![The restoration model red seal ships](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/The_restoration_model_red_seal_ships.jpg)
were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships bound for
Southeast Asian
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
ports with red-sealed
letters patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
issued by the early
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
in the first half of the 17th century. Between 1600 and 1635, more than 350 Japanese ships went overseas under this permit system.
Origins
From the 13th to the 16th century, Japanese ships were quite active in Asian waters, often in the role of "
wakō" pirates who plundered the coast of the
Chinese Empire
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...
. Official trading missions were also sent to China, such as the
Tenryūji-bune around 1341. Wakō activity was efficiently curbed in the late 16th century with the interdiction of piracy by
Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
, and the successful campaigns against pirate activity on the Chinese coast by
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
generals.
Between the 15th and the 16th century, the main trading intermediary in Eastern Asia was the island
kingdom of the Ryūkyū (modern
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
), which exchanged Japanese products (silver, swords) and Chinese products for Southeast Asian
sappan
''Biancaea sappan'' is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is native to tropical Asia. Common names in English include sappanwood and Indian redwood. Sappanwood is related to brazilwood (''Paubrasilia echinata''), ...
wood and deer hides. Altogether 150 Ryukyuan ships are recorded between the kingdom and Southeast Asia, 61 of them for
Annam (Vietnam), 10 for
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
, 10 for
Pattani, 8 for
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
, etc. Their commerce disappeared around 1570 with the rise of Chinese merchants and the intervention of Portuguese and Spanish ships and corresponds with the beginnings of the Red Seal system. Japan finally invaded the Ryūkyū Kingdom in 1609.
When the first Europeans started to navigate in the Pacific Ocean (see also
Nanban trade period
or the , was a period in the history of Japan from the arrival of Europeans in 1543 to the first ''Sakoku'' Seclusion Edicts of isolationism in 1614. Nanban (南蛮 Lit. "Southern barbarian") is a Japanese word which had been used to designate ...
), they regularly encountered Japanese ships, such as when the Spanish welcomed in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
in 1589 a storm-battered Japanese junk bound for Siam, or when the Dutch circumnavigator
Olivier van Noort
Olivier van Noort (1558 – 22 February 1627) was a Dutch merchant captain and pirate and the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the world.Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 246
Olivier ...
encountered a 110-ton Japanese
junk in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
in December 1600, and on the same voyage a Red Seal ship with a Portuguese captain off
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
through which they learned about the arrival of
William Adams in Japan.
Red Seal system
![Suminokura ship tablet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Suminokura_ship_tablet.jpg)
The Red Seal system appears from at least 1592, under
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
, date of the first known mention of the system in a document. The first actually preserved Shuinjō (Red Seal Permit) is dated to 1604, under
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...
, first ruler of Tokugawa Japan. Tokugawa issued red-sealed permits to his favourite feudal lords and principal merchants who were interested in foreign trade. By doing so, he was able to control Japanese traders and reduce Japanese piracy in the South Sea. His seal also guaranteed the protection of the ships, since he vowed to pursue any pirate or nation who would violate it.
Besides Japanese traders, 12 European and 11 Chinese residents, including
William Adams and
Jan Joosten
Jan Joosten van Lodensteyn (or Lodensteijn; 1556–1623), known in Japanese as Yayōsu (耶楊子), was a native of Delft and one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, and the second mate on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan i ...
, are known to have received permits. At one point after 1621, Jan Joosten is recorded to have possessed 10 Red Seal Ships for commerce.
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, Spanish, Dutch, English ships and Asian rulers basically protected Japanese red seal ships, since they had diplomatic relations with the Japanese shōgun. Only
Ming China
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
had nothing to do with this practice, because the Empire officially prohibited Japanese ships from entering Chinese ports. (But Ming officials were not able to stop Chinese smugglers from setting sail to Japan.)
Ship design
Red Seal ships usually ranged in size between 500 and 750 tons, a size equal or superior to European
galleon
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...
s, but inferior to that of the massive Portuguese
carrack
A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...
s or to
Manila galleon
fil, Galyon ng Maynila
, english_name = Manila Galleon
, duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years)
, venue = Between Manila and Acapulco
, location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...
s, which were often in the vicinity of 1,000 and 2,000 tons, respectively.
