The Nanban period of Japanese history extends from the arrival of the first Europeans to Japan in 1543, to their near-total exclusion from the archipelago in 1650, under the promulgation of the Seclusion Laws. History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei Pre-History/The Origin of History Jomon Period Main... Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ... // Events June 23 - Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland, the only of the three Kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler. ...

A group of Portuguese Nanban foreigners, 17th century, Japan.

"Nanban" (南蛮 Lit. “Southern barbarian”) is a Japanese word which originally designated people from South Asia and South-East Asia. It followed a Chinese usage in which surrounding “barbarian” people in the four directions had each their own designation. In Japan, the word took on a new meaning when it came to designate Europeans, the first of whom started to arrive in Japan in 1543, first from Portugal, then Spain, and later the Netherlands and England. The word Nanban was thought naturally appropriate for the new visitors, since they came in by ship from the South, and their manners were considered quite unsophisticated by the Japanese. Download high resolution version (480x640, 174 KB)Group of portuguese Nanban foreigners, 17th century, Japan. ... Download high resolution version (480x640, 174 KB)Group of portuguese Nanban foreigners, 17th century, Japan. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Map of South Asia. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity...

A contemporary Japanese account relates: "They eat with their fingers instead of with chopsticks such as we use. They show their feelings without any self-control. They cannot understand the meaning of written characters" (from Boxer, “Christian century”).

The Nanban episode

The characters for Nanban, lit. "Southern barbarian".

The Japanese were not very impressed with the cultural, or even technological level of their visitors. Japan had grown into a sophisticated feudal society with a high culture and a strong pre-industrial technology. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Feudal society is a sometimes debated term used to describe the medieval social order of western and central Europe and sometimes Japan (particularly in the 14th to 16th centuries) characterised by the legal subjection of a large part of the peasantry to a hereditary landholding elite exercising administrative and judicial...

Japan was more populated and urbanized than any Western country (in the 16th century, Japan had 26 million inhabitants against 16 million for France and 4.5 million for England). It had Buddhist “universities” larger than any learning institution in the West, such as Salamanca or Coimbra. Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ... The University of Salamanca (Spanish Universidad de Salamanca), located in the town of Salamanca, west-northwest of Madrid, is the oldest university in Spain, and one of the oldest in Europe. ... The University of Coimbra (Portuguese: Universidade de Coimbra) is a Portuguese public university in Coimbra, a city in central Portugal. ...

Early European visitors were amazed by the quality of Japanese craftsmanship and metalsmithing. This stems from the fact that Japan itself is rather poor in natural resources found commonly in Europe, especially iron. Thus, the Japanese were famously frugal with their consumable resources; what little they had they used with expert skill. Japanese military prowess was also well noted : "A Spanish royal decree of 1609 specifically directed Spanish commanders in the Pacific ‘not to risk the reputation of our arms and state against Japanese soldier’" (“Giving up the gun”, Noel Perrin). General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metal Group, Period, Block 8 (VIIIB), 4, d Density, Hardness 7874 kg/m3, 4. ...

Its paper industries were unequaled: the Japanese were blowing their noses in disposable soft "tissue" papers made from washi, when most people in the western world still used their sleeves. Washi (和紙) or Wagami is a type of paper made in Japan. ...

Nanban guns

One thing the Japanese were definitely interested in was barbarian guns. The first three Europeans to reach Japan were Portuguese and came on a Chinese ship to the southern island of Tanegashima, and they had arquebuses and ammunition with them. At that time, Japan was in the middle of a civil war called the Sengoku period (Period of the country at war). Strictly speaking, the Japanese were already familiar with gunpowder (invented by, and transmitted from China), and had been using basic Chinese guns and cannon tubes called Teppō (鉄砲 Lit.”Iron cannon”) for around 270 years before the arrival of the Portuguese. The Portuguese guns however were light, had a matchlock firing mechanism and were easy to aim with. This article is about firearms and similar devices. ... Tanegashima (種子島) is an island lying to the south of Kyushu, south Japan. ... The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus or hackbut) was a primitive firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. ... The Sengoku Period (戦国時代 Sengoku jidai) or warring-states period, is a period of long civil war in the history of Japan that spans from the middle 15th to the early 17th centuries. ... Gunpowder is a substance which burns very rapidly and is used as a propellant in firearms. ... The Matchlock was the first firearm to have a trigger mechanism for firing. ...

