Arrival of the "Southern Barbarians"

These screens show European merchants arriving in Japan. Almost certainly the persons represented are Portuguese, since they are accompanied by Roman Catholic priests. Early in the seventeenth century the Portuguese were forced out of Japan, chiefly because of internal difficulties caused by their missionaries. Later between 1641 and 1853 the Dutch were the only Europeans permitted to trade with Japan, but their presence was restricted to a port town in far western Japan, near present day Nagasaki.