Japanese-Portuguese relations

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Japanese-Portuguese relations
Location of Japan and Portugal
JapanJapan PortugalPortugal
Japan Portugal

The Japanese-Portuguese relations describe the intergovernmental relationship between Japan and Portugal . Their diplomatic relations date back to the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan in the 16th century and have been uninterrupted since 1860.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans with whom the Japanese met in the 16th century. The firearms they imported then had a major impact on the unification of Japan, and the subsequent era of the Namban trade spurred economic development. The Portuguese legacy in Japan includes: a. the Namban art and the gastronomic heritage (for example the tempura or various desserts such as Kompeitō or the Castella cakes from Nagasaki), but also the linguistic heritage, which can be found in a few dozen Portuguese loan words in the Japanese language in geography, religion and everyday culture shows, for example thank you or bread. The Portuguese heritage in Japan is still present in the consciousness of Japanese society today.

Since 2014, Japan has observer status in the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries .

In 2016, 440 Japanese citizens were registered in Portugal, with 226 most of them in the capital Lisbon , while 589 Portuguese were registered in Japan.

history

Until the 18th century

Japanese Namban representation of Francisco Xavier, 17th century

The earliest mention of Japan in Portuguese sources comes from the Suma Oriental , in which Tomé Pires mentions present-day Japan around 1515, with reference to Marco Polos Cipango .

The first Portuguese set foot in Japan on September 23, 1543, when Francisco Zeimoto , António da Mota, and António Peixoto disembarked on the island of Tanegashima on board a Chinese junk . This is considered the first meeting of Japanese and Europeans. Also Fernão Mendes Pinto claimed to be among the first Portuguese in Japan, which he detailed in his Peregrinação described, in particular the reaction of the Japanese on the Portuguese weapons. Today's historical scholarship, however, regards it as largely certain that Pinto was not present when he first landed on Tanegashima.

The firearms carried by the Portuguese were still unknown in Japan and caught the attention of military leaders in divided Japan. Large quantities of Tanegashima rifles were later produced, especially in the city of Sakai , which enabled the military leader Oda Nobunaga to achieve a decisive victory in the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, which ultimately led to the military and political unification of Japan.

After the arrival of the first Portuguese in 1543, Portuguese traders began looking for trading opportunities in Japan. The trader Jorge Álvares set out for Japan from Malacca in 1547 and wrote the first detailed report on Japan for Francisco Xavier . Motivated by the report, Xavier traveled through Japan between August 15, 1549 and November 15, 1551, starting in Kagoshima . He already laid the foundation stone for the missionary work of the Jesuits and thus introduced Christianity to Japan .

The Society of Jesus missioned first exclusively, then in competition with other Christian monastic orders, but also significantly promoted cultural, scientific, business and diplomatic exchange.

Asia Map by Fernao Vaz Dourado (1571)

From 1550 onwards, a Nau sailed every year with the support of the Portuguese Crown from Portugal via a series of intermediate stops to Japan in order to maintain trade-determined relations. Since Japan was excluded from trade with China at the time, the Portuguese trade relationship also acted as an intermediary through which Japan could still exchange goods with China.

In 1570, Father Luís Almeida founded the port of Nagasaki , in which the annual Handelsnau ran from then on. From Nagasaki, the Jesuits then intensified their cultural work. a. 75 schools and seminars. In addition to the religious aspect, European culture was taught there in many areas, such as music, theater or Western painting. They published printed matter in Latin, Portuguese and Romanized and transcribed Japanese and spread their knowledge in areas such as cartography, astronomy, medicine, military architecture and gastronomy (e.g. Castella , Kompeitō ). The publications also included the “ Vocabulario da Lingoa de Iapam ” (1603), which is considered the first dictionary of the Japanese language and is still important in philological studies today. Other important works include “A Arte Breve da Língua Iapam” , a book on Japanese grammar by the Portuguese Father João Rodrigues , and the books “A História do Japão” (by Father Luís Fróis ) and “História da Igreja do Japão ” (also by Father João Rodrigues) on the history of Japan.

Monument to Luís de Almeida in Ōita

Since then, the Portuguese maps have made the concrete shapes of the Japanese islands known in Europe. The Fernão Vaz Dourado maps were particularly popular from 1568 onwards .

The development of Namban art , which unfolded until the substantial end of the Portuguese presence in Japan in 1640 , also fell during this period .

In the field of medicine, the work of Father Luís de Almeida was significant, who disseminated surgical and other medical knowledge from Europe. In Ōita he founded a hospital, a leprosy station and a kindergarten.

