Dutch Trade at Dejima

Timeline

1. 1633–1636Dutch factory at Hirado · Nagasaki PrefectureThe Dutch East India Company established a factory at Hirado in 1609 and continued operating it through the 1630s, exchanging silk, pepper and spices for Japanese copper and silver. The shogunate appreciated the Dutch commercial stance of not propagating Christianity and granted stable trading permits; the Dutch factory maintained normal operations despite tightening maritime restrictions.
2. 1636Dejima (artificial island in Nagasaki harbor) · Nagasaki PrefectureThe shogunate ordered Nagasaki townspeople to fund the reclamation of a fan-shaped artificial island of about 1.5 hectares in Nagasaki harbor — Dejima. Portuguese merchants were forcibly relocated there, completely isolated from Japanese society. Dejima was connected to the mainland by a single drawbridge, with entry and exit strictly controlled by shogunal officials, becoming the template for Japan's management of foreign merchants.
3. 1639Nagasaki · Nagasaki PrefectureIn 1639 the shogunate issued the fifth seclusion edict, completely expelling the Portuguese, leaving Dejima vacant. In 1641 the Dutch East India Company factory moved from Hirado to Dejima, formally becoming the only European power retaining privileges with Japan. The Dutch factory chief (kapitan) had to travel regularly to Edo to audience the shogun and submit 'Dutch reports' (overseas intelligence reports). This arrangement lasted until the arrival of the Black Ships in 1853.