The Dutch in Japan – Utagawa Yoshikazu, 1861

Dutch Couple with Woman on Horseback, multicolour woodblock print designed by Utagawa Yoshikazu and published by Sasaya Izumikichi in 1861. Size: 37.2 × 25 cm.

From the 1630s until the mid-nineteenth century Japan was largely closed to foreigners. From 1641 onward the Dutch were the only Westerners permitted to reside in the country and conduct trade. They were subject to strict regulations and were allowed to live only on Dejima, an artificial island in the harbour of Nagasaki.

In 1858 the Dutch monopoly came to an end and the Dejima era was over. The United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia also obtained trading rights with Japan. Foreigners settled in Yokohama, which rapidly developed into Japan’s most important port. There they enjoyed far greater freedom of movement than in Nagasaki, and women were also allowed to reside there. An international community emerged in which the Dutch were no longer the dominant group.

Nevertheless, Dutch assistance was still sought in building a Japanese navy and constructing steamships. The Dutch established a machine factory, founded a naval training school, and trained Japanese naval officers.

The woodblock print shown here is a so-called Yokohama-e, a type of print produced from carved woodblocks depicting foreigners in the port city of Yokohama. Foreigners were a great curiosity to the Japanese, and such prints met an enormous demand. Prints produced in Yokohama are generally more refined than the earlier Nagasaki prints: the artistic level is higher, the printing quality better, and a greater range of colours is used.

The text on the print, “recorded by Kanagaki Robun,” describes the Netherlands roughly as follows:

This country is divided into seventeen provinces and has three kings [probably referring to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg]. Half belongs to the King of Holland; the capital is called Amsterdam. The number of houses there amounts to 26,835. There are very many elementary schools in this country. Originally the ruling house held only princely rank, but because it fought against France about forty years ago and gained military merit, it has in recent times risen to royal rank. In Africa it has opened up a territory [the Dutch Cape Colony], and in Asia it possesses the land of Java. By negotiating with the king of that country and sending ever more people, it gradually took possession of the land and built there a large and prosperous city called Batavia, also known as Jacatra. The ships that come to our country [Japan] depart from there by order of the governor-general stationed in that place.

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