It was not until more than two centuries later that such an opportunity
presented itself again. For soon after Ieyasu’s death in 1616, the
policy of national seclusion was adopted.
Many factors led to this decision. The narrow intolerance of the
missionaries, as well as conflicts between rival Jesuit and Franciscan
orders, had created difficulties almost from the beginning of their
stay in Japan. More important was the fear that estates of the
Christian lords might become centers of rebellion, and thus lay
Japan open to conquest by a foreign power. Persecution began under
Hideyoshi, and after 1616 a series of anti-Christian edicts was issued.
The Christian persecutions reached their height in 1622-24, although
Christianity was not fully stamped out until 1638.
At this time Japanese were forbidden to go abroad, and the building
of large sea-going vessels was also prohibited. All foreign traders
and priests either left Japan or were expelled. A small Dutch trading
center, restricted after 1641 to the islet patch of Deshima, was all
that remained of the early period of intercourse with the West. By 1650
the policy of national seclusion, introduced by the Shoguns of the
Tokugawa clan, was in full force. It was maintained until after the
middle of the nineteenth century, or well into the modern era.