Changes

==History==

==History==

The VOC was originally founded in 1602, as the result of the merger of a number of different firms which had previously been in competition with one another; these firms united under a board of directors known as the Seventeen Gentlemen, forming the United East India Company.<ref>Matsuda, 77.</ref> Based at Amsterdam, a city with perhaps the most efficient money market and lowest interest rates in the world, the VOC raised ten times the capital of the [[English East India Company]].<ref name=tignor/> Like the English East India Company, the VOC was granted a monopoly on all trade “East of the Cape of Good Hope but also in and beyond the straits of Magellan,” and (so far as the Dutch authorities had power to say so) access to all “Islands, Ports, Havens, Cities, Creeks, Towns, and Places” in that vast region; though they faced competition from the English, Portuguese, and various groups of Asian merchants, the VOC were to have no competition from other Dutch organizations. The Company enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy, and even state-like powers, including engaging in diplomacy, deploying military forces, and claiming territory, even as it simultaneously enjoyed considerable support from the Dutch Republic.<ref>Adam Clulow, “Like Lambs in Japan and Devils outside Their Land: Diplomacy, Violence, and Japanese Merchants in Southeast Asia,” ''Journal of World History'' 24:2 (2013), 352.</ref>

The VOC was originally founded in 1602, as the result of the merger of a number of different firms which had previously been in competition with one another; these firms united under a board of directors known as the Seventeen Gentlemen (''Heren Zeventien''), forming the United East India Company.<ref>Matsuda, 77.</ref> Based at Amsterdam, a city with perhaps the most efficient money market and lowest interest rates in the world, the VOC raised ten times the capital of the [[English East India Company]].<ref name=tignor/> Like the English East India Company, the VOC was granted a monopoly on all trade “East of the Cape of Good Hope but also in and beyond the straits of Magellan,” and (so far as the Dutch authorities had power to say so) access to all “Islands, Ports, Havens, Cities, Creeks, Towns, and Places” in that vast region; though they faced competition from the English, Portuguese, and various groups of Asian merchants, the VOC were to have no competition from other Dutch organizations. The Company enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy, and even state-like powers, including engaging in diplomacy, deploying military forces, and claiming territory, even as it simultaneously enjoyed considerable support from the Dutch Republic.<ref>Adam Clulow, “Like Lambs in Japan and Devils outside Their Land: Diplomacy, Violence, and Japanese Merchants in Southeast Asia,” ''Journal of World History'' 24:2 (2013), 352.</ref>

The Dutch originally established their presence in Japan with a [[factory]] in [[Hirado]] in [[1609]]. [[Nicolaes Puyck]] and [[Abraham van den Broecke]] led a small mission to [[Sunpu]], where they presented two cases of raw [[silk]], some [[lead]], and two gold goblets to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] as gifts, promising that later ships would have much more considerable cargoes. Ieyasu granted their request for trade, and presented them with a sword, a sign of the binding of a relationship.<ref>Cynthia Viallé, "In Aid of Trade: Dutch Gift-Giving in Tokugawa Japan," ''Tokyo daigaku shiryôhensanjo kenkyû kiyô'' 16 (2006), 58.</ref> Representatives of the Company continued to receive swords, suits of armor, and other gifts from the shogunate on numerous occasions over the course of the Edo period. However, it was Company policy that gifts given to VOC envoys (e.g. by the shogun) could not be kept, but had to be forwarded to their superiors. Much of the collections of the ''stadtholders'' (chief magistrates of the United Provinces of the Netherlands) was dispersed in conjunction with the French invasion of the Netherlands in the 1790s, and as a result the current whereabouts of these numerous Japanese swords, suits of armor, etc. are unknown.<ref>Viallé, 59.</ref>

The Dutch originally established their presence in Japan with a [[factory]] in [[Hirado]] in [[1609]]. [[Nicolaes Puyck]] and [[Abraham van den Broecke]] led a small mission to [[Sunpu]], where they presented two cases of raw [[silk]], some [[lead]], and two gold goblets to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] as gifts, promising that later ships would have much more considerable cargoes. Ieyasu granted their request for trade, and presented them with a sword, a sign of the binding of a relationship.<ref>Cynthia Viallé, "In Aid of Trade: Dutch Gift-Giving in Tokugawa Japan," ''Tokyo daigaku shiryôhensanjo kenkyû kiyô'' 16 (2006), 58.</ref> Representatives of the Company continued to receive swords, suits of armor, and other gifts from the shogunate on numerous occasions over the course of the Edo period. However, it was Company policy that gifts given to VOC envoys (e.g. by the shogun) could not be kept, but had to be forwarded to their superiors. Much of the collections of the ''stadtholders'' (chief magistrates of the United Provinces of the Netherlands) was dispersed in conjunction with the French invasion of the Netherlands in the 1790s, and as a result the current whereabouts of these numerous Japanese swords, suits of armor, etc. are unknown.<ref>Viallé, 59.</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>

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>

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 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>

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.

