Alessandro Valignano - Mercantilism and The Port of Nagasaki

Mercantilism and The Port of Nagasaki

As the scale of the mission began to expand rapidly, financial difficulties began to crop up. All of the Jesuit institutions: the seminaries, the schools, the printing presses and the missions required money to finance. This eternal conflict, which Valignano describes as the one between "God and Mammon" raged for most of the history of the mission.

Originally local Japanese daimyo had tried to curry favor with the Jesuit administration in order to have the Portuguese trading ships visit their local ports more frequently. All of this changed in 1580 when Father Vilela converted the daimyo Ōmura Sumitada who controlled the port of Nagasaki. As a gift, the port, which was then merely a small fishing village, was ceded to the control of the Society, as was the fortress in the harbor.

The Superior General in Rome was shocked by news of such a blatant acquisition of property and gave firm instructions that Jesuit control of Nagasaki should only be temporary. But like most suggestions coming from Europe, Cabral and Valignano chose to tactfully ignore them, especially because, as Valignano would explain later, the town quickly became a haven for displaced and persecuted Christians.

Under Jesuit control, Nagasaki would grow from a town with only one street to an international port rivaling the influence of Goa or Macau. Jesuit ownership of the port of Nagasaki gave the Society a concrete monopoly in taxation over all imported goods coming into Japan. The society was most active in the Japanese silver trade, wherein large quantities of Japanese silver would be shipped to Canton in exchange for Chinese silk; but the superiors of the mission were aware of the inherent distastefulness of Society involvement in mercantile transactions and resolved to keep the traffic to a minimum.