres yields a reward of $100\,pieces\,of\,silver$. Rewards for lower ranks are set according to the deed.

• Security and Incarceration:

  • Foreign ships with objections may be guarded by ships from the ŀmura domain.

  • "Southern Barbarians" (Westerners) who propagate Christianity or commit crimes may be incarcerated in the ŀmura domain prison.

  • All incoming ships must be searched for followers of padres.

• Trade Regulations:

  • No single trading city can purchase all merchandise from foreign ships.

  • Samurai are forbidden from purchasing goods directly from Chinese merchants in Nagasaki.

  • Price setting for white yarns (raw silk) is allocated to the five trading cities and other stipulated quarters.

  • After silk prices are settled, other merchandise can be traded freely between licensed dealers, with payment required within $20\,days$.

• Operational Deadlines:

  • Foreign ships must depart no later than the $20^{th}\,day$ of the $9^{th}\,month$.

  • Late-arriving ships must depart within $50\,days$ of arrival.

  • Representatives of the five trading cities must arrive in Nagasaki by the $5^{th}\,day$ of the $7^{th}\,month$ or lose their quota.

  • Ships in Hirado must use the raw silk prices established in Nagasaki.

Completion of Exclusion (1639) and the Macao Embassy

• The Portuguese were accused of secretly transporting religious propagators and sending gifts to Christians in hiding.

• The $1639$ order forbade the entry of Portuguese galeota (galleons); violations would result in the destruction of the ship and the beheading of everyone aboard.

• The Macao Embassy (1640):

  • Despite the ban, an embassy was sent from Macao. The Shogun ordered the ship consumed by flames.

  • Principal ambassadors and their companions were executed.

  • A "rabble" of $13$ crew members was spared and sent back to Macao to warn others of the Shogun's resolve.

  • Heads of the executed were displayed in three groups at the mount of execution near a house where their corpses were buried under cairns of stones.

  • A monument inscription warned that even if the King of Portugal, the Shaka, or the "GOD of the Christians" were to come, they would suffer the same penalty.

Renunciation of the Kirishitan Faith (1645)

• Ex-Christian Vow (Vow of Namban):

  • Renunciants stated that Christian doctrines were "evil" and used to take the lands of others.

  • They cited the fear of excommunication and the requirement of confession to a padre for salvation as tools of control.

  • Signatories shifted faith: men became adherents of Hokkekyō and wives became adherents of Ikkōsha.

  • They invoked punishment from Deus Paternus (God the Father), Jesus, Spirito Santo (Holy Ghost), and Santa Maria (St. Mary) if they harbored Christian thoughts.

• Japanese Pledge:

  • A formal declaration of having "shifted" faith to Japanese deities.

  • Falsehood would result in punishment from Bonten, Taishaku, the four deva kings, the gods of the $60\,or\,more\,provinces$, Mishima Daimyojin, the gods of Izu and Hakone, Hachiman Daibosatsu, Temman Daijizai Tenjin, and family gods like Suwa Daimyojin.

• Confirmation of Conversion: Converted padres (Chuan Bateren, Ryojun, and Ryohaku) and local religious figures certified that these individuals could not return to Christianity without a padre's mediation.

Nature and Logistics of Dutch Trade at Dejima

• Shift from Hirado to Dejima:

  • In $1601$, Ieyasu granted the Dutch free trade via a Goshuin (vermilion seal letter).

  • In $1638$, Shogun Iemitsu ordered the demolition of the Hirado warehouse because it was built of hewn stone and displayed the Christian year of birth on its front.

  • In $1641$, the Dutch were moved to the small island of Dejima in Nagasaki, which Kaempfer described as a "prison."

• The Shimabara Rebellion:

  • Approximately $40,000\,Christians$ revolted and retreated to a fort near Shimabara.

  • The Dutch director, Mr. Kockebecker, assisted the Japanese in the siege, battering the town with $426\,cannon\,balls$ from a ship and a shore battery.

• Restricted Life for the Dutch:

  • They were prohibited from performing divine services, singing psalms in public, showing the sign of the cross, or calling upon Christ in the presence of natives.

  • Friendship between Japanese and the Dutch was viewed as a lack of patriotism or treason.

• Ship Arrival Procedures:

  • Expected in harbor in September during the southwest monsoon.

  • All guns, cutlasses, swords, and gunpowder (in barrels) were confiscated and stored by the Japanese until departure.

  • If the wind was contrary, up to $50$ or $100\,rowing\,boats$ were sent to tow the ships in.

• Commodities:

  • Best Liked: Raw silk (though yielding the least profit).

  • High Profit items: Sugar, catechu, storax liquids, patchouli, camphor of Borneo, looking-glasses, Brazilwood, and hides.

  • Valuable Goods: Corals and amber (though prices fell to $50\%\,profit$ due to smuggling; formerly $10$ to $100\,times$ profit).

  • Quantity: Trade decreased from seven ships a year to only $3\,or\,4\,ships$.