was a village in Nishisonogi District,

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 Square kilometre, km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders ...

. It was absorbed into

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

city in 1955. In the 16th century it was the location of the

Battle of Fukuda Bay The in 1565 was the first recorded naval battle between Europeans (the Portuguese) and the Japanese. A flotilla of samurai under the ''daimyō'' Matsura Takanobu attacked two Portuguese trade vessels that had shunned Matsura's port in Hirado a ...

, the first recorded naval battle between Western and Japanese forces. It also saw the spread of Christianity by Jesuit missionaries, who converted a large number of the local population into

Kirishitan The Japanese term , from Portuguese ''cristão'' (cf. Kristang), meaning "Christian", referred to Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. M ...

s. During World War II the village suffered direct damage from the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

History

Pre-Edo period

Fukuda village was within the

Ōmura Domain was a Japanese domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holo ...

, which had been controlled by the Ōmura clan since the 12th century. Fukuda Bay was opened to Portuguese traders in 1565 following negotiations with

Ōmura Sumitada Ōmura Sumitada (大村純忠, 1533 – June 23, 1587) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' lord of the Sengoku period. He achieved fame throughout the country for being the first of the daimyo to convert to Christianity following the arrival of the ...

's chief vassal Fukuda Kanetsugu (福田兼次). The opening of Fukuda to the Portuguese took trade away from

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...

, a port controlled by the rival Matsura clan. On 18 October of that year the

occurred, when a flotilla of Japanese ships led by Matsura Takanobu attacked a Portuguese carrack. This was the first recorded naval battle between European and Japanese forces. The Portuguese suffered eight fatalities in the battle that lasted two hours, while the attacking Japanese force lost 70 men with more than 200 injured. Fukuda Kanetsugu was a Christian who welcomed the Portuguese traders. Between 1565 and 1570 Portuguese monks and priests were sent to Fukuda and churches were built. Ōmura visited the area from time to time and in 1566 it was reported that more than 1,000 Christians were living in Fukuda. However the bay's unfavourable location, being directly exposed to large waves from the open ocean, encouraged the Portuguese to look for a safer harbour. This led to the eventual opening of the Port of Nagasaki in 1571.

Edo period

The Edo-period surveyor

Inō Tadataka was a Japanese people, Japanese surveying, surveyor and cartographer. He is known for completing the first map of Japan using modern surveying techniques. Early life Inō was born in the small village of Ozeki in the middle of Kujūkuri beach, ...

described his visit to Fukuda in his diary entry for the 17th day of the 8th month in the 10th year of the

Bunka was a after ''Kyōwa'' and before ''Bunsei''. The period spanned the years from January 1804 to April 1818. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 11, 1804 (): The new era name of ''Bunka'' ( meaning "Culture" or "Civiliza ...

era (11 September 1813 in the Gregorian calendar). Inō described the village as within the realm of the Omura clan.

Modern period

Under the Towns and Villages Law that came into effect on 1 April 1889, Fukuda was arranged into 9 neighbourhoods. In the

atomic bombing of Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the on ...

, five of the neighbourhoods in Fukuda received direct damage from the blast. On 1 April 1950 a 0.06 km² portion of the Ōura neighbourhood (consisting of 25 households and 106 residents) was transferred to neighbouring Nagasaki city. On 1 January 1955 Fukuda and a neighbouring village Fukahori were absorbed into Nagasaki city. At the time Fukuda's area was 21.47 km² and the village was home to 5,431 residents living in 992 households. Fukuda now lies in the western region of Nagasaki. The western regional office of Nagasaki's city hall is based in the Fukuda branch.

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website of the City of Nagasaki
in Japanese (som

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fukuda, Nagasaki Dissolved municipalities of Nagasaki Prefecture