city of Nagasaki

Japanese town located in a bay on the western coast of the Kyushu Island; its Japanese name means a long cape and its coordinates are 32I0; 44' N and 129I0; 52' E. It was founded in 1570 and it was the only town created by the Portuguese in Japan. It arose from the need to find a sheltered place for the Nanban trade carrack ship to dock and, at the same time, for Christians banished from their regions. The creation of Nagasaki was also the conclusion of a negotiation process between Cosme de Torres, superior of the Japanese missions, and Omura Sumitada, lord of Omura, and of the frustrated attempts to settle in Yokoseura in 1562 and in Fukuda in 1565. After researching for a while, the ideal location was found out on the southern extreme of Omura: an ample and deep bay, protected from the natural elements by a hill and from possible enemy attacks by the mountain range where it was inserted. The region was relatively known to the Jesuits for they had already carried out a mission in a small village by the Nagasaki Jinzaemon Sumikage castle, son-in-law and vassal of Omura, where a church had been built under the patronage of Todos os Santos. By the new dock a hamlet was built, having the works begun in the spring of 1671, the year that also marked the start of Nagasaki as the terminal point of the Portuguese transatlantic commerce. Population at first was of around 1.500 people, mostly Christians, divided into six districts named according to the provenance of its inhabitants. In 1590 the town already had 5.000 inhabitants, a number that soared to 15.000 in 1600 and to 30.000 in 1614. Its growth was strongly linked to the purposes of its foundation. As a terminal port of the Nanban trade carrack ship, Nagasaki became the main trading point for silver and silk, and attracted Japanese merchants as well as foreign ones, including a Portuguese community that settled there and married local women, thus acting as a factor of consolidation of the Portuguese presence in the Far East and the conveyance of western influences. After the Portuguese residents, a community of Chinese merchants followed and then some people from Korea. Likewise, the hospitable character that assisted the foundation of Nagasaki contributed to the development of the town, for to the exiled Christians that made up a large part of the initial population many others joined, motivated by the fact that they could freely express their religious persuasion. Nagasaki became the major missionaries' base in Japan from 1585 on, thus replacing Funai (Oita); Nagasaki was, too, the residence of D. Luís Cerqueira, the only bishop that worked permanently in Japan. In Nagasaki were also positioned some of the most important activities of the Society of Jesus, namely those having to do with education, artistic production and press printing. The presence of a high number of clergies and the fact that it was almost exclusively inhabited by Christians made its everyday life closer to Christianity than Europe's. It was also the only Japanese town divided into parishes and which had infrastructures for spiritual guidance, as sodalities, and material help, as the Misericórdia (a charity institution), officially founded in 1583. Nagasaki's cultural life also received a strong European influence, which contributed to turn the town into a meeting place for western and eastern elements, as can be seen from the famous Nanban folding screens. Main point of contact with the outside world, it was the gateway to new products, exotic animals, habits and knowledge, novelties that then spread to the rest of the Japanese territory but that in Nagasaki were better assimilated. From the start, it was clear that the Japanese would never have chosen that location, so deeply incrusted in the mountains, to found a town, which gave even more originality to Nagasaki. When the town was first built it followed an architectural model organized in squares, but when there wasn't much more space available the model was abandoned and the town zigzagged over the hills. This westernised profile was also present in the religious architecture, which included bell towers and clocks in some churches. In addition, it was present in everyday life, with the language spoken (through the inclusion of Portuguese words in the local dialect), clothes (by adopting garments, fabrics and accessories unbeknownst so far), food (by bringing new types of food into the Japanese diet), and flora (by introducing European and American vegetable specimens). It was also in Nagasaki that the first scientific works denoting a western influence came to light, as Genna Kokaisho (Nautical Book of the Genna Era), in 1618, and Bangay-shuyo (Brief