Hirado

Hirado 平戸市
Hirado's location in Nagasaki, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Kyūshū
Prefecture	Nagasaki
Physical characteristics
Area	235.63 km2 (90.98 sq mi)
Population (as of January 1, 2009)
Total	36,000
Density	153 /km2 (396 /sq mi)
Location	33°22′N 129°33′E / 33.367°N 129.55°E / 33.367; 129.55
Symbols
Tree	Podocarpaceae
Flower	Hirado Rhododendron
Hirado Government Office
Phone number	0950-22-4111
Official website: City of Hirado (English)

The Dutch VOC trading factory in Hirado. 17th century engraving.

Hirado (平戸市, Hirado-shi^?) is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on the island of the same name. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyūshū. The components are connected by the Hirado Bridge.

History

Hirado had been a port of call for ships between the Asian mainland and Japan since the Nara period. During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, the local Matsuura clan held the rights to trade with Korea and with Sung Dynasty China. During the Sengoku and early Edo periods, Hirado's role as a center of foreign trade increased, especially vis-a-vis Ming Dynasty China and the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The Portuguese arrived in 1550, and the Dutch established a trading factory in 1609, under the direction of Jacob Groenewegen with the help of the English navigator William Adams, who was serving as advisor to the Tokugawa bakufu. By the early Edo period, a large percentage of the population had become Kirishitan through the efforts of European missionary activity.

After the start of the national isolation policy, the foreign traders were forced to relocate to Dejima, a small artificial island in the present-day city of Nagasaki. The last VOC Opperhoofd or Kapitan at Hirado and the first one at Dejima was François Caron, who oversaw the transfer in 1641.^[1][2] At its maximum, the 17th century Dutch trading center covered the whole area of present-day Sakikata Park.^[3] In 1637 and in 1639, stone warehouses were constructed, and the Dutch builders incorporated these dates into the stonework. However, the Tokugawa shogunate disapproved of the use of any Christian Era year dates, and therefore demanded the immediate destruction of these two structures.^[4] This example of Dutch failure to comply with strict sakoku practices was then used as one of the Shogunate's rationales for forcing the Dutch traders to abandon Hirado for the more constricting confines of Dejima.^[4] However, modern research indicated that this might have actually an excuse for the Shogunate to take the Dutch trade away from the Hirado clan.^[4]

During the Edo period, Hirado was the seat of the Hirado Domain. Hirado Castle is today an historical and architectural landmark.

The modern city was founded on January 1, 1955. The city expanded by merging on October 1, 2005, with the neighboring towns of Tabira, Ikitsuki, and the village of Ōshima. The local economy is dominated by agriculture, fishing and food processing.

Famous people connected with Hirado

• The Taiwanese national hero and Ming general Koxinga (1624–1662) and the Japanese diplomat Inagaki Manjiro (1861–1908) were born in Hirado.
• William Adams (1564–1620), the English navigator, died there.

Sister City relations

Hirado has one sister city in Japan and one friendship city outside Japan.^[5]

• Zentsūji, Kagawa (Sister city)
• Nan'an, Fujian, China (Friendship city)

Places of Interest in Hirado

Hirado Castle is a famous landmark on the island of Hirado.

The Hirado Bridge connects the mainland part of the city to the island. It was built in 1977.

The monument to Costanzo Camillus, Jesuit martyr, is in the mainland part of the city, formerly the town of Tabira.

Grave of William Adams, Hirado

Notes

References

• Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibition catalog. (2000). A Very Unique Collection of Historical Significance: The Kapitan (the Dutch Chief) Collection from the Edo Period -- The Dutch Fascination with Japan. Catalog of "400th Anniversary Exhibition Regarding Relations between Japan and the Netherlands," a joint-project of the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the City of Nagasaki, the National Museum of Ethnology, the National Natuurhistorisch Museum" and the National Herbarium of the Netherlands in Leiden, the Netherlands. Tokyo.
• Satow, Ernest Mason, ed. (1900). The Voyage of Captain John Saris to Japan, 1613. London: Hakluyt Society...Link to digitized version from the collection of the University of California

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hirado, Nagasaki

• Hirado official website in Japanese
• Hirado official website in English
• American Friendship Doll at Hirado Kindergarten

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