Changes

Fort Zeelandia was established on Taiwan in [[1624]], and served as a powerful entrepot (intermediary trading port) for trade with both China and Japan. In [[1639]], the Dutch exported 1.85 million [[tael]]s of [[silver]] (527,250 florins) from Japan via Taiwan. One of the fort's chief individual trading partners was the smuggler/pirate/trader [[Zheng Zhilong]], who traded [[gold]], silks, and other goods to the Dutch in exchange for Japanese silver, but also competed against them. His son, [[Zheng Chenggong]] (aka Coxinga), later drove the Dutch out of Taiwan entirely, seizing Fort Zeelandia in [[1662]].<ref>Jansen, 26-27.</ref> It was only after this that Batavia came to eclipse Taiwan as the VOC's chief trading post in the region.<ref>Shimada, Ryuto. “Economic Links with Ayutthaya: Changes in Networks between Japan, China, and Siam in the Early Modern Period.” ''Itinerario'' 37, no. 03 (December 2013): 94.</ref>

Fort Zeelandia was established on Taiwan in [[1624]], and served as a powerful entrepot (intermediary trading port) for trade with both China and Japan. In [[1639]], the Dutch exported 1.85 million [[tael]]s of [[silver]] (527,250 florins) from Japan via Taiwan. One of the fort's chief individual trading partners was the smuggler/pirate/trader [[Zheng Zhilong]], who traded [[gold]], silks, and other goods to the Dutch in exchange for Japanese silver, but also competed against them. His son, [[Zheng Chenggong]] (aka Coxinga), later drove the Dutch out of Taiwan entirely, seizing Fort Zeelandia in [[1662]].<ref>Jansen, 26-27.</ref> It was only after this that Batavia came to eclipse Taiwan as the VOC's chief trading post in the region.<ref>Shimada, Ryuto. “Economic Links with Ayutthaya: Changes in Networks between Japan, China, and Siam in the Early Modern Period.” ''Itinerario'' 37, no. 03 (December 2013): 94.</ref>

The Company was headquartered at Batavia (Jakarta), on the island of Java. It built its first trading post (factory) on the island in [[1610]], after concluding an agreement with the local ruler, Prince Jayakarta, paying him 1,200 rijksdaalder for a plot of land to build upon. The English made a similar arrangement and built their own trading post five years later, in [[1615]]. After the English captured a Dutch ship in [[1618]], the VOC burned down the English trading post. The following year, forces from the neighboring province of [[Banten]] helped eliminate the English from the area, and under the leadership of [[Jan Pieterzoon Coen]], who has been quoted as saying that trade cannot be conducted without war, nor war without trade, the VOC took Jakarta in [[1619]], burning down much of the town, driving out the local population, and building a fortress from which it would base its operations in Southeast Asia. Two years later, they took the [[Banda Islands]], known for their nutmeg, similarly driving out, enslaving, and/or murdering the local inhabitants. After securing a monopoly on nutmeg, the VOC pushed on to seize control of the trade in cloves, and destroyed every last cloves tree on a number of islands, leaving only a few islands as the only sources of cloves in the region, thus driving prices up dramatically, to the benefit of the Company, which controlled the islands. Soon afterwards, they turned their attentions to pepper, taking control of the Javanese port of Bantam (Banten), the chief pepper-exporting port in the region. By 1670, the Company had taken the Maluku Islands as well, and dominated the spice trade in the Dutch East Indies. Though focusing on monopolizing the spice trade, and on extracting as much volume of spices as possible from these islands, the Dutch found they also needed to engage in trade in a variety of other goods, including textiles, tea, and coffee, in order to have goods to trade in China other than precious metals, since the Chinese were generally disinterested in European manufactures.<ref name=tignor/> The Company went from having about fifty ships active on its trading routes circa 1615, to about 150 by the end of the 17th century.<ref name=jkthistory>Plaques at Jakarta History Museum.</ref>

