Absolutely fascinating! This article really gives one a sense of 16th and 17th century relations between different European nations (Portuguese vs Dutch) & Japa

Absolutely fascinating! This article really gives one a sense of 16th and 17th century relations between different European nations (Portuguese vs Dutch) & Japan, and mentions a couple exceptionally interesting folks (links below) "The military ruler of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, showed great interest in the Dutch ship, especially in the firearms it was carrying. Everything was confiscated and Joosten and Adams were ordered to Osaka and then to Edo, the center of power (present-day Tokyo), to be interrogated through a Portuguese interpreter." "Their replies luckily proved to the liking of Ieyasu and the survivors were compensated for the losses they suffered in Usuki. Some of them started careers as traders and married local women. Their valuable know-how and understanding of maps, navigation, shipbuilding and warfare made William Adams and Jan Joosten popular with the ruler. It brought them land, money and titles." ..."The ruler had just started his campaign against Christianity due to the over-enthusiastic proselytising of Portuguese Jesuits threatening his authority, and the knowledge of the "red haired barbarians", as the Dutch came to be called, would prove useful. The protestant Dutch, whose first objective was trade and not the propagation of the Christian faith, had arrived and established their credibility just in time." ..."during the `sakoku-jidai`, the so-called seclusion period, Holland and China were the only countries permitted to trade and have limited contacts with Japan. It was a status which actually lasted over two centuries, from 1641 to 1853, and as the only western country with such privileges, Holland held a very special position." ..."A short time before, in 1602, the Dutch had founded the East Indian Company (VOC), the idea behind this being to unite many smaller trading companies into the one powerful organisation which would make it easier to acquire vessels and dominate the trading world. The VOC can be seen as the world's first shareholder company. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(pilot) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(pilot) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Joosten_van_Lodensteijn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Joosten_van_Lodensteijn Interesting timeline of VOC Dutch East Indies Trading Company https://robertjprince.net/2015/04/14/dutch-east-indies-company-v-o-c-timeline/ https://robertjprince.net/2015/04/14/dutch-east-indies-compa...