A VOC base in [[Ayutthaya]] (Siam) was of particular significance as well. Until 1715, ships traveling from Batavia to Nagasaki more often than not stopped in Ayutthaya to purchase Siamese goods to then sell in Japan. These included deer skins, ray skins, and aromatic woods, among others, and were typically purchased either with Japanese silver, or textiles obtained in India. In [[1715]], the ''[[Shotoku shinrei|Shôtoku shinrei]]'' ("New Edicts of the Shôtoku Era") were put into place by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], altering the terms of trade at Nagasaki, and impelling VOC ships to now travel directly between Batavia and Nagasaki, without stopping over to pick up Siamese cargoes.<ref>Shimada, 93-94.</ref> Yet, VOC ships based in Ayutthaya continued to ply the waters, and after 1715 in fact came to hold a near monopoly on the Ayutthaya-Nagasaki route, pushing the Chinese aside for a time.<ref>Shimada, 102.</ref>

A VOC base in [[Ayutthaya]] (Siam) was of particular significance as well. Until 1715, ships traveling from Batavia to Nagasaki more often than not stopped in Ayutthaya to purchase Siamese goods to then sell in Japan. These included deer skins, ray skins, and aromatic woods, among others, and were typically purchased either with Japanese silver, or textiles obtained in India. In [[1715]], the ''[[Shotoku shinrei|Shôtoku shinrei]]'' ("New Edicts of the Shôtoku Era") were put into place by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], altering the terms of trade at Nagasaki, and impelling VOC ships to now travel directly between Batavia and Nagasaki, without stopping over to pick up Siamese cargoes.<ref>Shimada, 93-94.</ref> Yet, VOC ships based in Ayutthaya continued to ply the waters, and after 1715 in fact came to hold a near monopoly on the Ayutthaya-Nagasaki route, pushing the Chinese aside for a time.<ref>Shimada, 102.</ref>

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.  

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.

The company struggled in the 1790s through the 1810s, in large part due to the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The Dutch homeland was conquered by France in [[1794]], becoming a client-state known as the Republic of Batavia, and losing much of its overseas holdings to Britain. The governor of the Dutch East Indies sided with France against the British at first, but the islands later fell to the British, from [[1811]] to [[1816]]. As a result of these developments, there were quite a few years in the 1780s-1810s that no Dutch ships appeared at Nagasaki, leading to a serious decline in Japanese intelligence regarding events in Europe and elsewhere in the world. For example, the Japanese did not learn of the French Revolution until five years after it occurred, and were kept in the dark for a time as to the fate of the Dutch East Indies.<ref>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), 25-26.</ref> In attempts to maintain its position, the VOC began hiring foreign ships to carry its goods, for example hiring the American ship ''Franklin'', which arrived in Nagasaki in place of a Dutch ship in [[1799]].<ref>Hellyer, 108.</ref><ref>The VOC hired American ships in [[1797]], [[1798]], 1799, [[1806]], and [[1807]], a ship from Bremen in 1806, one from Denmark in 1807, and one from Bengal in [[1813]]. They sent no ships at all in [[1782]], [[1796]], [[1808]], [[1810]]-[[1812]], or [[1815]]-1816. Mitani, 25-26.</ref> That same year, however, the Company went bankrupt, and was dissolved the following year, becoming nationalized. Dutch activities in the Far East after 1800 were more directly driven by the Dutch national government, and continued to heavily employ American and Western European chartered ships until 1816, when the Kingdom of the Netherlands regained Java from the British and otherwise regained some general stability.<ref>Hellyer, 133.</ref>

The Company fought numerous wars with the [[British East India Company]], beginning with the [[First Anglo-Dutch War]] in [[1652]]-[[1654]]. The [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]] in [[1665]]-[[1667]] ended with the Dutch losing control of Cape Colony (South Africa) to the English. Several years later, beginning in [[1672]], the English began challenging the Dutch monopoly on [[pepper]], sparking a [[Third Anglo-Dutch War]], which ended the following year. In the [[Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]], which ran from [[1780]] to [[1784]], the English made efforts to block VOC ships from returning to the Netherlands; by [[1783]], the VOC had lost all of its ships.<ref>Plaques on display at Jakarta History Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/40848970853/sizes/h/]</ref>

 

As a result of these wars with the British in the East Indies, and with the French in Europe, the Company continued to struggle in the 1790s through the 1810s. The Dutch homeland was conquered by France in [[1794]], becoming a client-state known as the Republic of Batavia, and losing much of its overseas holdings to Britain. The governor of the Dutch East Indies sided with France against the British at first, but the islands later fell to the British, from [[1811]] to [[1816]]. In the meantime, the Company went bankrupt in [[1795]], but was taken over by the Dutch state, which continued the Company's operations.<ref>Viallé, 72.</ref> As a result of these developments, there were quite a few years in the 1780s-1810s that no Dutch ships appeared at Nagasaki, leading to a serious decline in Japanese intelligence regarding events in Europe and elsewhere in the world. For example, the Japanese did not learn of the French Revolution until five years after it occurred, and were kept in the dark for a time as to the fate of the Dutch East Indies.<ref>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), 25-26.</ref> In attempts to maintain its position, the VOC began hiring foreign ships to carry its goods, for example hiring the American ship ''Franklin'', which arrived in Nagasaki in place of a Dutch ship in [[1799]].<ref>Hellyer, 108.</ref><ref>The VOC hired American ships in [[1797]], [[1798]], 1799, [[1806]], and [[1807]], a ship from Bremen in 1806, one from Denmark in 1807, and one from Bengal in [[1813]]. They sent no ships at all in [[1782]], [[1796]], [[1808]], [[1810]]-[[1812]], or [[1815]]-1816. Mitani, 25-26.</ref> That same year, however, the Company went bankrupt, and was dissolved the following year, becoming nationalized. Dutch activities in the Far East after 1800 were more directly driven by the Dutch national government, and continued to heavily employ American and Western European chartered ships until 1816, when the Kingdom of the Netherlands regained Java from the British and otherwise regained some general stability.<ref>Hellyer, 133.</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>

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.

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

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

*[[Cornelis van Nijenroode]] ([[1623]]-?)

*[[Cornelis van Nijenroode]] ([[1623]]-?)

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

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

*[[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==