Sakoku

Sakoku was the Tokugawa shogunate’s system of restrictions on overseas travel and foreign trade, maintained mainly from the 1630s to 1853 while allowing limited foreign contacts.

Dejima: An artificial island in Nagasaki harbor that served as the Dutch East India Company’s restricted trading post. Dutch merchants were confined to this site, one of the policy’s tightly controlled foreign-contact points.
Tokugawa Ieyasu: The founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. His government began regulating foreign trade and Christian activity before the restrictions tightened.
Dutch learning: The study of Western science and technology in Japan through Dutch-language texts and contact. It demonstrates that restricted European contact still enabled selective intellectual exchange.
Matthew Perry: A United States Navy commodore who led an expedition to Japan in 1853 and 1854. His expedition used naval pressure to demand access to Japanese ports.
Nagasaki: A Japanese port city that served as the main center for regulated trade with foreign merchants during the Tokugawa period. Its magistrates administered much of the shogunate’s foreign trade and contact.
Tokugawa Hidetada: The second Tokugawa shogun, who ruled from 1605 to 1623. His administration expanded controls on Christianity and foreign contact.
Chinese trade in Tokugawa Japan: The regulated commerce between Tokugawa Japan and Chinese merchants, conducted chiefly through Nagasaki. Chinese merchants, unlike most Europeans, formed another significant channel of permitted trade.
Convention of Kanagawa: A 1854 treaty between the United States and Japan that opened two ports to American ships and established diplomatic relations. It marked a decisive breach in the shogunate’s restrictions on foreign access.
Dutch East India Company: A Dutch chartered company that conducted Asian trade from 1602 to 1799. Its merchants retained a restricted trading presence at Dejima.
Tokugawa Iemitsu: The third Tokugawa shogun, who ruled from 1623 to 1651. Under his rule, major restrictions on travel and foreign access took shape in the 1630s.

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