Concerned about foreign influence, Christian missionary activity, and colonial encroachment, the Tokugawa shogunate progressively restricted foreign trade and travel starting in the 1630s, a policy later called sakoku, or 'closed country.'

Background

Under the policy, most foreign trade was funneled through the single port of Nagasaki, largely limited to Dutch and Chinese merchants, while ordinary Japanese subjects were barred from leaving the country on pain of severe punishment.

“For over two centuries, one small island in Nagasaki harbor was Japan's main window onto the outside world.”

The Key Events

The restrictions were not absolute isolation; Dutch traders on the small artificial island of Dejima continued to supply Japan with limited access to Western science and technology throughout the period.

Legacy and Lasting Impact

The policy ended abruptly in the 1850s after American Commodore Matthew Perry's naval squadron forced negotiations for open trade, triggering rapid political and economic change that culminated in the Meiji Restoration.

Quick facts
  • Dutch traders were confined to the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki.
  • Ordinary travel abroad was banned for Japanese subjects under the policy.
  • The policy ended after Commodore Perry's 1853–54 missions forced negotiations.
Japan Isolationism Tokugawa Era

References & Further Reading

  1. Ronald Toby, *State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan*
  2. Britannica, entry on sakoku
  3. The Japan Times, historical feature on Dejima and Nagasaki trade
  4. Marius Jansen, *The Making of Modern Japan*