Guilhaume Dheulland (1770-1770), Plan du Port et de la Ville de Nagasaki (Paris, 1760), 196 x 338 mm.

This map shows Nagasaki, the only Japanese port that was open to European trade during the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1639, after a serious rebellion of Japanese Christians on the island of Kyushu, all Portuguese merchants were exiled from Japan. That left the Dutch, but in 1641, they were confined to Deshima, a small artificial island, 600 by 200 feet square, built within the Nagasaki harbor. Deshima is the fan-shaped feature visible in the center of the map above. In 1715, the number of Dutch ships allowed to dock in Nagasaki was limited to two per year. Trade was not re-opened officially until 1859.


This 1669 engraving shows a close-up image of the Deshima settlement in Nagasaki harbor.