Dejima

Dejima, also Deshima (出島, literally 'protruding island') in modern Japanese, was a fan-shaped artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch trading post during Japan's self-imposed isolation (sakoku) of the Edo period, from 1641 until 1853.

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The island was constructed in 1634, on orders of shogun Iemitsu, and originally accommodated Portuguese merchants. The Shimabara uprising of 1637, in which Christian Japanese took an active part, was crushed with the help of the Dutch. After the Portuguese and other Catholic nations were expelled from Japan in 1638, the shogunate ordered the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) transfer its mercantile operations from the port of Hirado to Deshima. From now on, only the Chinese and the Dutch could trade with Japan. It is significant that Deshima was a man-made island, hence not part of Japan proper. Thus the foreigners were kept at arm's length from the sacred soil of Japan.

Japanese: When used as an adjective, Japanese refers to anything that originates from Japan. It may refer to more than one article:...

Artificial island: An artificial island is an island that has been formed by human, rather than natural means. It is usually constructed on an existing reef or may be an expansion of a small natural islet. Traditional artificial islands are created by land reclamation. Some recent developments have been constructed mo...

Nagasaki: Nagasaki (長崎市; -shi, literally "long peninsula") is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture located on the south-western coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four mainland islands of Japan. It was a center of European influence in medieval Japan from first ...