Hirado, Nagasaki

Infobox City Japan
Name= Hirado
JapaneseName= 平戸市
Map

Region= Kyūshū
Prefecture= Nagasaki
District=
Area_km2= 235.60
PopDate= 2006
Population= 39,053
Density_km2=
Coords= coord|33|22|N|129|33|E|region:JP_type:city
Tree=
Flower=
Bird=
Symbol

SymbolDescription=
Mayor=
CityHallPostalCode=
CityHallAddress=
CityHallPhone=
CityHallLink= [http://www.city.hirado.nagasaki.jp/ City of Hirado]

nihongo|Hirado|平戸市|Hirado-shi is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It occupies an island connected to the larger island of Kyūshū by the Hirado Bridge.

During the Sengoku and early Edo Periods, Hirado was a major center of foreign trade, especially with the Ming Dynasty of China and the Dutch, who established a trading factory there on September 20, 1609, under the direction of Jacob Groenewegen and with the help of William Adams.

This commercial station on Hirado was built, maintained and operated by the Dutch East India Company (the "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie" or "VOC").

Decades later, the Tokugawa Shogunate forced the reluctant but compliant traders to relocate to Dejima, an island in the present-day city of Nagasaki. The last VOC "Opperhoofd" or "Kapitan" at Hirado and the first one at Dejima was François Caron, who oversaw the transfer in 1641. [Caron lived in Japan from 1619 to 1641. "A Collector's Guide to Books on Japan in English" By Jozef Rogala, p.31 [http://books.google.com/books?id=29cty-eprmgC&pg=PA31&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Caron+years+Japan&ei=DrbASNjkKJzayATrmPiJDg&sig=ACfU3U22eUcPvD3B42fwRk_cEkMFPpDBpg] ] ["Asia in the Making of Europe", p.459 [http://books.google.com/books?id=SqTQjve2VLsC&pg=RA1-PA459&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Caron+Nagasaki+Hirado&ei=xLfASLu5D5LkywTG7YmMDg&sig=ACfU3U3YdnzAqL2wOblFJhJiW3I3nyVSYg] ]

Also during the Edo period, Hirado was the seat of the Hirado Han; and the Hirado Castle is today an historical and architectural landmark.

The modern city was founded on January 1 1955. The city expanded by merging on October 1, 2005 with the towns of Tabira, Ikitsuki, and the village of Oshima to form the new city of Hirado.

As of November 1, 2006, the city had an estimated population of 39,053. The total area of the municipality is 235.60 km².

Pre-modern history

At its maximum, the 17th century Dutch trading center covered the whole area of present-day Sakikata Park. [Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibition catalog. (2000). "A Very Unique Collection of Historical Significance: The Kapitan (the Dutch Chief) Collection from the Edo Period -- The Dutch Fascination with Japan," p.206.] In 1637 and in 1639, stone warehouses were constructed, and the Dutch builders incorporated these dates into the stonework. However, the Tokugawa shogunate disapproved of the use of any Christian Era year dates, and therefore demanded the immediate destruction of these two structures.Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibition catalog, p. 207.]

This example of Dutch failure to comply with strict "sakoku" practices was then used as one of the Shogunate's plausible rationales for forcing the Dutch traders to abandon Hirado for the more constricting confines of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor. [see above] ] However, modern research has led scholars to say, "This was actually an excuse for the shogunate to take the Dutch trade away from the Hirado clan." [see above] ] This strategic decision was to produce significant unanticipated consequences for Hirado, for Nagasaki, and for Japan.

VOC outpost

"Opperhoofd" is a Dutch word (plural "Opperhoofden") which literally means 'supreme head [man] '. In its historical usage, the word is a gubernatorial title, comparable to the English Chief factor, for the chief executive officer of a Dutch "factory" in the sense of trading post, as lead by a Factor, i.e. agent.

:::See more at VOC "Opperhoofden" in Japan

:At Hirado:*François Caron: 3.2.1639 - 13.2.1641 ["Caron was last "Opperhoofd" at Hirado."]

:At Dejima:*François Caron: 3.2.1639 - 13.2.1641 ["Caron was the first "Opperhoofd" in Dejima following the forced move from Hirado."]

Famous men from island's history

* The Taiwanese national hero and Ming general Koxinga (1624–1662) and the Japanese diplomat Inagaki Manjiro (1861–1908) were born in Hirado.
* William Adams (1564–1620), the English navigator, died there.

Places of Interest in Hirado

Notes

References

* Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibition catalog. (2000). "A Very Unique Collection of Historical Significance: The Kapitan (the Dutch Chief) Collection from the Edo Period -- The Dutch Fascination with Japan." Catalog of "400th Anniversary Exhibition Regarding Relations between Japan and the Netherlands," a joint-project of the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the City of Nagasaki, the National Museum of Ethnology, the National Natuurhistorisch Museum" and the National Herbarium of the Netherlands in Leiden, the Netherlands. Tokyo.
* Satow, Ernest Mason, ed. (1900). "The Voyage of Captain John Saris to Japan, 1613." London: Hakluyt Society. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Hok7AAAAIAAJ&dq=ernest+satow&as_brr=1 ..Link to digitized version from the collection of the University of California]

External links

* [http://www.city.hirado.nagasaki.jp/ Hirado official website] in Japanese
* [http://www.city.hirado.nagasaki.jp/english/home.htm Hirado official website] in English
* [http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/dolls/american/individual/hirado/index.htm American Friendship Doll at Hirado Kindergarten]