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Tanegashima – the Arrival of Europe in Japan (NIAS monographs): 90
Author(s): Olaf G. Lidin (Author)
- Publisher: NIAS Press
- Publication Date: 14 May 2004
- Language: English
- Print length: 272 pages
- ISBN-10: 8791114128
- ISBN-13: 9788791114120
Book Description
The year 1543 marked the beginning of a new global consciousness in Japan with the arrival of shipwrecked Portuguese merchants on Tanegashima Island in Southern Japan. Other Portuguese rapidly followed and Japan became aware of a world beyond India. The Portuguese brought with them the musket, which was quickly copied and began to change Japanese warfare and influence their unification process. After the merchants had opened the way, the first missionary, Francis Xavier, arrived in 1549 and the Christian century began. The arrival of the Portuguese was recorded in the “Tanegashima Kafu”, the “Teppoki” and the “Kunitomo Teppoki”, which are here translated and presented together with European reports. Special attention is given to the role of Tanegashima Island and Mendes Pinto, who wrote his famous picaresque account of Japan, the “Peregrinacam”.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Olof G. Lindin is a widely recognised academic who has received numerous honours and distinctions internationally. These include but are not limited to; the Order of Chivalry from the Queen of Denmark (1983 and 1993) and the Order of the Rising Sun from the Emperor of Japan (1985).
