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The Dutch East India Company (VOC) And Japan

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The Dutch East India Company (VOC) and Japanese maintained a unique and challenging relationship for over two hundred years during the Japanese Sakoku period. A majority of this complex relationship was contained to an artificial island in the port of Nagasaki named Deshima. It was here where trade of material goods and knowledge took place. Though not always symbiotic, the Japanese and the VOC both experienced benefits from their long-standing relationship.
The artificial island of Deshima was built in 1634 in the harbor of Nagasaki. The Portuguese were the original inhabitants of Deshima but were driven out in 1639. Their expulsion was due to their role in the spread of Christianity. The Portuguese were guilty of smuggling in numerous Christian missionaries and this was problematic for the Japanese government, led by Tokugawa Iemitsu. The government’s fear was that converts to Christianity would potentially have “conflicting political loyalties” which could therefore bring about an invasion from an outside power (Keene 1). In their place, the Dutch, originally stationed at Hirado from 1631-1636, were forced to relocate to Deshima in 1641. They were allowed to do so because of the promise made to the Bakufu not to import Christian missionaries and/or materials and Japanese councilors believed they could take over …show more content…

Only a dozen or so Dutch men were allowed on the island at one time (Keene 1), wives and children were forbidden, and prostitutes were the only permitted women (Boxer 126). Containment of VOC personnel was necessary to keep them from claiming a dominant commercial position in Japan (Clulow 19). The chief traders of the VOC, known as opperhoofden, complained of distrust with the Japanese interpreters (Boxer 59). However, the VOC personnel accepted the prison-like treatment because the “love of gain” was paramount (Keene

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