The Company was headquartered at Batavia (Jakarta), on the island of Java. It built its first trading post (factory) on the island in [[1610]], after concluding an agreement with the local ruler, Prince Jayakarta, paying him 1,200 rijksdaalder for a plot of land to build upon. The English made a similar arrangement and built their own trading post five years later, in [[1615]]. After the English captured a Dutch ship in [[1618]], the VOC burned down the English trading post. The following year, forces from the neighboring province of [[Banten]] helped eliminate the English from the area, and under the leadership of [[Jan Pieterzoon Coen]], who has been quoted as saying that trade cannot be conducted without war, nor war without trade, the VOC took Jakarta in [[1619]], burning down much of the town, driving out the local population, and building a fortress from which it would base its operations in Southeast Asia. Two years later, they took the [[Banda Islands]], known for their nutmeg, similarly driving out, enslaving, and/or murdering the local inhabitants. After securing a monopoly on nutmeg, the VOC pushed on to seize control of the trade in cloves, and destroyed every last cloves tree on a number of islands, leaving only a few islands as the only sources of cloves in the region, thus driving prices up dramatically, to the benefit of the Company, which controlled the islands.<ref>This, after beginning as early as [[1607]] to secure agreements from local rulers such as the Sultan of Ternate for a monopoly on cloves and certain other products of the ruler's territory in return for a promise of protection. Benton, L., & Clulow, A. J. (2015). "Legal encounters and the origins of global law." In J. H. Bentley, S. Subrahmanyam, & M. E. Wiesner-Hanks (eds.), ''The Cambridge world history. Volume VI: The Construction of a Global World, 1400-1800 CE. Part 2: Patterns of Change''. Cambridge University Press. p97.</ref> Soon afterwards, they turned their attentions to pepper, taking control of the Javanese port of Bantam (Banten), the chief pepper-exporting port in the region. By 1670, the Company had taken the Maluku Islands as well, and dominated the spice trade in the Dutch East Indies. Though focusing on monopolizing the spice trade, and on extracting as much volume of spices as possible from these islands, the Dutch found they also needed to engage in trade in a variety of other goods, including textiles, tea, and coffee, in order to have goods to trade in China other than precious metals, since the Chinese were generally disinterested in European manufactures.<ref name=tignor/> The Company went from having about fifty ships active on its trading routes circa 1615, to about 150 by the end of the 17th century.<ref name=jkthistory>Plaques at Jakarta History Museum.</ref>

Despite its dominance of the spice trade, however, the VOC still had to contend with Chinese, English, and other merchants as competitors. The Dutch and English East India Companies in particular often clashed as they competed for control of the spice trade, but sometimes reached agreements; in 1667, in the Treaty of Breda, the English traded the tiny nutmeg-rich island of Run to the Dutch, in exchange for an island on the other side of the world, Manhattan.<ref>Giles Milton, ''Nathaniel's Nutmeg'', Macmillan (1999), 363.</ref> Tensions between the VOC and the English East India Company (EIC) sometimes escalated into actual violence, however. One of the more major incidents was the [[Amboyna massacre]], which took place in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in [[1623]]. Agents of the Dutch East India Company executed a number of men in the service of the EIC, accusing them of being involved in corporate espionage. Though the English maintained no presence in Japan from 1623 until the 1850s, tensions, and violence, between the VOC and EIC continued. In [[1808]], in the so-called [[Phaeton Incident]], several British ships entered Nagasaki harbor looking for Dutch ships to harass; none were in port at the time.

