Fukuda

Japanese locality on the western coast of Kyushu. It was part of the territories belonging to Omura Sumitada and was, for a couple of years, the terminal port of the Nanban trade carrack ship. After the frustrated Yokoseura experience, the Omura daimyo did not give up on the idea of finding a safe base for missionaries and merchants, and offered a new port location in his territories. Nevertheless, the new location was too open to the elements and to attacks from enemies. The Nanban trade carrack ship anchored for the first time in Fukuda in 1565 and in that year its ability to serve as a port was immediately tested. The soldiers of Matsuura Takanobu, daimyo of Hirado, tried to surround it by sea but the Portuguese artillery managed to contain the attack. In the following year the Nanban trade carrack ship still anchored at Fukuda but in 1567 the Portuguese ships preferred the Kuchinotsu harbour, in the Arima territories. Nevertheless, the carrack ship would cast anchor at Fukuda again in 1568 and 1569.

Bibliography:
BOXER, Charles R., O Grande navio de Amacau, Lisboa, Fundação Oriente e Centro de Estudos Marítimos de Macau, 1989. COSTA, João Paulo Oliveira e, Portugal e o Japão. O Século Namban, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, 1993.

Translated by: Maria das Mercês Pacheco