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Dejima or Deshima was a manmade island in [[Nagasaki]] Harbor to which the activities of the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC) in Japan were restricted in the [[Edo period]].
Dejima or Deshima was a manmade island in [[Nagasaki]] Harbor to which the activities of the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC) in Japan were restricted in the [[Edo period]].
The island was originally built to be used by Portuguese merchants, but in [[1641]], following the expulsion of the Portuguese in [[1639]], Dejima became the home of the VOC. The island was miniscule, home to only about forty buildings, and to, at any given time, only about ten to fifteen officers (including ''kapitan''s, factors, clerks, and physicians), plus their families, cooks, and servants.<ref>Gonnami, Tsuneharu. "[https://circle-prod.library.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/21181/Images_of_foreigners.pdf?sequence=1 Images of Foreigners in Edo Period Maps and Prints]." Unpublished manuscript. Presentation at symposium "Edo: Past & Present," University of British Columbia, April 1998. p8.</ref> Shogunate authorities frequently searched the island for signs of smuggling or other illegal activities, in which scholars believe members of the VOC did indeed, at times, engage.
The island was originally built in [[1634]]-[[1636]] by a group of 25 wealthy Nagasaki merchants, to be used by Portuguese merchants. These Portuguese merchants made use of Japanese-style homes and storehouses on the island, and paid rent on an individual basis to individual members of this group of Nagasaki locals, depending on the size and condition of the buildings they used. The island was originally called Tsukishima or Tsukijima ("moon island"), for its shape, being renamed Dejima in [[1665]].
In [[1641]], following the expulsion of the Portuguese in [[1639]], Dejima became the home of the VOC. The Dutch made a single payment which was divided equally among the twenty-five original Japanese merchant investors. For a few decades beginning in [[1655]], the shogunate allowed a free trade policy in the port, but from [[1685]], trade and other matters in the port town came under the control of the ''[[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki bugyô]]'', the chief shogunal official in the city.
The VOC imported a variety of goods into Japan, including chiefly Chinese silk, but also Dutch books, microscopes, telescopes, and the like in small quantities. In exchange, they obtained Japanese gold, silver, and porcelains, later learning to produce their own porcelains, copying Japanese styles.
The island was miniscule, roughly 564 meters in circumference,<ref>The north wall ran 190 meters, the southern wall 234 meters, and 70 meters on east and west.</ref> with a land area under 4,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]'' in size (3.2 acres, or just under 13,000 m<sup>2</sup>). Dejima was home to only about forty-four buildings, the original Japanese-style structures being soon replaced by the only European-style buildings in Edo period Japan, which housed at any given time only about ten to fifteen officers (including ''kapitan''s, factors, clerks, and physicians), plus their families, cooks, and servants.<ref>Gonnami, Tsuneharu. "[https://circle-prod.library.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/21181/Images_of_foreigners.pdf?sequence=1 Images of Foreigners in Edo Period Maps and Prints]." Unpublished manuscript. Presentation at symposium "Edo: Past & Present," University of British Columbia, April 1998. p8.</ref> These included two warehouses built by the Dutch<ref>One fireproof and built for textiles in [[1666]], and one for sundries built in [[1674]].</ref> and one built by the shogunate for its own purposes in [[1696]]. Shogunate authorities frequently searched the island for signs of smuggling or other illegal activities, in which scholars believe members of the VOC did indeed, at times, engage.
Access to mainland Japan, i.e. permission to leave Dejima, was via a wooden bridge (later replaced by one in stone) on the north side of the island. Access was severely limited, but included regular journeys made by all 10-15 VOC representatives to pay respects to the shogun at [[Edo]]. These visits took place annually until [[1790]], after which the Dutch visited the shogun only once every five years until [[1850]], when the practice came to an end. These missions generally cost around 3.7% of the company's annual profits.
Dutch ships were limited to two a year. They generally arrived in the seventh month, and were required to leave no later than the 20th of the ninth month. The VOC imported a variety of goods into Japan, including chiefly Chinese silk, but also Dutch books, microscopes, telescopes, and the like in small quantities. In exchange, they obtained Japanese gold, silver, and porcelains, later learning to produce their own porcelains, copying Japanese styles.
Generally, both European and Japanese women were not permitted on Dejima. The [[courtesans]] of the [[Maruyama]] pleasure district were a notable exception; they also served the [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese merchants of the city]], and Japanese visitors to Nagasaki from other parts of the archipelago. The courtesans were officially required to return from Dejima in the morning, but in practice, often stayed for up to a week. Enforcement of restrictions on the island were quite lax at times, and on occasion, courtesans even escorted Dutchmen off Dejima (into Nagasaki proper), or accompanied them out of the country.<ref>Johnson, 22.</ref> A number of Maruyama courtesans also had children with members of the Dejima community; some of these children came to be regarded as "Japanese," being accepted and incorporated into Japanese society, and remained in Japan for the rest of their lives, banned from leaving just like any other Japanese, while others were deemed foreigners, and lived on Dejima or outside of Japan the remainder of their lives, banned from entering or traveling freely within the archipelago like any other foreigner.
The VOC Factory was officially closed in [[1860]].
The VOC Factory was officially closed in [[1860]].
==References==
==References==
*Marc Jason Gilbert. "[http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/3.3/gilbert.html Paper Trails: Deshima Island: A Stepping Stone between Civilizations]." ''World History Connected'' 3.3 (2006). Accessed 4 Jan. 2013.
*Marc Jason Gilbert. "[http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/3.3/gilbert.html Paper Trails: Deshima Island: A Stepping Stone between Civilizations]." ''World History Connected'' 3.3 (2006). Accessed 4 Jan. 2013.
*Hiroko Johnson, ''Western Influences on Japanese Art: The Akita Ranga Art School and Foreign Books'', Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing (2005), 23-24.
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