Despite its dominance of the spice trade, however, the VOC still had to contend with Chinese, English, and other merchants as competitors. The Dutch and English East India Companies in particular often clashed as they competed for control of the spice trade, but sometimes reached agreements; in 1667, in the Treaty of Breda, the English traded the tiny nutmeg-rich island of Run to the Dutch, in exchange for an island on the other side of the world, Manhattan.<ref>Giles Milton, ''Nathaniel's Nutmeg'', Macmillan (1999), 363.</ref> Tensions between the VOC and the English East India Company (EIC) sometimes escalated into actual violence, however. One of the more major incidents was the [[Amboyna massacre]], which took place in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in [[1623]]. Agents of the Dutch East India Company executed a number of men in the service of the EIC, accusing them of being involved in corporate espionage. Though the English maintained no presence in Japan from 1623 until the 1850s, tensions, and violence, between the VOC and EIC continued. In [[1808]], in the so-called [[Phaeton Incident]], several British ships entered Nagasaki harbor looking for Dutch ships to harass; none were in port at the time.

The Dutch factory was moved to Dejima, a small manmade island in Nagasaki Harbor, in [[1641]]. The Dutch presence in Nagasaki was of great importance for Tokugawa Japan not only economically (in terms of the importation of goods), but also in terms of the inflow of information. ''[[Rangaku]]'', or "Dutch studies", was a major development in the Edo period, with a number of scholars eagerly studying Dutch books and other materials (and, on very rare occasions, meeting with Dutchmen personally) and introducing to Japan new technologies, scientific information (especially in the fields of medicine and botany), world maps, and painting techniques. It was through the Dutch that Japan obtained telescopes and microscopes, among other technologies, and it was through the Dutch that Japan was kept up to date on world events.  

The Dutch factory was moved to Dejima, a small manmade island in Nagasaki Harbor, in [[1641]]. The Dutch presence in Nagasaki was of great importance for Tokugawa Japan not only economically (in terms of the importation of goods), but also in terms of the inflow of information. ''[[Rangaku]]'', or "Dutch studies", was a major development in the Edo period, with a number of scholars eagerly studying Dutch books and other materials (and, on very rare occasions, meeting with Dutchmen personally) and introducing to Japan new technologies, scientific information (especially in the fields of medicine and botany), world maps, and painting techniques. It was through the Dutch that Japan obtained telescopes and microscopes, among other technologies, and it was through the Dutch that Japan was kept up to date on world events.  

Nagasaki was also of great significance to the Company. In [[1649]], profits from business in Japan reached almost 710,000 guilders, one-and-a-half times as much as the VOC factory in Taiwan, and more than double the profits in Persia that year. Fully one third of these Nagasaki profits were from the sale of silks purchased in [[Tonkin]].<ref>William Wray, “The Seventeenth-century Japanese Diaspora: Questions of Boundary and Policy,” in Ina Baghdiantz McCabe et al (eds.), ''Diaspora Entrepreneurial Networks'', Oxford: Berg (2005), 84. </ref>

Nagasaki was also of great significance to the Company. In [[1649]], profits from business in Japan reached almost 710,000 guilders, one-and-a-half times as much as the VOC factory in Taiwan, and more than double the profits in Persia that year. Fully one third of these Nagasaki profits were from the sale of silks purchased in [[Tonkin]].<ref>William Wray, “The Seventeenth-century Japanese Diaspora: Questions of Boundary and Policy,” in Ina Baghdiantz McCabe et al (eds.), ''Diaspora Entrepreneurial Networks'', Oxford: Berg (2005), 84. </ref> In the 1820s, and perhaps for much of the time before and after then, the Company operated according to a pattern that 1820s ''opperhoofd'' [[German F. Meijlan]] called "trade by contract," in which the Company shipped to Japan only goods previously requested or otherwise officially agreed upon by the [[Nagasaki kaisho]] (Accounting House, or Clearinghouse). The quantity, quality, and prices of these goods was agreed upon in advance, and this is what the Dutch were able to sell to the Japanese.<ref>Matsukata Fuyuko and Joshua Batts. "Get It in Writing (If You Can): Regulating Foreign Communities in Tokugawa Japan." ''Journal of World History'' 35, no. 4 (2024): p539.</ref>