In 1584 Mancio Ito reached the Portuguese capital, Lisbon , with stays in Goa and other Portuguese bases in India. He was the first Japanese ambassador to Europe.

With the decree against Christianity in Japan in 1587 and the expulsion of the missionaries from 1614, the persecution of Christians began in Japan , which ended in 1639 with the expulsion of the Jesuits and the Portuguese from Japan. The Portuguese missionary Cristóvão Ferreira , who arrived in Japan in 1610 , contributed to the tense situation in the matter with his varied role until he was executed there around 1650. The Buddhist monks in Japan , who feared for their power, also pushed ahead with the expulsion.

As early as 1610, the Madre de Deus incident had contributed to the deterioration in Japanese-Portuguese relations.

During all this time, Japanese increasingly adopted words from Portuguese such as botan from botão 'button', igirisu from inglez 'England', kapa from capa 'raincoat', oranda from Hollanda 'Holland, Netherlands', pan from pão 'bread', rozario from rosário 'Rosenkreuz' and tempura from tempero 'Lent'.

Since the 19th century

Japanese prisoners leave Timor after the Japanese surrender in 1945
Bilingual Portuguese-Japanese street sign in Ōizumi

A noteworthy official Japanese-Portuguese exchange only took place again since the Meiji period . The governor of Macau, Isidoro Francisco Guimarães , signed a peace and trade treaty with Japan in 1860 as a representative of Portugal, with which the countries resumed their old relations. After that, a large number of Portuguese from Macau and Shanghai moved to Japan, where they worked in trading companies or authorities. From this immigrant community grew u. a. the Portuguese schools of Kobe and Yokohama .

The diplomatic relations between the two countries also continued the old relations. In particular, Wenceslau de Morães (1854–1929) made an outstanding contribution to the Portuguese presence in Japan as a mediator in diplomacy and economics. The naval officer lived with his Japanese wife in Kobe from 1898 to 1913 and was initially the Portuguese consul there and in Osaka before he headed the Portuguese consulate general in Kobe from 1912 . Until his death in Tokushima he wrote several important books on the subject.

During World War II , Japan and Portugal got into a conflict of interest in the Portuguese colony of Portuguese Timor . It culminated in the Battle of Timor in 1942. East Timor, which was controlled by Japan, but still officially administered in Portuguese, offered covert resistance, such as Manuel Viegas Carrascalão , Manuel Jesus Pires or Artur do Canto Resende . In 1945 the Japanese finally withdrew and gave East Timor back to Portugal.

In the course of mutual Japanese-Brazilian immigration since the early 20th century, the Portuguese language is still present in Japan today, for example in Portuguese-language Japanese-Brazilian media such as television channels, newspapers and magazines. There are also Portuguese classes at around 20 Japanese universities, five of which offer a degree in Luso-Brazilian studies. In addition to Portugal and Brazil, Japan's growing relations with the Portuguese-speaking countries Mozambique and Angola in Africa have also played a role since 1994 . Portuguese is now considered the most widely used Western language in Japan.

In 2004 the then prince and now emperor Naruhito traveled to Portugal.

2020 marked the 160th anniversary of the renewed Japanese-Portuguese diplomatic relations in both countries. In Portugal in particular, a number of cultural and sporting events have been planned, such as Japanese film and anime shows , judo events, and calligraphy exhibitions and workshops.

diplomacy

Portugal has an embassy in the Japanese capital Tokyo . Portuguese honorary consulates also exist in Kobe , Kyōto , Nagasaki , Osaka , Tokushima and Nagoya .

Japan has an embassy in Portugal's capital, Lisbon , on the central Avenida da Liberdade . There is also a Japanese consulate in Porto .

Town twinning

Ten locations in both countries are linked as partners or are striving to do so (as of 2018). In 1969 the first Japanese-Portuguese city ​​friendship arose between Tokushima and Leiria .

economy

Mazda factory in Hiroshima : Automobiles are Japan's most important export to Portugal

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP has a branch at the Portuguese Embassy in Tokyo . In Lisbon there is also the bilateral Chamber of Commerce Câmara de Comércio e Indústria Luso Japonesa (German: Luso-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry).

In 2016, Portugal exported goods and services worth EUR 209.8 million to Japan ( 2015 : 207.3 million; 2014 : 241.2 million; 2013 : 191.8 million; 2012 : 386.2 million .). The share of goods was 138.8 million, of which 29.1% machines and devices, 21.6% food, 7.5% shoes, 6.2% chemical-pharmaceutical products and 5.5% agricultural products.