The complement is speculated to have been about 200 people per ship; the average of the fifteen Red Seal ships for which the number of people is known is 236.
Red-seal ships varied in style and place of construction. Some, especially those built in
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 ...
, employed Chinese and European techniques to Japanese ship designs. Others were captured Chinese junks. Later, when the Southeast Asian trade was well-established, numerous ships were ordered and purchased in
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to:
* Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767
** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
in Siam, on account of high-quality construction and materials.
The ships were managed by rich trading families such as the
Suminokura, Araki,
Chaya and Sueyoshi, or by individual adventurers such as Suetsugu Heizō,
Yamada Nagamasa
was a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, which is on the Malay Peninsula in present-day Southern Thailand.
...
,
William Adams,
Jan Joosten
Jan Joosten van Lodensteyn (or Lodensteijn; 1556–1623), known in Japanese as Yayōsu (耶楊子), was a native of Delft and one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, and the second mate on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan i ...
or
Murayama Tōan
Murayama Tōan Antonio (村山等安)Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, João Paulo Oliveira e Costa p.7/ref> was a 17th-century Japanese magistrate of the city of Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Nagasaki (''Nagasaki daikan'', 長崎代官). He was born i ...
. The funds for the purchase of merchandise in Asia were loaned to the managers of the expedition for an interest of 35% to 55% per trip, going as high as 100% in the case of Siam.
Import and export
Japanese merchants mainly exported
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
,
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
s,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
,
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
s and other artifacts, and imported Chinese
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
as well as some Southeast Asian products (like
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
and deer skins).
Pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
and spices were rarely imported into Japan, where people did not eat a great deal of meat due to the local preponderance of adherents to the Buddhist belief system. Southeast Asian ports provided meeting places for Japanese and Chinese ships.
Destinations
The crew of the red seal ships were international, for many Chinese, Portuguese, and Dutch pilots and interpreters joined the sails. The first Red Seal ships were required to have a Portuguese pilot on board, although the Japanese progressively developed pilots of their own. The
Portolan
Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portulano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and whi ...
maps used on the Red Seal ships were drawn on the Portuguese model, with directions in the Japanese language.
Major Southeast Asian ports, including Filipino
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, Vietnamese
Hoi An, Siamese
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to:
* Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767
** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
, Malay
Pattani, welcomed the Japanese merchant ships, and many Japanese settled in these ports, forming small Japanese enclaves.
The Japanese seem to have been feared throughout Asian countries, according to a contemporary, Sir Edward Michelbourne:
The Japons are not suffered to land in any port in India (Asia) with weapons; being accounted a people so desperate and daring, that they are feared in all places where they come.
A Dutch commander wrote (c. 1615): "they are a rough and a fearless people, lambs in their own country, but well-nigh devils outside of it".
Philippines
Around 50 Red Seal ships to
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
are recorded between 1604 and 1624 (and only 4 more recorded by 1635). The Japanese had established quite early an enclave at
Dilao
Paco, formerly known as Dilao, is a district of Manila, Philippines located south of the Pasig River, and San Miguel, west of Santa Ana, southwest of Pandacan, north of Malate, northwest of San Andres Bukid, and east of Ermita. According to t ...
, a suburb of
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, where they numbered between 300 and 400 in 1593. In 1603, during the
Sangley
Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines to describe a person of pure ov ...
rebellion, they numbered 1,500 and 3,000 in 1606. The
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
friar
Luis Sotelo
Luis Sotelo, in English known also as Louis Sotelo, (September 6, 1574 – August 25, 1624) was a Franciscan friar from Spain who died as a martyr in Japan, in 1624, and was beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1867.
Early life
Luis was born in Sevilla ...
was involved in the support of the Dilao enclave between 1600 and 1608.