Representatives of the Company journeyed to [[Edo]] to pay their respects to the [[Shogun]] once every few years. Originally, from [[1633]] until [[1789]], they made this journey every year; from [[1790]] onwards, the journey was made only once every five years. This change in the frequency of the missions coincided with similar efforts to reduce the costs of receiving [[Korean embassies to Edo]]; from 1790 onwards, the VOC was to send three men, not four, and to bring only half as much gifts for the shogun and for other officials.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 106.</ref> According to the [[1826]] diary of [[Philipp Franz von Siebold]], they first traveled overland from Nagasaki to [[Kokura]], where they stayed at a specially designated lodging known as the Nagasaki-ya. They then spent a week at the home of the local elder (''[[toshiyori]]'') at [[Shimonoseki]], before traveling through the [[Inland Sea]] by ship, to the port of [[Murotsu]]. From Murotsu, they journeyed overland, passing through [[Himeji]] and [[Hyogo-no-tsu|Hyôgo-no-tsu]] on the way to [[Osaka]]. After three days at the Osaka Nagasaki-ya, they then spent six days at a lodging known as the Ebi-ya in Kyoto, before setting out on the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] highway for Edo. Once they arrived in the shogunal capital, they remained in Edo for two to three weeks, at a lodging specifically set aside for them, again known as the [[Nagasaki-ya]].<ref>Miyamoto Tsuneichi, ''Daimyô no tabi'', Tokyo: Shakai shisôsha (1968), 54-55.; Timon Screech. "An Iconography of Nihon-bashi." in ''Theories and Methods in Japanese Studies: Current State and Future Developments''. Bonn University Press, 2008. pp331-333.</ref> On the return journey, they set sail from Hyôgo, rather than Murotsu.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Daimyô no tabi'', 55.</ref>

Representatives of the Company journeyed to [[Edo]] to pay their respects to the [[Shogun]] once every few years, in a journey known in Dutch as ''hofreis''. Originally, from [[1633]] until [[1789]], they made this journey every year; from [[1790]] onwards, the journey was made only once every five years. This change in the frequency of the missions coincided with similar efforts to reduce the costs of receiving [[Korean embassies to Edo]]; from 1790 onwards, the VOC was to send three men, not four, and to bring only half as much gifts for the shogun and for other officials.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 106.</ref> According to the [[1826]] diary of [[Philipp Franz von Siebold]], they first traveled overland from Nagasaki to [[Kokura]], where they stayed at a specially designated lodging known as the Nagasaki-ya. They then spent a week at the home of the local elder (''[[toshiyori]]'') at [[Shimonoseki]], before traveling through the [[Inland Sea]] by ship, to the port of [[Murotsu]]. From Murotsu, they journeyed overland, passing through [[Himeji]] and [[Hyogo-no-tsu|Hyôgo-no-tsu]] on the way to [[Osaka]]. After three days at the Osaka Nagasaki-ya, they then spent six days at a lodging known as the Ebi-ya in Kyoto, before setting out on the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] highway for Edo. Once they arrived in the shogunal capital, they remained in Edo for two to three weeks, at a lodging specifically set aside for them, again known as the [[Nagasaki-ya]].<ref>Miyamoto Tsuneichi, ''Daimyô no tabi'', Tokyo: Shakai shisôsha (1968), 54-55.; Timon Screech. "An Iconography of Nihon-bashi." in ''Theories and Methods in Japanese Studies: Current State and Future Developments''. Bonn University Press, 2008. pp331-333.</ref> On the return journey, they set sail from Hyôgo, rather than Murotsu.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Daimyô no tabi'', 55.</ref>