In the same period, Japan delivered goods and services worth EUR 299.1 million to Portugal ( 2015 : 269.5 million; 2014 : 254.5 million; 2013 : 235.4 million; 2012 : 297.5 million .). The proportion of goods was 299.0 million, of which 42.9% vehicles and vehicle parts, 28.7% machines and devices, 10.0% plastics, 7.3% optical and precision instruments and 2.8% chemical-pharmaceuticals Products.

Japan was 37th for Portuguese foreign trade as a buyer and 26th as a supplier, and in Japanese foreign trade, Portugal was 64th as a buyer and also as a supplier.

With overnight expenses of 29.7 million euros ( 2015 : 23.7 million; 2014 : 21.2 million; 2013 : 15.0 million; 2012 : 12.0 million), Japanese tourists represented a share of 0.23% of foreign tourists in Portugal.

Culture

General

The Portuguese cultural institute Instituto Camões is based in Japan a. a. represented with a cultural center in Tokyo and a large number of lectureships at various Japanese universities.

Today, culture is Portugal's most important and far-reaching ambassador to Japan, especially in music, but architecture, film, art and literature should also be mentioned.

There are also a number of Japanese-Portuguese friendship societies , such as the Sociedade Luso-Nipónica , or the Sociedade Luso-Niponica de Hokkaido .

Namban art : representation of Portuguese traders in Japan attributed to Kano Domi, late 15th century.

music

Since Amália Rodrigues's Japanese publications and guest tours in particular , Portuguese musicians have become known to music lovers in Japan, both through performances and publications. Examples include the Madredeus group , the pianist Maria João Pires , singers such as Dulce Pontes and various Fado artists such as Carlos do Carmo and others. v. a.

Occasionally there is also artistic collaboration. For example, the former Madredeus singer Teresa Salgueiro recorded some pieces with the Japanese formation Coba .

The Japanese conductor Takuo Yuasa worked several times in Portugal. Most recently, he conducted the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música , the 96-member symphony orchestra of the Casa da Música in Porto, at the two sold out New Year's concerts there on January 3rd and 4th, 2020.

art

After the arrival of the Portuguese and with the development of the Japanese-Portuguese trade, the Namban art developed , which often shows scenes from the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan and shows western influences, for example in the perception of light and dark or the perspective representation.

The Namban art was mainly shown in secular paintings and screens, but also in Christian images and ritual objects such as vessels, bookends or altars.

Movie

The Portuguese director Paulo Rocha lived in Japan from 1975 to 1983, where he was cultural attaché at the Portuguese embassy. He dealt with Japan several times in his films. Particularly noteworthy is the 1993 made " Portugaru San - O Sr. Portugal em Tokushima ", a film about the Portuguese diplomat and author Wenceslau de Morães , who had special ties to Japan and who died in Tokushima in 1929 .

In 1996, João Mário Grilo made “ Os Olhos da Ásia ”, a film about the history of the Portuguese Jesuits in Japan.
20 years later, Scorsese went back to the story in Silence (2016), but limited himself to the novel by Endō Shūsaku .

In 2016, Portuguese director Cláudia Varejão portrayed the everyday lives of three women who have been diving together in a small fishing village on the Shima peninsula (former Shima province ) for 30 years with her documentary Ama-San . The local Ama-San ( Japanese for women of the sea) have been carrying out these risky dives, practiced without oxygen bottles, for over 2000 years, which have a special place in Japanese culture, but are both revered and misunderstood. The film has screened at a number of film festivals, where it has won several awards, including the Lisbon Doclisboa , the Czech Karlovy Vary International Film Festival , the Russian St. Petersburg Message to Man Film Festival and the Kosovar Documentary Festival .

The Portuguese film institute Cinemateca Portuguesa showed film cycles on Japanese films several times , around 2012.

Japanese directors are more frequent guests at Portuguese film festivals. Occasionally they are also honored there, for example Atsushi Wada , who in 2011 received the prize for best animation at the most important Portuguese short film festival Curtas Vila do Conde for “ Wakaranai Buta ” .

In 2014 Hiroyuki Tanaka won the Fantasporto film festival in Porto with “ Miss Zombie ”.

Mū Kanazaki at 1. FC Nürnberg (2013), then he moved to Portimonense SC

Sports

Soccer

The Japanese national soccer team and the Portuguese national team have not yet met (as of September 2017). At the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Portugal started in Group D, where it only played in South Korea and was eliminated after the group stage.

