【海外の反応】「500年前から欧州は日本を恐れていたなんて…」ポルトガル人が語った日本の恐ろしさとは⁉︎【日本のあれこれ】

I can't believe that Europe has been afraid of Japan for 500 years. Hello, everyone. I'm Yuri of Personality. What kind of country do you think of when you think of a big country in the world? In the United Nations Security Council, the five countries of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia are called the G5. If the G5 is a developed five-nation country that has a great political and economic impact, the five countries of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan are the big countries. However, do you know that this country, which is neither, used to be the most powerful country in the world? When Europeans started colonization of the world, Portugal and Spain were the strongest. From the end of the 1400s to the mid-1600s, which is generally called the era of the Great Depression, it was actually the era of these two powerful countries. Portugal did trade with many countries and colonized all over the world. And Portugal was trying to dominate Japan. However, as you know, Japan was never colonized by Portugal. Why was Japan able to escape from the colonial rule of Portugal? This time, let's learn about the history of Japan and Portugal through the story of the New Japanese Portuguese. The horror of Japan told by the Portuguese My name is Abelardo. I am a Portuguese in my 40s who is a university professor. I have a favorite country since a long time ago, and that is Japan. I have traveled to Japan many times so far. Tokyo and Kyoto were interesting, but Nagasaki left an impression on me. Because Nagasaki was a place where I developed as a trading base with Portugal. In Nagasaki, I went sightseeing on the island where the Portuguese were living, and I imagined what it was like at that time. I also visited beautiful churches, which can be said to be a symbol of the Christian culture reflected in Nagasaki. After that, the Portuguese told me about Japan. I also ate Castella, which is now a specialty of Nagasaki. It was very delicious with its moist texture and gentle sweetness. Even at university, I often tell my students about Japan, and I tell them that Japan is the most advanced and best country in the world. Many students say that they want to go to Japan because of its influence. I think you all know, but Japan has a lot of wonderful cultures. Anime, manga, and Japanese food are popular all over the world. But that's just one side of the mountain. There are countless unique cultures in Japan that fascinate us foreigners. So if you haven't been to Japan, I recommend you to go there. By the way, do you know? Japan and Portugal have had a deep historical connection for about 500 years. Since the 15th century, Portugal has dominated overseas and established a trade system. After the discovery of the new continent, Portugal has been in charge of the shipments of seafood to Spain and the rest of the world. In such an era, Japan was the country that Portugal was trying to dominate. Portugal's behavior during the Great Depression was like the following. In 1500, the Second Indo-Portuguese Republic was established by the Cabral fleet of 13 ships. Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a Portuguese nobleman, soldier, and explorer, crossed the South Pacific after landing in Brazil and arrived in India. Portugal's aim was to monopolize the profits of East Asian trade. For this purpose, a fleet was sent from Lisbon to India every year. However, a miscalculation was found in Portugal. It was that Muslim merchants were already in charge of the trade throughout India. Moreover, their trade activities were linked to the profits of Turkey, Egypt, and Venice. Egypt, which was supported by Venice, tried to drive Portugal out of this area. This battle took place in 1509. It is called the Battle of the Indian West Coast. However, the Portuguese fleet defeated the Egyptian fleet. With this victory, Portugal occupied Goa, Malacca, and the Persian Gulf of Hormuz on the Indian West Coast. In addition, they also occupied the entrance of the Gulf of Aden between the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent. The activities of Muslim merchants were blocked, and Portugal established a strategic base for Indian rule. However, Portugal's offensive did not stop yet. In 1517, Portugal occupied Colombo. In 1557, Portugal got permission to live in Macao and decided to invade East Asia. In this way, Portugal invaded many regions of the world. The colonial rule of Portugal, which began with the Seuça election in 1415, finally came to an end by converting Macao in 1999. This is one of the most famous empires in the world history. The most powerful empire was expanded during the Great Depression. In the end, the occupation by Portugal continued until just 20 years ago. Now, let's talk about the relationship between Portugal and Japan. The first time Portuguese came to Japan was at the landing of Tanegashima in 1543. At that time, the reason why Portuguese aimed at Japan was to make Japan their territory. In other words, Portuguese wanted to take over Japan. As I explained earlier, at that time, Southern European countries such as Spain and Portugal were conquering overseas in search of the wealth of the arrogant people with excellent public technology. In order not to have a conflict of interest between Spain and Portugal, they divided the world of other countries other than Christianity, including the Roman Empire. The rules were set by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 on the setting of subterranean open areas and the territory of new discoveries and monopolies. To be specific, based on the line between the west of the military island of the westernmost part of the African continent, the west of the capital city of Bel-de-Misaki, and the line that goes through the 370 reguas, it was decided that the easternmost part would be Portugal, and the westernmost part would be Spain. Ah, reguas are the distance units used in Spain and Portugal, and one regua is about 6,000 meters. But from the perspective of modern people, it's ridiculous to make such a decision. They were dividing the land on a global scale, including the undiscovered countries and regions. And based on this rule, Japan was supposed to be Portugal. From the perspective of Japan, they were dividing the world on their own, and they were divided by Portugal, so it's a meaningless story. But at that time, this kind of thing was commonplace. The king of Portugal proposed to the Roman Empire to become Catholic and protect the undiscovered countries. In