Within a year, Japanese swordsmiths and ironsmiths managed to reproduce the mechanism and mass-produce the guns. Barely fifty years later, "by the end of the 16th century, guns were almost certainly more common in Japan than in any other country in the world", its armies equipped with a number of guns dwarfing any contemporary army in Europe (Perrin).

The guns were strongly instrumental in the unification of Japan under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, as well as in the invasion of Korea in 1592 and 1597. Hideyoshi in old age. ... Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (previously spelled Iyeyasu); 徳川 家康 (January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder of the Tokugawa bakufu of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the restoration of the monarchy in 1868. ... The Seven-Year War was the conflict from 1592 to 1598 on the Korean peninsula, following two successive Japanese invasions of Korea. ... Events January 30 - The death of Pope Innocent IX during the previous year had left the Papal throne vacant. ... Events January 24 - Battle of Turnhout. ...

Nanban ships

A 1634 Japanese Red seal ship, incorporating Western-style square and lateen sails, rudder and aft designs. The ships were typically armed with 6 to 8 cannons. Tokyo Naval Science Museum.

The Japanese-built 1613 galleon San Juan Bautista, in Ishinomaki, Japan (replica).

The ships of the Southern Barbarian were also quite influential on the Japanese shipbuilding industry, and actually stimulated many Japanese ventures abroad. 1634 painting of a Red seal ship. ... 1634 painting of a Red seal ship. ... A 1634 Japanese Red seal ship, incorporating Western-style square and lateen sails, rudder and aft designs. ... A lateen (from Latin) is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction. ... A rudder is a device used to steer a ship or other watercraft. ... Replica of the Japanese Galleon San Juan Bautista (1613). ... Replica of the Japanese Galleon San Juan Bautista (1613). ... For the fictional unit of money called a galleon, see Money in Harry Potter. ... San Juan Bautista (“St John Baptist”) (originally called Date Maru, 伊達丸 in Japanese) was one of Japans first Japanese-built Western-style sail warships. ... Ishinomaki (石巻市; -shi) is a city located in Miyagi, Japan. ...

The Bakufu established a system of commercial ventures on licensed ships called Red seal ships, which sailed throughout Eastern and South East Asia for trade. These ships incorporated many elements of Nanban ship designs, such as sails, rudder, and gun disposition. They brought many Japanese settlers to South-East Asian ports, who sometimes became quite influential in local affairs, as examplified by the story of the adventurer Yamada Nagamasa in Siam. For the James Clavell novel, see Shogun or for the TV Miniseries. ... A 1634 Japanese Red seal ship, incorporating Western-style square and lateen sails, rudder and aft designs. ... Portrait of Yamada Nagamasa c. ... The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in southeast Asia, bordering Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia to the south, and the Andaman Sea and Myanmar to the west. ...

By the beginning of the 17th century, the Bakufu built several ships of purely Nanban design, usually with the help of foreign experts, such as the galleon San Juan Bautista, which crossed the Pacific two times on embassies to Nueva Espana (Mexico).
San Juan Bautista (“St John Baptist”) (originally called Date Maru, 伊達丸 in Japanese) was one of Japans first Japanese-built Western-style sail warships. ... Flag of New Spain New Spain (in the Spanish language Nueva España) was the name given to the Spanish colonial territory in North America from c. ...

Other Nanban influences

Nanbandō, a western-style cuirass, 16th century.

The Nanban also had some other various influences: Nanbandoo, western-style cuirass. ... Nanbandoo, western-style cuirass. ...

• Nanbandō (南蛮胴) designates a type of cuirass covering the trunk in one whole piece, a design imported from Europe.
• Nanbanbijutsu (南蛮美術) generally describes Japanese art with Nanban themes or influenced by Nanban designs.
• Nanbanga (南蛮画) designates the numerous pictorial representations that were made of the new foreigners, and define a whole style category in Japanese art (See an example at:[1] or [2])
• Nanbannuri (南蛮塗り) describes lacquers decorated in the Portuguese style, and were very popular items from the late 16th century (See example at: [3]).
• Nanbangashi (南蛮菓子) is a variety of cakes derived from Portuguese or Spanish recipies, in particular the popular "Castela" (カステラ) named after Castile. These "Southern barbarian" cakes, often with reproductions of 16th century barbarians in the box design, are on sale in any supermarket in Japan today.
• Nanbanji was the first Christian church in Kyoto. With the support from Nobunaga Oda, the Jesuit Padre Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino established this church in 1576. 11 years later (1587), Nanbanji was destroyed by Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Currently, The bell is preserved as "Nanbanji-no-kane" (the Bell of Nanbanji) at Shunkoin temple in Kyoto.Shunkoin Temple
  