The Japanese led an abortive rebellion in Dilao against the Spanish in 1606–1607. Their numbers rose again with the interdiction of Christianity by
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...
in 1614, when 300 Japanese Christian refugees under
Dom Justo Takayama
, born and also known as Dom Justo Takayama (c. 1552 – 3 or 5 February 1615) was a Japanese Catholic Kirishitan daimyō and samurai who lived during the Sengoku period that witnessed anti-Catholic sentiment. Takayama had been baptized int ...
settled in the Philippines. In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
traders also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population. They are at the origin of today's 200,000-strong
Japanese population in the Philippines.
Siam (Thailand)
The Siamese "Chronicles of the
Kingdom of Ayutthaya
The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is consid ...
" record that already in 1592, 500 Japanese troops under the King of Siam helped defeat an invading Burmese army.
Around 56 Red Seal ships to Siam are recorded between 1604 and 1635. The Japanese community in Siam seems to have been in the hundreds, as described by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priest,
António Francisco Cardim
António Francisco Cardim (1596 – April 30, 1659) was a Portuguese Jesuit priest, missionary, and historian who recorded the events of the fathers and brothers of the Jesuit missions in China, Japan, and other places in the Far East.
Early l ...
, who recounted having administered sacrament to around 400 Japanese Christians in 1627 in the Thai capital of
Ayuthaya ("''a 400 japões christãos''") (Ishii Yoneo, Multicultural Japan).
In December 1605,
John Davis, the famous English explorer, was killed by Japanese pirates off the coast of Siam, thus becoming the first Englishman to be killed by a Japanese.
The colony was active in trade, particularly in the export of deer-hide and sappan wood to Japan in exchange for Japanese silver and Japanese handicrafts (swords, lacquered boxes, high-quality papers). They were noted by the Dutch for challenging the trade monopoly of the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
(VOC), as their strong position with the King of Siam typically allowed them to buy at least 50% of the total production, leaving small quantities of a lesser quality to other traders.
A Japanese adventurer,
Yamada Nagamasa
was a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, which is on the Malay Peninsula in present-day Southern Thailand.
...
, became very influential and ruled part of the kingdom of Siam (Thailand) during that period. The colony also had an important military role in Thailand.
Macau
Although prohibited by China from touching Chinese soil, Japanese sailors from Red Seal ships transited through the Portuguese port of
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
on the Chinese coast in some numbers. In November 1608, a fight between about 100 Japanese samurai, wielding
katana
A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...
and
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
s, and
Portuguese soldiers
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
under the acting governor and Captain of the Japan voyage
André Pessoa
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...
led to a fight in which 50 Japanese lost their lives. The remaining 50 were released by the authorities after having to sign an
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...
blaming themselves for the incident. Ieyasu prohibited visits to Macau by Japanese nationals in 1609:
: Since it is an undoubted fact that the going of Japanese in ships to Macau is prejudicial to that place, this practice will be strictly prohibited for the future. (25 July 1609, Ieyasu Shuinjo, remitted to Mateus Leitão)
Indonesia
Although few Red Seal Ships are recorded for the areas of modern Indonesia (
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
,
Spice Islands
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices ar ...
), possibly because of the remoteness and because of the direct Dutch involvement there, Japanese samurai were recruited by the Dutch in the area. They distinguished themselves in the capture of the
Banda Islands
The Banda Islands ( id, Kepulauan Banda) are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and constitute an administrative district (''kecamatan'') within the Central M ...
from the English and the defense of
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
, until the practice of hiring Japanese mercenaries was prohibited by the Shōgun in 1621. In 1618,
Jan Pieterszoon Coen
Jan Pieterszoon Coen (, 8 January 1587 – 21 September 1629) was an officer of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the early 17th century, holding two terms as governor-general of the Dutch East Indies. He was the founder of Batavia, ...
, the Dutch governor of Java, requested 25 Japanese Samurai to be sent to him from Japan. In 1620, the Dutch record that 90 Japanese samurai were recruited from the islands surrounding Java, in order to reinforce the fort of Batavia.
In 1623, during the
Amboyna massacre
The Amboyna massacre was the 1623 torture and execution on Ambon Island (present-day Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia) of twenty-one men, including ten of whom were in the service of the English East India Company, and Japanese and Portuguese traders an ...
