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User:Underbar dk/Teppō Denrai

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An illustration by Hokusai, 1817, showing the first westerners in Japan demonstrating the use of matchlocks. Caption: "On August 25, 1543, these foreigners were cast upon the island of Tanegashima, Okuma Province"[1]

The introduction of European firearms into Japan, named Teppō Denrai (鉄砲伝来) in Japanese, was a crucial event in Japanese history. Though there has been multiple transmissions of gunpowder technology into Japan, the most important was in 1543, when a Chinese smuggling junk carrying Portuguese passengers landed in the Japanese island of Tanegashima.

Background

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The China Seas

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Tanegashima

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Japanese firearms before 1543

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The introduction of matchlocks into Japan

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Comparison of the records of the Portuguese landfall in Japan
European sources Japanese sources
Date 1542 23 September, 1543
Type of ship Chinese junk Great ship of unknown origin
Circumstance Wrecked by storm en route from Siam to Ningbo Unspecified, but immobilized on the western shore of Tanegashima
Site of contact The island "Japan" at 32 degrees Tanegashima
Identities of the people aboard Antonio da Mota, Portuguese

Francisco Zeimoto, Portuguese

Antonio Pexoto, Portuguese

Kirishita da Mōta (喜利志多佗孟太), Portuguese

Murashukusha (牟良叔舎), Portuguese

Gōhō (五峯), Chinese Confucian scholar

Aftermath and legacy

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Noel Perrin "Giving up the gun", p.7 ISBN 978-0-87923-773-8