The Dutch, who, rather than "Nanban" were called "Kōmō" (紅毛, "Red Hair") by the Japanese, first arrived in Japan in 1600, on board the Liefde.
In 1605, two of the Liefde's crew, Jacob Quaeckernaeck and Melchior van Santvoort, were sent to Pattani by Tokugawa Ieyasu, to invite Dutch trade to Japan.
The head of the Pattani Dutch trading post, Victor Sprinckel, refused on the ground that he was too busy dealing with Portuguese opposition in Southeast Asia.
[4] Among the crews were the chief merchants Abraham van den Broeck and Nicolaas Puyck and the under-merchant Jaques Specx.
The shōgun granted the Dutch the access to all ports in Japan, and confirmed this in an act of safe-conduct, stamped with his red seal.
The "trade pass" (Dutch:
handelspas
) issued in the name of
Tokugawa Ieyasu
. The text commands: "Dutch ships are allowed to travel to Japan, and they can disembark on any coast, without any reserve. From now on this regulation must be observed, and the Dutch left free to sail where they want throughout Japan. No offenses to them will be allowed, such as on previous occasions" – dated 24 August 1609 (
Keichō
14, 25th day of the 6th month
); n.b., the
goshuin
(御朱印) identifies this as an official document bearing the
shōgun
'
s scarlet
seal
.
Christ in the storm on the lake
Genesareth
; by Rembrandt (1633) 160 × 127 cm. In 1990 the painting was stolen from the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
and has not been recovered; it belonged to Jacques Specx in 1651
