Titia Bergsma (

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

, 13 February 1786 –

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, 2 April 1821) was a Dutch woman who visited

Dejima or Deshima, in the 17th century also called , was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan, that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1858). For 220 years, it was the central con ...

Island,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, in August 1817 with her husband,

Jan Cock Blomhoff Jan Cock Blomhoff (Amsterdam, 5 August 1779 – Amersfoort, 15 August 1853) was director ("opperhoofd") of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in the harbour of Nagasaki, Japan, 1817–1824, succeeding Hendrik Doeff. During his first stay on the i ...

. She was believed to be the first Western woman to visit Japan. Under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

's ''

sakoku is the most common name for the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and almost all ...

'' policy Japan was extremely secluded. The Dutch and Chinese were allowed to visit the country, but only for trade, and no women were permitted. The governor 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 ...

allowed Bergsma to enter the island. Five weeks later when the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Ienari Tokugawa Ienari (, 18 November 1773 – 22 March 1841) was the eleventh and longest-serving ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office from 1787 to 1837.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern Japan'', p. 21./ref> ...

became aware of her presence, he ordered that Titia and the wetnurse

Petronella Muns Petronella Muns (21 January 1794, The Hague – 13 May 1842, The Hague) was one of the first Western women to set foot in Japan. She was the servant of Titia Bergsma, the wife of Jan Cock Blomhoff, and wet nurse to the Blomhoffs' infant son. Blo ...

had to leave. In December the women went back to Batavia and Holland and Bergsma never saw her husband again. In the meanwhile, Japanese painters and sculptors had made 500 images of Bergsma. Her images had such popularity in Japan that they outsold all other prints in 19th century Japan. Images can be found all over Japan. There are companies which specialise entirely in Bergsma images. Her face can be seen on millions of pieces of

Japanese porcelain is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Types have included earthenware, pottery, stoneware, porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptionally long and successful history of cer ...

. The life of Bergsma has been adapted to animation in Japan.

Sources

*R. P. Bersma, ''Titia. The first Western Woman in Japan'' (Amsterdam 2002) *Jolien C. Hemmes en Ennius H. Bergsma, ''Brieven uit Deshima, met het complete, originele verslag over de reis naar Japan van Jan Cock Blomhoff en Titia Bergsma met hun zoontje'', plus 100 oude afbeeldingen, eerste druk 2017, tweede druk 2021, © JCH, ISBNnr: 9789090349473, NUR: 691, www.brievenuitdeshima.nl (Publication with the original manuscript about the trip with his wife and son written by the father of Titia, using her letters to her parents.)

External links

Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland

Historisch Centrum Leeuwarden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergsma, Titia 1786 births 1821 deaths 19th-century Dutch people Dutch expatriates in Japan People from Leeuwarden 19th-century people from the Dutch Empire

See also

Sources

External links