(4) The Dutch in Japan: Hirado and Dejima, Nagasaki

the tokyo files archives 東京ファイル

Cleaning out my inbox, I found an email to myself simply stating: “Hirado, Nagasaki”.

I. Hirado

The former Hirado Dutch trading house warehouse 平戸オランダ商館倉庫 is located in the Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The Dutch used this site from 1609-1641 (source). I’ve never visited, but it appears fairly remote, a 4-hour train trip to Nagasaki City, or 3 and a half hours to Fukuoka.

Here is Hirado harbor, as seen from above (source)(map)

II. Dejima

Having left Hirado, the Dutch moved south to Nagasaki, where they set-up shop on the artificial island, Dejima 出島, which would be theirs from 1641-1853 (source).

Here’s a map of current-day Nagasaki which shows the site of Dejima island (in orange), which has by now been absorbed into the city by the addition of reclaimed land. As a comparison, a historic map of Dejima (source)(map).

A marked aerial map (Wikipedia):

Map of Dejima…

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