other words, Portugal was planning to make Japan Catholic and rule it. And Iezu-sukai sent a missionary to the Asian countries to do religious activities. Of course, the missionaries also went to Japan and did religious activities. Iezu-sukai was founded by Ignacio de Loyola, a monk from Basque region. It was founded in 1540 as a response to the religious reform by the Catholic side. At that time, the king of Portugal was helping Iezu-sukai to go abroad, and Iezu-sukai was doing economic activities. It is said that the biggest income of Iezu-sukai was the subsidy from the king of Portugal. Also, pension from the Roman Empire, money from the Tokushika, income from real estate in India, trade of official and non-official, including pressure wars and mediation, etc. were the source of income. In the Far East, Japan was not in a good situation, so the income of Iezu-sukai was irregular. In addition, they had to pay a fine to maintain the church. Due to the rapid expansion of Iezu-sukai and the king's subsidy, Iezu-sukai in Japan was always in a difficult situation. Therefore, the religious activities in Japan were a red flag for Iezu-sukai. As a result, Portugal's plan to dominate Japan was abandoned. However, it is said that the reason why Japan was excluded from the colonial rule was other than the geographical situation in Japan. The reason is Japan's high military power. In fact, Japan has never been colonized by any country, not only Portugal, in its history. This shows that Japan is a strange country. Because in Asia, there are only two countries in Japan and Thailand that have never been colonized in the past. And the reason why other countries failed to colonize Japan is that they have high military power. The United States, the UK, France, and Russia, they all tried to avoid the conflict between Japan and Portugal. By the way, it was about 200 years ago that these countries came into contact with Japan. Therefore, the era of Portugal is different from that. Japan in this era already had modern weapons such as guns and cannons, so it may not be a simple comparison with the era when Portugal colonized Japan. However, Japan has been strong and wise since ancient times, such as overcoming the Mongol invasions. The reason why Japan was able to escape from Portugal's rule was because Japanese had such a part. Yes, yes. It is a modern weapon of Japan that has become a member of other countries to escape from colonial rule. In fact, it was the Portuguese who brought this to Japan. It is legendary that Portuguese arrived at Tanegashima when Japanese invaded Japan. Portugal could not colonize Japan, and they even helped Japan to develop after that. By the way, let's talk about the relationship between Iezuskai, who was worried about lack of funds, and Nobunaga Oda, who aimed to unify the country. In 1575, the battle between Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu Alliance, and Takeda Katsuyori was called the Battle of Nagashino. From the battlefield, they found a large number of cannonballs. This indicates that Nobunaga had secured a route to import a large amount of ore and lead through Iezuskai. At that time, Iezuskai had just started the fortification of Nagasaki, and the economic base was still weak. Therefore, he wanted to buy Nobunaga's interest in rare artifacts, and use them. In particular, the supply of technical support and military supplies related to new weapons such as cannons and cannons was certainly attractive to Nobunaga. In short, Portugal is one of the countries that failed to colonize Japan, and it is also a country that helped Japan to be colonized by other countries. What do you think? Don't you think it's a very interesting episode? Portugal and Japan, which were far apart, had such a close relationship. And this is a side note, but there is a famous Japanese dish called tempura in Japan. In fact, the origin of this tempura is also derived from Portugal. I love tempura, and when I go to a Japanese restaurant, I often eat it, but at that time I always think about the relationship between Portugal and Japan. I feel something fateful in the connection between my favorite Japan and Portugal. Overseas reaction There are many things from Portugal in Japan. The origin of the word bread is Paon in Portuguese, and it is said that it originated with guns by Portuguese ships that landed in Tanegashima. However, at that time, Japanese people did not eat bread, and it seems that it was mainly eaten by trading merchants and warriors who came to Japan. By curiosity, industrialization, and detailed records of the past, Japan became a great country in the world. In the first place, it is a land that even the Mongol Empire, which spread the world's largest peninsula, gave up. It's a mistake that I thought I could invade so easily. I think that Christianity did not spread in Japan because the Edo Shogunate suppressed it effectively. In addition, I think that it was difficult to recover a large amount because Shinto and Buddhism had already spread in Japan. It is also said that it was geographically far from Europe, but there is a large temple in Japan that conducts its own politics in various places. I think that one of the reasons why Japan did not colonize Japan was that even if it defeated the Mongol Empire, it could not conquer all of Japan at once. Summary It is said that the history of Asia is the history of colonization, but it is amazing that Japan was not colonized by any country. I think that Japan probably had excellent knowledge and technology to chase back a country that aimed to colonize. Moreover, I think that Japan was lucky. In addition, in the trade with Portugal, which was called the Southerners, the Portuguese exported guns, gunpowder, and firearms to Japan. Gunpowder spread rapidly as a military weapon, and it brought a change from the previous warfare centered on horseback, and it also changed the structure of the castle as a defense facility, which had a great impact. In addition, the exchange with the Portuguese brought new vocabulary to Japanese, and many words that originate from Portuguese, such as bread, cup, button, and tobacco, remain in today's Japan. In addition to not allowing invasions from any country, Japan probably had the power as an independent state in a country that had advanced from that time to absorb beneficial things from a country that tried to invade. How was it? I would be happy if you could tell me your impressions in the comments. Thank you for your high rating and channel registration. Thank you for watching until the end. See you in the next video.