, 9 Japanese mercenaries were recorded to have been with the 10 English traders of the
English East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southe ...
factory. They were tortured and killed by Dutch forces from the neighbouring factory. (See Chapter 11 "Trial by Fire and Water" in
Nathaniel's Nutmeg.) This event was partly the cause for the advent of the
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century. The first three wars occurred in the second ...
.
India
The Japanese adventurer
Tenjiku Tokubei
Tenjiku Tokubei (1612 - c. 1692) (Japanese: 天竺徳兵衛) was a Japanese adventurer and writer of the early 17th century. He traveled to Southeast and South Asia, hence his "Tenjiku" (Japanese: 天竺, East Asian name of "India") nickname.
He ...
is related to have travelled to Siam as well as India on board a Red Seal ship of Jan Joosten. Upon his return to Japan, Tokubei wrote an essay titled "Tenjiku Tōkai Monogatari" (Relations of travels to India) on his adventures in foreign countries, which became very popular in Japan. He is sometimes referred to as the
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
of Japan.
Other destinations
Other major destinations included
Cochinchina
Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
(74 ships),
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
(44 ships),
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
(35 ships), and Annam in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
(14 ships).
Relative importance
The 350 Red Seal ships recorded between 1604 and 1634, averaging about 10 ships per year, could be compared to the single Portuguese
carrack
A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...
visiting
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 ...
from
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
every year, which was larger in tonnage (between 2 and 3 times a single Red Seal ship), and carried a rich cargo of silk directly obtained from China.
Also in comparison, the English
factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
in
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 ...
only received four ships from England in the space of 10 years (during its existence between 1613 and 1623), with generally non-valuable cargo. To survive, the factory actually had to resort to trade between Japan and Southeast Asia under the Red Seal system, organizing seven expeditions, four of which were handled by William Adams.
The Japanese Shōgun was very defiant of Spain, and Spain very reluctant to divert shipping resources between distant territories, so that besides the few shipwrecks of the Manila galleon on the Japanese coast, only about one Spanish ship was dispatched to Japan every year for trade. They had a small base in
Uraga, where William Adams was put in charge of selling the cargo on several occasions.
Only Chinese shipping seems to have been quite important during the last years of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
.
Richard Cocks
Richard Cocks (1566–1624) was the head of the British East India Company trading post in Hirado, Japan, between 1613 and 1623, from its creation, and lasting to its closure due to bankruptcy.
He was baptised on 20 January 1565 at St Chad's, Se ...
, head of the English factory in Hirado, reported that 60 to 70 Chinese junks visited Nagasaki in 1614, sailed by
Fukienese smugglers.
In 1612, overall, Portuguese priest Valentim de Carvalho, head of the Jesuit mission, stated that the annual "Great Ship" from Macau brought 1,300 quintals of silk, whereas 5,000 quintals were brought in Red Seal ships and ships from China and Manila.
End of the system
In 1635, the Tokugawa Shogunate officially prohibited their citizens from overseas travel (similar to the much later
Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907
The was an informal agreement between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan whereby Japan would not allow further emigration to the United States and the United States would not impose restrictions on Japanese immigrants already ...
), thus ending the period of red-seal trade. This action caused the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
to become the sole officially sanctioned party for European trades, with Batavia as its Asian headquarters.
Timeline
* 1543 – Portuguese sailors (among them possibly
Fernão Mendes Pinto
Fernão Mendes Pinto (; c.1509 – 8 July 1583) was a Portuguese explorer and writer. His voyages are recorded in ''Pilgrimage'' ( pt, Peregrinação) (1614), his autobiographical memoir. The historical accuracy of the work is debatable due to ...
) arrive in
Tanegashima
is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New ...
and transmit the
arquebus
An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier.
Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...
.
* 1570 – Japanese pirates occupy parts of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, from where they prey on China.
* 1571 –
Establishment of the port of Nagasaki for trade with the Portuguese, under the supervision of
Gaspar Vilela and
Tristão Vaz da Veiga.