The Japanese and Portuguese women's national teams have played against each other once (as of September 2017). At the Algarve Cup 2015 , the Japanese defeated the hosts in the group stage of Group C 3-0.

Japanese football players also play more often in Portugal, including national players like Takahito Sōma or Daizen Maeda (both Marítimo Funchal ), Nozomi Hiroyama at Sporting Braga or Jun'ya Tanaka at Sporting Lisbon . The club Portimonense SC is particularly frequent with players from Japan, including Mū Kanazaki , Shoya Nakajima , Takuma Nishimura , Shiryū Fujiwara , Kōki Anzai and most recently Hiroki Sugajima . Kazuya Onohara has been playing for UD Oliveirense since 2020 , Kaito Anzai for Sporting Braga since 2019.

Judoka at the Jogos da Lusofonia 2009 in Lisbon

Martial arts

Judo has been practiced in Portugal since a demonstration by two officers of the Imperial Japanese Navy , which was anchored in Lisbon at the beginning of the 20th century . The Portuguese umbrella organization Federação Portuguesa de Judo has been organizing Japanese martial arts in Portugal since it was founded in 1959 . The country hosted the 2008 European Judo Championships and finished eighth with one gold and three bronze medals. At the 1995 World Judo Championships in Japan, Portugal won a bronze medal, as well as in 2003 , while in 2010 it brought a silver medal from Japan.

Judo is one of the sports of Jogos da Lusofonia , the games of the Portuguese-speaking world .

Other Japanese martial arts are also organized in Portugal, in particular Jiu Jitsu , Karate and Aikido .

Web links

Commons : Japanese-Portuguese Relations  - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Overview of diplomatic relations with Japan at the Diplomatic Institute in the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs , accessed on May 4, 2019
  2. ↑ a b c d Fernando Cristóvão (Ed.): Dicionário Temático da Lusofonia. Texto Editores, Lisbon / Luanda / Praia / Maputo 2006 ( ISBN 972-47-2935-4 ), p. 827ff.
  3. ↑ a b c d "Toda a gente no Japão sabe que a espingarda foi introduzida pelos portugueses e que palavras como pan ou koppu são de origem portuguesa" - "Everyone in Japan knows that the Portuguese introduced the rifle here and that words like Pan or Koppu are of Portuguese origin ” , interview in the newspaper Diário de Notícias with the Japanese ambassador on February 12, 2020, accessed on February 15, 2020
  4. ↑ Official Portuguese Aliens Statistics by District , Portuguese Aliens and Borders Authority SEF, accessed on August 30, 2017
  5. ↑ Portuguese website on Japanese-Portuguese migration , accessed August 30, 2017
  6. ↑ Note: not the explorer of the same name who died in China in 1521
  7. ↑ List of Portuguese diplomatic missions abroad (under Japão ), website of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed on August 30, 2017
  8. ↑ Entry of the Japanese consulate in Porto on www.embaixadas.net, accessed on August 30, 2017
  9. ↑ List of the Japanese-Portuguese city partnerships on the website of the Association of Portuguese District Government ANMP, accessed on February 16, 2020
  10. ^ AICEP page on the Japanese office , AICEP website, accessed on August 30, 2017
  11. ↑ a b c d Bilateral economic relations between Portugal and Japan , Excel file retrieval from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP, accessed on August 30, 2017
  12. ↑ Overview of activities in Japan , Instituto Camões website, accessed on August 30, 2017
  13. ↑ Information in the booklet for CD Obrigado , EMI 2005
  14. ^ Event information in the cultural supplement of the Público newspaper , accessed on January 9, 2020
  15. ↑ Event information for Friday (January 3rd, 2020) and Saturday (January 4th, 2020) , archive of the Casa da Música , accessed on January 9th, 2020
  16. ↑ O cinema português com os olhos no Japão - "The cinema of Portugal with a view of Japan" , article from January 20, 2017 on the cultural page `` Ípsilon '' of the Portuguese newspaper Público , accessed on December 21, 2017
  17. ↑ Entry on Ama-San in the Internet Movie Database , accessed on October 13, 2019
  18. ↑ International trailer for Ama-San to be released in theaters in Germany on October 3, 2019, clip on YouTube , accessed on October 13, 2019
  19. ↑ Ciclo de Cinema Japonês na Cinemateca Portuguesa , website for the series of events at Clubotako, a Portuguese association for Japanese culture, accessed on December 21, 2017
  20. ↑ see list of the internationals of the Portuguese national soccer team # international match balance sheets