1. Aim: Explain how Japan’s Policies Towards Europeans Changed

2. Contact Between Europe and Japan
16th Century: Europeans began coming to Japan
Japanese welcomed traders and missionaries from Portugal
Other Europeans soon came to Japan
Daimyo welcomed the strangers
Interested in the Portuguese muskets & canons
Japanese purchased weapons from the Portuguese and soon began their own production
Led to huge impact on warfare
Daimyo built fortified castles to withstand the destructive force of cannonballs 2

3. Christian Missionaries in Japan
1549: Christian missionaries began arriving in Japan
Japanese initially accepted them
Associated Jesuits with muskets & European goods
Jesuits came to convert the Japanese
1600: European missionaries had converted 300,000 Japanese
Success of missionaries upset Tokugawa Ieyasu
Missionaries scorned traditional Japanese beliefs
1612: Shogun had come to fear religious uprising
Result: Banned Christianity and focused on ridding country of Christians
After Ieyasu Death, Shogun ruthlessly persecuted Christians
Missionaries were killed or driven out of Japan 3

4. The Closed Country Policy
The persecution of Christians was part of an attempt to control foreign ideas in Japan
1639: Sealed Japan’s borders and instituted a Closed Country Policy:
Most commercial contacts with Europe ended
Port of Nagasaki remained opened
Only Dutch & Chinese were allowed into port
Spanish and Portuguese were expelled
For 200 years, Japan remained closed to Europeans
Japanese forbidden to leave Japan
Not to bring back foreign ideas 4