The Japan voyage (''viagem do Japão'' in Portuguese) was a trade route established by the Portuguese from 1550 to 1639, linking

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, then capital of the

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

, to Japan. This lucrative annual trip was carried out under monopoly of the Portuguese crown, and was in charge of a Captain general. The charge of Captain general of the Japan trip was officially attributed by the

governor of Portuguese India The government of Portuguese India () started on 12 September 1505, seven years after the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Portuguese viceroy Francisco de Almeida, then settled ...

as a reward for services rendered. The large ships involved in this trade were referred to as the ''nau do trato'', the silver ships, China's ships, and became known among the Japanese as Kurofune (black ships), a term that came to be used to name all Western ships that supplied in Japan during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Upon arriving in Japan in 1543, Portuguese merchants and adventurers engaged in a profitable trade on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, on their own ships and Chinese reeds, without a stable port. Because of a ban on the relations between China and Japan, they acted as intermediaries. In 1550, the importance of this trade led to the creation of an annual trip under the monopoly of the Portuguese Crown. To this end, a chief captain was appointed. This was a coveted position assigned by the official authorities as a reward for services rendered. The right to carry on the "Japan voyage" was donated by the local Crown entities such as the city of Macau, Kochi, Malacca. Later, it was auctioned in Goa to the highest bidder. Given the long distance between Goa and Japan, the route initially departed from

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

. After several attempts to create an intermediate stop in China, in 1554

Leonel de Sousa Leonel de Sousa was the second Captain-Major of Portuguese Macau in 1558 (the equivalent of the later governor of Macau). In 1554 he had negotiated an agreement with the local authorities of Guangzhou known as the first Luso-Chinese agreement whi ...

, the chief captain of Japan's voyage, reached an

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

with

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

authorities to legalize the Portuguese trade, on condition of paying specially stipulated customs duties.DIFFIE, SHAFER, WINIUS, Bailey Wallys, Boyd C., George Davison, "Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415-1580", p.389 From 1557, the Portuguese achieved the official establishment in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. The city became integrated in a

triangular trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...

that finished in Japan. Then, in 1570, after an agreement with the local daimyō, they founded the city of

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. The ship sailed from Goa in April or May, loaded with fabrics, glass and glass objects, Flanders watches and Portuguese wines.

References

{{Reflist Age of Sail Sea lanes Portuguese exploration in the Age of Discovery

See also

References