Nanban trade

In this episode of the HistoryMaps Podcast, we examine Japan's first encounters with Europe-from the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid-16th century to the nation's self-imposed isolation. We trace the Japan voyage and its 'black ships' that carried silver, silk, and firearms, igniting a wave of trade, technology, and cultural exchange. Alongside commerce came Christianity, whose rapid spread under Jesuit missionaries soon drew political suspicion and persecution from leaders like Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The episode concludes with the enduring influence of Rangaku (Dutch learning), the channel through which Japan quietly absorbed Western science and ideas even while closed to most of the world.