Dejima, Nagasaki – anonymous, c. 1840

Bay of Nagasaki with Dejima. Colour woodblock print, published around 1840. Size: (print): 27.7 × 39.5 cm; (framed): 41 × 51 cm

From the 1630s to the mid-nineteenth century, Japan pursued an isolationist policy (sakoku) that severely restricted foreign contact. From 1641 onward, the Dutch were the only Westerners permitted to reside and trade in Japan, confined strictly to Dejima — a small, fan-shaped artificial island in Nagasaki’s harbour.

Each year, one or two Dutch ships arrived, delivering goods, exchanging wares, and rotating the trading post’s staff. Their arrival was a major event, breaking the otherwise monotonous life on Dejima. The richly adorned ships, with their colourful flags and decorated sterns, captivated the Japanese onlookers. Especially striking were the speed at which the sails could be handled and the dramatic salutes from their heavy cannons, cloaking the harbour in smoke.

This print presents a bird’s-eye view of Nagasaki Bay. At the center foreground lies Dejima, and to its left, the Chinese trading settlement of Tōjin yashiki. The bay is animated with a Dutch merchant vessel and two Chinese junks, while in the distance, a flotilla of small Japanese ships escorts another Dutch ship into the harbor under clouds of salute smoke.

Known as a Nagasaki-e (“Nagasaki print”), this type of woodblock print depicted foreign visitors and exotic artifacts, catering to Japanese fascination with the outside world during the Edo period (1603–1868). Government-appointed artists stationed on Dejima documented the Dutch presence, and their work, reproduced as prints, became popular souvenirs for Japanese travelers. Today, due to the fragility of the paper, surviving examples are rare.

Price: Euro 1.250,- (incl. frame)