Question

Imagine that the year is 1567: 18 years after Francis Xavier's arrival in Japan, and over 60 years before Japan's isolationist policies. Choose one role from the list below: a) Portuguese trader in Japan b) Jesuit missionary in Japan c) Japanese resident of Nagasaki who witnesses the arrival of European traders or missionaries. From the perspective of your chosen role, write a letter to a friend describing both: 1) the interactions between European and Japanese people, and 2) your impression of the other group (Europeans or Japanese). Use information from the lesson and the secondary source to help you imagine the person's perspective. Write your letter in at least four sentences. An optional way you may start your response is: After (I/the Europeans) arrived in Japan,...

Answer 1

As a Portuguese trader in 1567, my observations are of positive initial trade and religious interactions with the Japanese transforming with time due to suspicions of European intentions, notably influencing Japan's approach to foreign involvement and igniting the spark of their future isolationist stance.

Step-by-step explanation:

Imagine that the year is 1567, and I am a Portuguese trader in Japan. After our arrival in Japan, the landscape of commerce and faith in this distant land began to shift. Initial interactions between Europeans and Japanese were marked by a mutual curiosity and the exchange of both goods and ideas.

As trade flourished, so did the spread of Christianity, led by Jesuit missionaries with some daimyos even adopting the new faith; foreign firearms introduced a profound change in the art of Japanese warfare. The Japanese people, particularly the samurai class, showed a keen interest in the advanced weaponry we brought, despite most being disinterested in conversion.

However, the impression I've had of the Japanese is one of respect for their culture and determination, as well as their openness to adopting foreign technologies and ideas to enhance their own status in the ceaseless political and military struggles of the era.

However, it is also apparent that growing fears of European dominance, driven by events such as the execution of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan and Hideyoshi's suspicions of colonial intentions, have started to strain these interactions, hinting at the beginning of what would become a prolonged period of Japanese isolationism in the future.