As their visit was considered one strongly associated with trade purposes, and indeed as the shogunate extending the courtesy or privilege of allowing them to visit Edo, the VOC representatives were not received as "guests" in the same sort of formal ceremonial receptions (''chisô''<!--馳走-->) that Korean and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan]] envoys were.<ref>[[Kurushima Hiroshi]], presentation at "[http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/event2013/Index.htm#symposium Interpreting Parades and Processions of Edo Japan]" symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 11 Feb 2013.</ref>; the Dutch, for their part, are said to have seen the affair as simply a matter of protocol which they needed to perform in order to be permitted to maintain their special relationship and trade access.<ref>Hellyer, 45.</ref> When they did receive an audience with the shogun, they were permitted to approach no further than the outer veranda outside the ''Ôhiroma'', rather than being formally received within the audience hall. On at least one occasion, [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi]] arranged a series of informal audiences with the VOC representatives, assigning officials to lead the Dutch deeper into the palace, where their exotic appearances could be witnessed by the women of the palace, and others (all hidden behind blinds or screens), as a source of humor. The Dutch were also recieved in an unofficial audience at that time at the mansion of the [[Yanagisawa clan]], where Tsunayoshi himself observed from behind a blind, completely unseen himself.<ref>Anne Walthall, "Hiding the shoguns: Secrecy and the nature of political authority in Tokugawa Japan," in Bernard Scheid and Mark Teeuwen (eds.) ''The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion'', Routledge (2006), 341-342. </ref> [[Englebert Kaempfer]] recorded that when he served as a member of this VOC delegation in the 1690s, the Dutch were treated less like respected envoys, and more like bizarre aliens, as a spectacle and a source of amusement. The Dutchmen were made to stand, walk, talk, and even kiss one another, simply for the entertainment of the samurai onlookers, who found everything the Dutchmen did fascinating or absurd. By the 1790s, however, C.R. Boxer writes there had been a shift, and the ''opperhoofd'' began to be treated more akin to ''daimyô'', or foreign envoys.<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 88-89.</ref> On occasion, the VOC representatives presented the Shogun with exotic animals, such as [[elephants]] or [[camels]], which stirred up great popular interest, but these animals rarely lasted very long.

As their visit was considered one strongly associated with trade purposes, and indeed as the shogunate extending the courtesy or privilege of allowing them to visit Edo, the VOC representatives were not received as "guests" in the same sort of formal ceremonial receptions (''chisô''<!--馳走-->) that Korean and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan]] envoys were.<ref>[[Kurushima Hiroshi]], presentation at "[http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/event2013/Index.htm#symposium Interpreting Parades and Processions of Edo Japan]" symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 11 Feb 2013.</ref>; the Dutch, for their part, are said to have seen the affair as simply a matter of protocol which they needed to perform in order to be permitted to maintain their special relationship and trade access.<ref>Hellyer, 45.</ref> When they did receive an audience with the shogun, they were permitted to approach no further than the outer veranda outside the ''Ôhiroma'', rather than being formally received within the audience hall. On at least one occasion, [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi]] arranged a series of informal audiences with the VOC representatives, assigning officials to lead the Dutch deeper into the palace, where their exotic appearances could be witnessed by the women of the palace, and others (all hidden behind blinds or screens), as a source of humor. The Dutch were also recieved in an unofficial audience at that time at the mansion of the [[Yanagisawa clan]], where Tsunayoshi himself observed from behind a blind, completely unseen himself.<ref>Anne Walthall, "Hiding the shoguns: Secrecy and the nature of political authority in Tokugawa Japan," in Bernard Scheid and Mark Teeuwen (eds.) ''The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion'', Routledge (2006), 341-342. </ref> [[Englebert Kaempfer]] recorded that when he served as a member of this VOC delegation in the 1690s, the Dutch were treated less like respected envoys, and more like bizarre aliens, as a spectacle and a source of amusement. The Dutchmen were made to stand, walk, talk, and even kiss one another, simply for the entertainment of the samurai onlookers, who found everything the Dutchmen did fascinating or absurd. By the 1790s, however, C.R. Boxer writes there had been a shift, and the ''opperhoofd'' began to be treated more akin to ''daimyô'', or foreign envoys.<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 88-89.</ref> On occasion, the VOC representatives presented the Shogun with exotic animals, such as [[elephants]] or [[camels]], which stirred up great popular interest, but these animals rarely lasted very long.

