Turning Japanese: The Impact of Dutch Trade on the Early Modern Japanese Consumer

Isolated and closed - this is one of the most persistent myths of early modern Japan.  Lack of contact with the outside world is often given as a reason for the rejection of Chinese and other ‘foreign’ customs and the development of uniquely Japanese cultural patterns.  Scholars such as Ronald Toby have already exposed this fallacy in the realm of diplomacy, but nowhere is the exchange with the outside world more apparent in than in consumption patterns and the development of new consumer goods. It is the greatest of ironies that the market for imported goods grew in Japan as politically the government veered toward isolation. Trade impacted the physical form of everything from sword production to hair styles,  from official seals to musical instruments.  Interaction with trade goods cut across all social classes because those who could not afford the genuine purchased local imitations. . In Europe the rise of consumerism has traditionally been tied to the industrial revolution.   This paper will show how how very similar results were effected through the unique patterns of trade, urbanization and proto-industrialism in Japan. It will highlight the impact of Europe through its trade networks.  Primary source Dutch and Japanese trade documents and Japanese contemporary accounts will be used to show the consumer revolution in Japan was fueled by foreign trade to such an extent that today these objects no longer seem foreign, but represent what is considered uniquely Japanese culture.