For the last thirty years of the sixteenth century were a dynamic
period in Japanese history. An excess of energy in Japan seemed to
match the urge for discovery and conquest that stirred the rising
nations of Europe.
Japan’s domestic and foreign trade had been increasing at a rapid pace.
Native industries had grown, and trade guilds had flourished. After
1550 this commercial development leaped forward. Sakai, a great trading
center, became virtually a free city, ruled by its merchant princes.
Nagasaki was opened to foreign trade in 1570, and soon developed into
a thriving port. At this time, too, Japanese ships, often on piratical
expeditions, were venturing into the waters of the Philippines and
Siam. In groups and as individuals, Japanese emigrants were found at
various ports in southeast Asia. Hideyoshi even conceived the project
of conquering China, but after overrunning Korea in 1592-93, his armies
(numbering 150,000 men) were defeated.
After 1550 missionaries and traders from Portugal, Spain, Holland and
England came to Japan in growing numbers. The Japanese eagerly seized
upon Western products and technical advances, notably in firearms
and shipbuilding. These commercial contacts with the West modified
Japan’s economy and stimulated her industrial development. For several
decades Christianity, introduced by St. Francis Xavier in 1549-51, was
welcomed. Some of the feudal lords became Christians. By 1617 there
were some 300,000 Christian converts, or nearly as many as today.
[Illustration: JAPAN’S OVERSEAS ADVENTURES 16-17th CENTURIES]