In [[1844]], H.H.F. Coops, acting as a special ambassador from the Netherlands, arrived in Nagasaki and delivered a letter from King Willem II, addressed to the "King of Japan." It discussed the [[Opium War]], and advised the shogunate, in order to avoid a similar fate, to open up diplomatic and trade relations with other European powers. The following year, the VOC factor received a reply not from the shogun, but from the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', stating that in accordance with "ancestral laws" or "ancient precedent," Japan maintained only trade relations (''tsûhô'') with the Netherlands and China, and diplomatic relations (''tsûshin'') with only [[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; as a result, the reply explained, not only was opening diplomatic relations with other nations out of the question, but further the Dutch should avoid any further attempts to engage in formal diplomatic communications with the shogunate themselves. This may have been the first time that an official shogunate document noted a distinction between ''tsûshin'' and ''tsûhô'', and in the nature of relations with these four named polities.<ref>Mitani, 52-53.</ref>

In [[1844]], H.H.F. Coops, acting as a special ambassador from the Netherlands, arrived in Nagasaki and delivered a letter from King Willem II, addressed to the "King of Japan." It discussed the [[Opium War]], and advised the shogunate, in order to avoid a similar fate, to open up diplomatic and trade relations with other European powers. The following year, the VOC factor received a reply not from the shogun, but from the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', stating that in accordance with "ancestral laws" or "ancient precedent," Japan maintained only trade relations (''tsûhô'') with the Netherlands and China, and diplomatic relations (''tsûshin'') with only [[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; as a result, the reply explained, not only was opening diplomatic relations with other nations out of the question, but further the Dutch should avoid any further attempts to engage in formal diplomatic communications with the shogunate themselves. This may have been the first time that an official shogunate document noted a distinction between ''tsûshin'' and ''tsûhô'', and in the nature of relations with these four named polities.<ref>Mitani, 52-53.</ref>

==Dutch Factors==

==Dutch Factors at Nagasaki==

*[[Jacques Specx]] - first ''opperhoofd'' at Hirado, [[1609]]-[[1612]], [[1614]]-[[1621]].

*[[Jacques Specx]] - first ''opperhoofd'' at Hirado, [[1609]]-[[1612]], [[1614]]-[[1621]].

*[[Henrick Brouwer]] (1612-1614)<ref>Viallé, 74n17.</ref>

*[[Henrick Brouwer]] (1612-1614)<ref>Viallé, 74n17.</ref>

*[[Nicolaes Couckebacker]] (c. 1630s)

*[[Nicolaes Couckebacker]] (c. 1630s)

*[[Francois Caron]] ([[1639]]-[[1641]])

*[[Francois Caron]] ([[1639]]-[[1641]])

*[[Carl Peter Thunberg]] ([[1775]]-[[1777]])

*[[Carl Peter Thunberg]] ([[1775]]-[[1777]])

*[[Isaac Titsingh]] ([[1779]]-[[1784]])

*[[Isaac Titsingh]] ([[1779]]-[[1784]])

*[[J.W. de Sturler]] (c. 1820s)<ref>Mitani, 34.</ref>

*[[J.W. de Sturler]] (c. 1820s)<ref>Mitani, 34.</ref>

*[[G.F. Meijlan]] ([[1825]]-[[1831]])<ref>Grant Goodman, ''Japan and the Dutch 1600-1853'', Routledge (2013), 22.</ref>

*[[G.F. Meijlan]] ([[1825]]-[[1831]])<ref>Grant Goodman, ''Japan and the Dutch 1600-1853'', Routledge (2013), 22.</ref>

*[[Jan Hendrik Donker Curtius]] (c. 1850s)<ref>Mitani, 223.</ref>

*[[Jan Hendrik Donker Curtius]] (c. 1850s)<ref>Mitani, 223.</ref>

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==References==

==References==