Portuguese in Japan, my 28mm painted Rodrigues.

This so-called namban (literally, "southern barbarian") screen depicts some of the Portuguese who arrived in Japan in the Azuchi-Momoyama and very early Edo periods. There remain today only about 60 examples of this namban genre. This is an especially important work because the name of its painter, Kano Naizen, is known. The bottom screen shows Portuguese departing from a port in one of their colonies in Southeast Asia, and the top screen shows them entering a Japanese port and engaging in trade activities. A group of the foreigners are walking in the direction of a Jesuit chapel (nambanji). The artist was active during the Azuchi-Momoyama period and was a close associate of military and political leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi.


1543—Portuguese Arrive in Japan


Blown off course during a storm, Portuguese traders shipwrecked near Tangeshima island off the southern coast of Japan. Intrigued by the Portuguese firearms, the local daimyo warlord bought two guns from the European sailors and commissioned his swordsmith to make copies. The daimyo then asked the Portuguese for shooting lessons.



1549—Jesuit Missionaries Settle in Japan

Eager for more firearms, the Japanese warlords welcomed trade with the Portuguese. Along with trade, the Portuguese brought Christian missionaries, and in 1549, Francis Xavier established Japan's first mission at Kagoshima. Jesuit missionary Luis Frois arrived later and wrote Historia de Japan, which covered the years 1549-1593. The book provided most of the known information about contemporary Japan at that time.

I have used a mixture of wargames foundry elizabethan british and spanish figures to portray the portuguese conquistadors or sometimes known as discoverers and this figure is listed as Lord Hawksmoor in the foundry catalogue. I have about 80 portuguese in total including Jesuits and artillery and will post pictures of the rest, somebody asked how many samurai I had, I have hundreds including ninja, ronin, Ikko Ikki etc...... 

My Rodrigues bought a long time ago, bonus points for where that name comes from?