JAPAN
TREASURY OF TEMPTATIONS
llowed
to rent only the tiny island of Deshima on the Nagasaki
water front, the VOC in Tokugawa
Japan was obsessed above all with locally mined precious metals
for the intra-Asian trade: first silver, then gold koban,
and finally copper staves. At the same time, Deshima functioned
as Japan's window on the West, and its to Japan.
Deshima: Gateway to the West
he
first VOC establishment in Japan,
a factory in Hirado, opened in 1609. Thirty years later, the
shogunate moved the Dutch to the island of Deshima, where
they displaced the disfavoured Portuguese. The VOC
presence on Deshima was quite literally on the periphery of
Japan, but it was nevertheless important. In 1636 the Shogunate
issued the Kaikin edict, intended to prohibit all Japanese
overseas navigation. The flourishing Nihon machi or Japanese
trading towns at Ayutthaya in Siam, Tourane, Kangnan, and
Hoi An in Quinam and Tonkin as well as Udong near Phnom Penh
were left to VOC and Chinese merchants,
who from then on served as the only suppliers between an isolated
Japan and the outside world
Even in isolation, Japan continued to be an essential
producer of precious metals for the world market. As the only
Westerners allowed in Japan between 1640 and 1854, the Dutch
in Deshima circulated Tokugawa gold, silver, and copper exclusively
onto Southeast and South Asian markets. Relegated to the periphery
of the China Sea trade, the VOC had
to adjust itself and its practices to the market and the shifting
balances of power in the area. In the words of one scholar,
'what better indicator of continuity and change of the Eastern
market could the historian select than a 'multi-national'
trading company that has to dance to the tune of the market?'
The dance of the VOC can tell us
much about the broader trade of Asia.

Chinese factory at Nagasaki
(click image to enlarge)
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Besides the Dutch, the Chinese were the only foreigners
allowed to trade with Japan during the period of seclusion.
Chinese merchants were given twice the trading quota of the
VOC . They purchased silver, gold,
and copper as the VOC did. However,
China has not preserved substantial records of their trade
with Japan during the Tokugawa period (1603-1867). A combination
of Japanese and Dutch sources--for the VOC
kept a keen eye on its Chinese competitors--will doubtless
teach us more about Sino-Japanese relations during this critical
period.
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