[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”4863″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”474 year ago Portugal arrives to the far East. The Arrival of the Portuguese to Japan makes part of Portuguese and Japanese history and inspired filmmakers in Hollywood.” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]September 26th, 1543 stayed in history as the day the Portuguese arrived in Japan. Although discussed if it could have happened two years before, in 1941, according to Fernão Mendes Pinto what we know for certain is that the Portuguese were the first European’s to arrive at this island.

The Japanese saw European’s for the first time and not only did we have a different physiognomy, but many of our costumes were a complete surprise. On the Japanese people point of view, these new people that had just arrived “ate with their hands, not with chopsticks”, “manifested their emotions in an out of control way”, “most of them can’t read or write” and they dressed in a sloppy way. With such descriptions is easy to understand why the Japanese used to call the Portuguese “Nanban-jin”- barbarians of the south, a name that came to describe Europeans as a whole.

Welcomed by the natives and by the daimios (feudal lords of Japan) follows a period of profitable commercial exchanges for both countries, in particular for the Japanese because with the arrival of the Portuguese they had access to firearms and other objects like glasses, chairs and buttons.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”4862″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”From the West to the East: What the Portuguese took ” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]The arrival of the Portuguese creates a new commercial rote de “Nau de Trato” (Ship of the Treat), that established a bigger connection between China and Japan and raising Macao to the status of the main harbour for the far east commerce.

Besides the commercial interest, there were other reasons for the Portuguese stay in Japan. Priest António Vieira wrote, “The preachers took the gospel and the mercenaries the preachers” because the Portuguese lead the missionaries to this lands with hope to evangelize the Catholic faith in the east. They succeed in their mission converting several Japanese natives to the Catholicism.

During the years of Portuguese occupation, several cultural influences occurred and also the depth of knowledge on several scientific subjects like medicine, astronomy, mathematics and navigation[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Hollywood and the History of Portugal” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]In 2017 debut a movie that reminds the relations between Portugal and Japan – “Silence”- a Martins Scorsese movie inspired in the novel Chinmoku of the Japanese author Shusaku Endô. This movie follows the mission of two Portuguese missionaries in Japan and the struggles and tortures that they faced.

So here is our suggestion of a movie night at home where you can learn about this time in history… See the trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqrgxZLd_gE[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”4861″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_custom_heading text=” Visit Lisbon: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and The Namban Screen Folders ” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]One of the most important pieces that documents the arrival of the Portuguese at the port of Nagasaki are the Namban Folding Screens a piece that justifies a visit to the “Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga” in Lisbon.

The pair of folding screens presents a festive environment at the arrival of the ship and of the namban jin. This historical archive has great importance to Portugal and Japan because it is a piece that describes in detail the ship and its precious cargo, as well as the intervention of the missionaries among the natives.

Other pieces of Namban Art can also be seen at the Museu do Oriente.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”4860″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”Portugal an the influence on Japanese Gastronomy ” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]We left the chair and food at the table

The Portuguese also influenced the Japanese gastronomy, in fact, one of the most famous Japanese dishes has its roots in Portuguese navigators and the costume of frying fish – the tempura.

But dishes like “Aji no Nambanzuke” and “Chicken Nambam” are also based on Portuguese gastronomy.

One of the most delicious is “Kasutera”, a cake based on a famous conventual sweet cake called “pão de ló” accompanied by a recipe inspired in Portuguese famous egg deserts – the “Keiran no Nambanzuke” strings made from eggs and sugar in Portugal we call them “fios de ovos”. And if candy is your favourite you can also try Portuguese inspired the “Konpeito”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Visit Lisbon a board Caravel on Wheels!” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Like the ship that arrived in Japan our Caravel on Wheels also as a precious cargo, the History of Lisbon and Portugal in the unique interactive tour of the city. 

Sail with us, enjoy our suggestions and get to know Lisbon.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”Book your Tour here!” color=”danger” size=”lg” align=”center” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caravelonwheels.com%2Fbuy-tickets|||”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_message]Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga
Tuesday to Sunday: 10.00-18.00

Museu do Oriente
Tuesday to Sunday: 10.00-18.00
Friday: 10.00-22.00 (free entrance from 18.00 to 22.00) 

Books we recommended :

The Portuguese in the East, Silva Jayasuriya

Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan, Olof G. Lidin

The Christian Century in Japan 1549-1650, Charles Ralph Boxer[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]