Tanegashima

Japanese island located South of Kuyshû, at the coordinates 30.40N 131.00E. Tanegashima was the first place in Japan to be visited by the Portuguese. According to the traditional thesis, in 1543 a junk headed to China was caught in a strong storm and, deviating from its route, ended up on the Tanegashima coast. The three Portuguese who were traveling aboard this vessel were the first Portuguese to step on Japanese soil. Their exotic aspect caused surprise and curiosity among the local population, and contacts were established through a Chinese crew-member, who served as interpreter. The curiosity of the Japanese also extended to the objects that the Portuguese had brought, namely firearms. Two such items were acquired by the young local daimyo, Tanegashima Tokitaka and, using these as models, the first Japanese guns were built. The Tanegashima blacksmiths rapidly became masters of the manufacture of guns, which soon were spread throughout the entire Japanese territory, contributing to accelerating the process of reunification of the country. For some time, the guns produced in Japan were actually called Tanegashima tepp!3;, thus taking on the name of the place where they were first introduced. Even though this thesis generates the most consensus, the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan and the introduction of firearms is a theme that remains open to discussion, being debated to this day. The lack of unanimity among historians is due in part to the discrepancies found in the main historical sources that portray this matter. Written between the 16th and 17th centuries, both the western accounts (Escalante Alvarado´s Relacion, António Galvão´s Tratado, Diogo do Couto´s Da Ásia, Fernão Mendes Pinto´s Peregrinação) and the Japanese ones (Tepp!3;ki, Tanegashima kafu, Kunimoto tepp!3;ki) present differences among themselves regarding the date and the protagonists. Thus, although 1543 was the year about which there is the most agreement, some authors propose the hypothesis that the arrival of the Portuguese and of firearms in the Japanese archipelago occurred in 1542 or 1544. As far as the participants in this event are concerned, the names António da Mota, Francisco Zeimoto and António Peixoto, are recorded and Fernão Mendes Pinto also claims to have authored this feat along with Cristóvão Borralho and Diogo Zeimoto. Furthermore, various authors have also focused on the question of intent. Though the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan was considered accidental by most historians, a new interpretation has come forward recently, which defends that this event should be seen as the consequence of the incorporation of the Portuguese in the commercial routes of the Far East.

Bibliography:
CORREIA, Pedro Lage, Ensaio Crítico a Murai Shôsuke, "A reconsideration of the Introduction of Firearms to Japan" in Memoirs of the Resarch Department of the Toyo Bunko, nº 60, 2002, pp.19-39 e Olof G. Liden, Tanegashima. The arrival of Europe in Japan, Copenhaga, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2002 in Bulletin of Portuguese/Japanese Studies, vol. 8, Lisboa, Centro de História de Além-Mar - Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Junho de 2004, pp. 93-106. LIDEN, Olof G., Tanegashima. The arrival of Europe in Japan, Copenhaga, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2002. SCHURHAMMER, Georg, "O descobrimento do Japão pelos Portugueses no ano de 1543", Anais da Academia Portuguesa de História, 2ª série, vol. I, 1946, pp. 7-112.

Translated by: Maria João Pimentel