[Boxer, The Christian Century, p. 100-101]
* 1577 – First Japanese ships travel to
Cochinchina
Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
(Southern Viet Nam).
* 1588 – Interdiction of
wakō piracy by
Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
.
* 1592 – First recorded mention of Red Seal ships.
* 1600 –
William Adams reaches Japan in April.
:-
Olivier van Noort
Olivier van Noort (1558 – 22 February 1627) was a Dutch merchant captain and pirate and the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the world.Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 246
Olivier ...
encounters a 110 tons Japanese junk in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
in December.
* 1604 – First known Red Seal permit.
* 1608 – A red seal ship in Macau caused a public brawl that caused the deaths of 50 Japanese samurai and some Portuguese guards, leading to the
''Nossa Senhora da Graça'' incident and the red seal ships being banned from going to Macau.
* 1609 – The Dutch open a trading factory in
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 ...
.
* 1613 – England opens a trading factory in Hirado.
:: –
Hasekura Tsunenaga
was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Phi ...
leaves for his embassy to Europe. He returns in 1620.
* 1614 – Expulsion of the Jesuits from Japan.
:: – William Adams starts engaging in Red Seal trade to Southeast Asia.
* 1615 – Japanese Jesuits start to proselytise in
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
.
* 1621 –
Jan Joosten
Jan Joosten van Lodensteyn (or Lodensteijn; 1556–1623), known in Japanese as Yayōsu (耶楊子), was a native of Delft and one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, and the second mate on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan i ...
manages 10 Red Seal ships.
* 1623 –
Yamada Nagamasa
was a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, which is on the Malay Peninsula in present-day Southern Thailand.
...
sails from
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
to Japan, with an Ambassador of the Siamese king Songtam (พระเจ้าทรงธรรม). He returns to Siam in 1626.
:: – Jan Joosten sinks in the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
.
* 1624 – Japanese Jesuits start to proselytise in Siam.
:: – Interruption of relations with Spain.
* 1628 – Death of
Yamada Nagamasa
was a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, which is on the Malay Peninsula in present-day Southern Thailand.
...
in Siam.
:: – Destruction of Takagi Sakuemon's (高木作右衛門) Red Seal ship in Ayutthaya by a Spanish warship.
:: – Destruction of the Japanese settlement in
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to:
* Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767
** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
by Siamese forces.
* 1633 – Re-establishment of the Japanese settlement in Ayutthaya (300–400 Japanese), with returnees from Indo-China.
* 1634 – Travel of Yamada Yahei (山田弥兵衛) from Japan to Indo-China and Siam.
* 1636 – Introduction of the
Sakoku
was the Isolationism, isolationist Foreign policy of Japan, foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countri ...
policy and interdiction of foreign travel or return from foreign countries for Japanese nationals.
See also
*
Nanban trade period
or the , was a period in the history of Japan from the arrival of Europeans in 1543 to the first ''Sakoku'' Seclusion Edicts of isolationism in 1614. Nanban (南蛮 Lit. "Southern barbarian") is a Japanese word which had been used to designate ...
*
Junk (ship)
A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...
*
Jong (ship)
The djong, jong, or jung (also called junk in English) is a type of ancient sailing ship originating from Java, Indonesia that was widely used by Javanese, Sundanese, and later Malay sailors. The word was and is spelled ''jong'' in its languages ...
Notes
References
* Yoko Nagazumi, ''Red Seal ships'', 2001, 永積洋子 「朱印船」2001 日本歴史会館, Japan Historical Society (in Japanese)
* Boxer, Charles Ralph. ''The Affair of the Madre de Deus: A Chapter in the History of the Portuguese in Japan'', London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & co., ltd., 1929.
* Boxer, ''The Christian century in Japan 1549–1650'' Carcanet
* Stephen Turnbull, ''Fighting Ships of the Far-East'', Osprey Publishing,
External links
Commercial Trade between Japan and Vietnam
{{Authority control
Merchant ships of Japan
1604 establishments in Japan
1635 disestablishments
Ship types
Austronesian ships
Tall ships
Foreign relations of the Tokugawa shogunate