The Dutch Factory at Hirado and Trade with Japan in the 1620s

Timeline

1. 1609–1613Hirado · KyushuIn 1609 the VOC established a factory at Hirado under a shogunate seal permit, with a factory chief directing trade with Japan, importing raw silk and exporting silver and copper, and enjoying the privilege of anchoring in Nagasaki harbor.
2. 1624Hirado · KyushuIn 1624 the VOC relocated from the Penghu Islands to Tainan in Taiwan, while continuing to use Hirado as the hub of its Japan trade; Dutch-English competition at Hirado and in the Moluccas intensified, and the shogunate tightened its regulation of European trade.
3. 1625–1640Nagasaki · KyushuBetween 1620 and 1640 the shogunate progressively restricted the scope of European activities in Japan; the Portuguese were expelled in 1639, and in 1641 the Dutch factory was ordered to move from Hirado to Dejima in Nagasaki, bringing the Hirado era to an end.