PORTUGUESE TRADERS

Portuguese ships were permitted access to Japan between 1571 and about 1640, when the Shogun put into effect a seclusionist policy that closed country to all outsiders other than Chinese merchants, a handfull of Dutch traders and occassional Korean emissaries. The Portuguese made large profits exchanging Chinese silk for Japanese silver. The scene depicts a procession leading to a Christian church. Christianity was to be prohibited in 1614 when an edict was published.