Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates the seasonality of international trading activities in the port of Nagasaki during the eighteenth century. The navigation of sailing ships was subject to seasonal limitations, which also gave a verity of impacts on the lives of the people concerned with the Nagasaki trade.

Paper long abstract:

The Nagasaki trade in the Tokugawa period provides us an excellent case study of the relationships between human activities and natural conditions. In the eighteenth century, Dutch and Chinese ships called at Nagasaki for international trade. Dutch ships under the Dutch East India Company came from Batavia, present-day Jakarta, and Ayutthaya, while Chinese junks departed from several ports in the mainland of China and Southeast Asia. Proper winds were necessary for sailing ships in Asian waters. Monsoon was a crucial factor in ship navigation, and thus shipping and maritime trade had a seasonal rhythm.

This paper aims to investigate the seasonality of international trading activities in the port of Nagasaki during the eighteenth century. Without question, the navigation of sailing ships was subject to seasonal limitations, which also gave a verity of impacts on the lives of the people concerned with the Nagasaki trade. Which months were busy seasons with the stay of foreign ships at Nagasaki? What kind of preparations were necessary before the arrival of foreign ships?

First, this paper investigates that the quantitative data of the dates of arrival and departure of Dutch and Chinese ships in the port pf Nagasaki. Dutch ships stayed at the fixed dates in the summer according the regulation of the Japanese authorities. On the other hand, trade season with Chinese junks became converged to three seasons in a year in the course of the eighteenth century.

Second, the paper investigates the system of annual scheduling for international trade with the Dutch and Chinese merchants. It focuses on the process of trade such as unloading, sales and loading of commodities during the trading season, and also on the stocks of Japanese export items on the Japanese side as well as on the preparation of small boats in particular.