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in Japan, at the beginning of the Sakoku period (1644-1648 Japanese woodblock print).]] In theory, the only foreign influence permitted was the Dutch "factory" (trading post) at Dejima in Nagasaki , but trade with China was also handled at Nagasaki; in addition, trade with Korea was conducted via Tsushima Province (today part of Nagasaki Prefecture ) and with the Kingdom of Ryukyu Islands via Satsuma Province (today's Kagoshima Prefecture ). Apart from these direct commercial contacts in peripheral provinces, all of these countries sent regular tributary missions to the shogunate's seat in Edo , which traveled long stretches across Japan, thus giving even regular folk a chance at a glimpse at foreign cultures. HOW TRADE COMMENCED UNDER SAKOKU Japan traded at this time for four different entities. These entities were: the Korean Kingdom, the Dutch (through the East India Company), the Chinese (through private traders), and the Ryukyu Islands. Tashiro Kazui has shown that trade between Japan and these entities was divided into two kinds of trade: Group A in which he places China and the Dutch, "whose relations fell under the direct jurisdiciton of the Bakufu at Nagasaki" and Group B, represented by the Korean kingdom and the Ryukyu kingdom, "who dealt with Tsushima (the Sō clan) and Satsuma (the Shimazu clan) domains respectively."Tashiro, Kazui. "Foreign Relations During the Edo Period: Reexamined." [i Journal of Japanese Studies.[/i] Vol. 8, No. 2, Summer 1982. These two different groups of trade basically reflected a patter of incoming and outgoing trade. The outgoing trade flowing out from Japan to Korea and the Ryukyu kingdom, eventually being brought from those places to China. In the Ryukyu's and Korea, the respective domains put in charge of trade, built trading towns where actually commerce took place, so in that sense trade to these places was an outgoing trade. The trade with Chinese and Dutch traders took place directly at Nagasaki with the traders coming to Japan instead of Japanese traders going to them. RATIONALE The Sakoku policy was a way of controlling commerce with other nations as well as asserting its new place in the East Asian heirarchy, one that helped push Japan away from tributary relations that had existed between itself and China for multiple centuries before hand. Later on the Sakoku policy was the main safeguard against against the total depletion of Japanese mineral resources, such as silver and copper, to the outside world; although, while silver exportation through Nagasaki was controlled by the Bakufu to the point of stopping all exportation, the exportation of silver through Korea continued in relatively high quantities. The way Japan kept abreast of Western technology during this period was by studying medical and other texts in the Dutch Language obtained through Dejima. This process was called " Rangaku " (Dutch studies). It became obsolete after the country was opened and the sakoku policy collapsed. Thereafter, many Japanese students (e.g. Kikuchi Dairoku ) were sent to study in foreign countries, and many foreign employees were employed in Japan (see O-yatoi Gaikokujin ). This policy ended with the Convention Of Kanagawa in response to demands made by Commodore Perry . REFERENCES SEE ALSO |
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