Question

How did contact between Europe and Japan change during the time of Japan’s Tokugawa dynasty? listen icon Audio Player Media player PlayRestartRewindForwardFasterSlowerPreferencesVolume 0:00 / 0:37Speed: 1xPaused A The spread of smallpox weakened Japan’s population, allowing Dutch conquerors to control the port city of Nagasaki. B Japan expelled Eur believed that Cortés was the legendary god Quetzalcoatl, who had left Mexico and promised to return in 1519. In the following primary resource, read the exchange between Montezuma and Cortés. Then, answer the questions that follow. When Motecuhzoma [Montezuma] had given necklaces to each one, Cortés asked him: "Are you Motecuhzoma? Are you the king? Is it true that you are the king Motecuhzoma?" And the king said: "Yes, I am Motecuhzoma." Then he stood up to welcome Cortés; he came forward, bowed his head low and addressed him in these words: "Our lord, you are weary. The journey has tired you, but now you have arrived on the earth. You have come to your city, Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit under its canopy. The kings who have gone before, your representatives, guarded it and preserved it for your coming. ……..When Motecuhzoma had finished, La Malinche [a Mayan woman] translated his address into Spanish so that the Captain could understand it. Cortés replied in his strange and savage tongue, speaking first to La Malinche: "Tell Motecuhzoma that we are his friends. There is nothing to fear. We have wanted to see him for a long time, and now we have seen his face and heard his words. Tell him that we love him well and that our hearts are contented." —from Miguel Leon-­Portilla, a Mexican anthropologist, who gathered accounts by the Aztecs, some of which were written shortly after the conquest Part 1: How would you characterize the first meeting of Montezuma and Cortés? Cite two pieces of evidence from the reading to support your answer. Part 2: Does this reading support or contradict the ultimate result of Spanish and Aztec contact? Explain.

Answer 1

Contact between Europe and Japan changed during the time of Japan's Tokugawa dynasty with the implementation of strict isolationist policies and the expulsion of most Europeans from Japan, except for the Dutch who were allowed to trade through the port city of Nagasaki.

The contact between Europe and Japan during the time of Japan's Tokugawa dynasty underwent significant changes. Initially, contact was limited to the Portuguese and the Spanish, who introduced Christianity to Japan.

However, as the Tokugawa shogunate sought to consolidate its power and prevent foreign influence, it implemented strict isolationist policies known as the Sakoku policy. This resulted in the expulsion of most Europeans from Japan, with the exception of the Dutch who were allowed to trade through the port city of Nagasaki under strict regulations.