Dejima Island

Dejima (Japanese: "exit island") or Deshima, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ("built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it was the central conduit for foreign trade and cultural exchange with Japan during the isolationist Edo period (1600–1869), and the only Japanese territory open to Westerners.

Overview of Dejima.

Bridge connecting Dejima to Nagasaki.
In the top photo we can see the current bridge that connects Dejima to Nagasaki. In the photo below we can see a model of how the bridge used to be.

Spanning 120 m × 75 m (390 ft × 250 ft) or 9,000 m2 (2.2 acres), Dejima was created in 1636 by digging a canal through a small peninsula and linking it to the mainland with a small bridge.

Main Gate.
The small bridge was guarded on both sides, and with a gate on the island side. The islanders were watched by several Japanese officials, gatekeepers, night watchmen, and a supervisor (otona) with about fifty subordinates.

West side of Main Street.

Captain House.
The chief VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) trading post office in Japan was called the Opperhoofd by the Dutch, or Kapitan (from Portuguese capitão) by the Japanese. This descriptive title did not change when the VOC went bankrupt and trade with Japan was continued by the Dutch Indies government at Batavia. According to the Sakoku rules of the Tokugawa shogunate, the VOC had to transfer and replace the opperhoofd every year with a new one. And each opperhoofd was expected to travel to Edo to offer tribute to the shogun.

Opperhoofd is a Dutch word (plural opperhoofden) which literally means 'supreme head'. The Japanese used to call the trading post chiefs kapitan which is derived from Portuguese capitão (cf. Latin caput, head). 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 led by a Factor, i.e. agent.

Kitchen.
The Dutch employees gathered in the Chief Factor's Residence twice a day for lunch and dinner, and their meals were prepared here. This was one of the only buildings on Dejima built by Dutch funding. Southeast Asian and Japanese servants assisted the Dutch in cooking, and meat, vegetables and other unusual foods were supplied from the animal pens and gardens on the island.

First Ship Captain’s Quarters.

Scales at the west end of Main Street.

No.3 Warehouse.

Portuguese sailing ship Caracca Atlantica model.
A carrack (Portuguese: nau; Spanish: nao; Catalan: carraca; Croatian: karaka) is a three- or four-masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal and Spain.

See more at Carrack - Wikipedia.

Dutch sailing ship Friesland model.
Friesland was a second rank vessel with 80 guns built around 1663, part of the great fleet of the United Provinces of Holland.

East side of Main Street.

Otsuna staff room.

Dogura.
Originally, the Dutch mainly traded in silk, cotton, and materia medica from China and India. Sugar became more important later. Deer pelts and shark skin were transported to Japan from Formosa, as well as books, scientific instruments and many other rarities from Europe. In return, the Dutch traders bought Japanese copper, silver, camphor, porcelain, lacquer ware, and rice.