A former kingdom of Spain, Castile comprises the two regions of Old Castile in north-western Spain, and New Castile in the centre of the country. ... The term Christian means belonging to Christ and is derived from the Greek noun Χριστός Khristós which means anointed one, which is itself a translation of the Hebrew word Moshiach (Hebrew: משיח, also written Messiah), (and in Arabic it is pronounced Maseeh مسيح). Christian is primarily an adjective, describing an object associated... Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長 Oda Nobunaga, June 23, 1534 - June 21, 1582) was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino (1530 - 1609) was a Portuguese missionary with Society of Jesus, of Nanban period (1543 - 1650). ... Events May 5 - Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc dAnjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it). ... Events February 8 - Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she is implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. July 22 - Colony of Roanoke: A group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off of North Carolina to re-establish the... Hideyoshi at his old age. ... Shunkoin temple is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan and belongs to the Rinzai Zen Myoshin-ji Sect. ...

The end of the Nanban period

After the country was pacified and unified by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603 however, Japan progressively closed itself to the southern barbarians, mainly because of the growing threat of Christianization. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (previously spelled Iyeyasu); 徳川 家康 (January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder of the Tokugawa bakufu of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the restoration of the monarchy in 1868. ... Events March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England April 28 – Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for treason. ... St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen The historical phenomenon of Christianization, the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once (a political shift as much as a spontaneous mass shift in individual consciences), also includes the practice...

By 1650, except for the trade outpost of Dejima in Nagasaki, for the Netherlands , and some trade with China, foreigners were subject to the death penalty, and Christian converts were persecuted. Guns were almost completely eradicated to revert to the more "civilized" sword. Travel abroad and the building of large ships was also prohibited. Thence started a period of seclusion, peace, prosperity and mild progress known as the Edo period. View of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay Scale model of Dutch trading post on display in Dejima (2003) Edo-era boundaries of Dejima island (outlined in red) within the modern city of Nagasaki. ... Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge) Nagasaki  listen? (長崎市; -shi, literally long peninsula) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture located at the south-western coast of Kyushu, Japan. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Edo period (江戸時代) is a division of Japanese...

The "barbarians" would come back more than 200 years later strengthened by industrialization, and end Japan's isolation, with the forcible opening of Japan to trade by an American military fleet under the commandement of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854. Photograph of Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, under the threat of military force. ... 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Usages of the word "Nanban"

The term Nanban did not disappear from common usage until the Meiji restoration, when Japan decided to Westernize radically in order to better resist the West, and essentially stopped considering the West as fundamentally uncivilized. Words like Yofu (洋風), lit. ocean style, and Obeifu (欧米風), lit. European American style replaced Nanban in most usages. The Meiji Restoration (明治維新; Meiji Ishin), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to a change in Japans political and social structure. ...

Still, the exact principle of westernization was Wakon-Yōsai (和魂洋才 Lit. Japanese spirit Western talent), which tends to imply that, although technology might be acquired from the West, Japanese spirit is still superior to Western spirit, but probably not to a point overtly justifying the usage of the word “barbarian” anymore...

Today the word Nanban is only used in a historical context, and is essentially felt as picturesque and affectionate. It is can sometimes be used in a cultured jokingly manner to refer to Western people or civilization.

There is an area where Nanban is used exclusively to refer to a certain style. It is cooking and in names of dishes. These Nanban dishes are not American or European dishes but an odd collection of dishes not using soy sauce or miso but using curry powder and vinegar as its flavoring. Some of these dishes resemble Southeast Asian cuisines but are so heavily changed to fit Japanese tastes like ramen that they should be considered separate dishes. Soy sauce (US) or soya sauce (UK) is a fermented sauce, made from soybeans (soya beans), roasted grain, water and sea salt (US will use salt unless otherwise stated). ... Miso (味噌) is a thick paste made by fermenting soybeans with kōji ((麹) (Aspergillus oryzae)) and sea salt. ... This article is about the Japanese food. ...

References

"Giving Up the Gun", Noel Perrin, David R. Godine Publisher, Boston. ISBN 0879237732
"Samurai", Mitsuo Kure, Tuttle publishing, Tokyo. ISBN 0804832870
"The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy. Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War", Christopher Howe, The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226354857

External links

Nanban folding screens
Nanban art (Japanese)
Shunkoin Temple the Bell of Nanbanji