Collection of Medical Knowledge) written in 1619. Nagasaki's prosperity soon attracted the envy of its closest neighbours and in 1573 was attacked by Saigô Sumitaka, from Isahaya, and Fukahori Sumikata, his brother, who attacked again in 1579. Riûzoji Takanobu, lord of Saga, also showed signs of wanting to attack, which left Omura Sumitada in a delicate position. In order to find a solution and to maintain the profits from the trading business with the Portuguese, Omura Sumitada conceded, in 1580, the port and the town of Nagasaki to the Jesuit missionaries, together with the Mogi lands. The donation was accepted by the Society of Jesus in the condition that the missionaries would return it to the local inhabitants whenever they seemed fit. Omura Sumitada kept on being the sovereign of the territory but its administration was now done by the Society, which selected a yakunin (an administrator) who received the government directly from Omura Sumitada's hands. The Society of Jesus oversaw, indirectly, Nagasaki until 1587, when it was incorporated in the territories which were under the direct dependence of the main power, this in consequence of the anti-Christian edict of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1592 it became an imperial town and was thence administered by a bugyo, helped by a daikan. By turning to such measures, the Japanese administration tried to limit the religious influence in Nagasaki as well as controlled the trading business with the Portuguese. It was exactly by influence of the trading business that the presence of missionaries was tolerated and, little by little, Nagasaki returned to its normal life, even though there were some disturbs, as the martyrdom of 26 Christians in 1597. The beginning of the 17th century brought a new conjuncture for Nagasaki, due to the consolidation of the power of Tokugawa Ieyasu as administrator and the arrival of new commercial competitors from Europe. In the beginning of the 1600s the town lived two events that affected the Portuguese-Japanese relationship: in 1606, a crisis with Omura Yoshiaki due to an administrative reorganisation of the Nagasaki territories, which lead to the severing of bonds between the daimyo and the Church; and in 1610 the Madre de Deus carrack ship incident, which lead to a brief rupture in commerce. To compensate the disruptions of commerce with Portugal, Japan used the alternatives presented by the Spanish, the Dutch and the English, who had trading posts in Hirado since 1609 and 1613, respectively. Since commerce went on without the need to put up with Christianity, in 1614 a new edict was published and its consequences were more drastic than the first one's. Although at first there was some lenience from the central power towards the Nagasaki Christians, from 1618 on the struggle to eradicate the Christian persuasion became stronger. New executions took place in 1619 and in 1622. Aware of the support given by Portuguese merchants to clandestine missionaries, the Japanese authorities tried to limit their intervention. Thus, in 1623, the permanent residence of Portuguese merchants was forbidden and in following years new rules on the functioning of the trato (the Nanban trade agreement) were decreed. From 1636 on the crew from the Nanban trade carrack ship were forced to stay in Dejima, an artificial island in the Nagasaki bay. The relationship between Portugal and Japan deteriorated and the Japanese government decided to sever any kind of bond. So, when in 1639 the captain-major Vasco Palha arrived in Nagasaki, he could not take the cargo ashore and was told that from that date on the Portuguese were forbidden to enter Japan. In 1640 Macau sent an embassy that tried to reverse the situation but the majority of its emissaries was executed due to contempt of Japanese laws. Nagasaki and Dejima would carry on being the trading posts with Europe, but now via the Dutch.

Bibliography:
COSTA, João Paulo Oliveira e, O Cristianismo no Japão e o Episcopado de D. Luís de Cerqueira, dissertação de doutoramento em História apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1998 (texto fotocopiado). PACHECO, Diego S.J., El hombre que forjó a Nagasaki. Vida del Padre Cosme de la Torres S. J., Madrid, Editorial Apostolado de la Prensa, 1973. Idem, A Fundação do Porto de Nagasáqui e a sua cedência à Sociedade de Jesus, Macau, Centro de Estudos Marítimos de Macau, 1989. RODRIGUES, Helena Barros, Nagasáqui Nanban. Das origens à expulsão dos portugueses, dissertação de mestrado em História e Arqueologia dos Descobrimentos e da Expansão Portuguesa apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, 2006 (texto fotocopiado).

Translated by: Maria das Mercês Pacheco