#namban

Namban Folding Screens, Japan c. 1593-1600

Os Japoneses e os Portugueses

Detalhes de Biombo Namban

Museu do Oriente

Lisboa

Att. Kano Domi

Namban Byobu (detail): Portuguese Merchants on a Ship Arriving at a Japanese Port

Edo period, Japan (c. 1590-1600)

source

Together with the Namban screens, the pleated tunic designed by Issey Miyake, a highly sophisticated luxury garment. The first shows the western influence in Japanese culture; the second, a piece of one of the main designers that have transformed radically the western fashion universe in the eighties.

Issey Miyake Tunic Ready-to-Wear, Autumn/Winter 1999/2000 Pleated and gilded polyester satin MUDE. Coleção Francisco Capelo. MUDE.M.0442

Attributed to Kano Domi

“Barbarians From the South” Namban Byobu (detail)

Japan, Edo period (c. 1570-1600)

[source]

புக்கிட் பிந்தங் வட்டத்தில் அன்னிய நட்டவர்களின் சதாவிரோத சுதாரங்கள் வணிகத்தலங்கள் தகர்ப்புSource: Malaysia Nanban

We talked about how the Portuguese were the ones introducing the guns in Japan. Now let’s do a deep dive in one of my favourite topics: the namban bunka. As I have said many times, the Portuguese arrived in Tanegashima, a small island at the south of Kyushu in 1543. The reason of their arrival was a mix of pure luck, curiosity and the “discoveries of the crown”. Now, if you don’t know, having started in the 15th century, Portugal was “discovering the world”. Yes, with a lot of quotation marks because most of the time the places that they were “discovering” had already native societies, but in the point of view of the westerns, it was a discovery of new cultures and the world. On the other hand, China, around 1500 had abolished the maritime explorations because they were in need of more man in the northern borders to fight against the Mongol invasions. Now, just because the government decided to abolish the commerce, they did not think about the fact that the commerce was still made in silver, and so they needed Japanese silver. And that’s where the pirates came into action. Silver for Silk. And yet this was a dangerous job that the government frowned upon. And so, after the conquest of Goa the Portuguese decided to go on to China and ended up becoming the 3rd country needed to smooth the commerce between these two empires. So, Macau would be “given” to the Portuguese, and they would arrive in Nagasaki in Chinese junks. And they would create one of the most profitable routes of the Portuguese empire. In the Portuguese naus also went the Jesuit, and they realised soon that this country was not like any of the others. If they tried the old missionary ways of looking poor, people would cast them away, but if they when to the daimyos as nobleman, showing of the knowledge and goods they brought from the other side of the world, they would be listened. And so, it became important to gain the trust of daimyos, for security but also because if a daimyo would be converted to Christianity, then, thanks to the fidelity bonds, the inhabitants of his territory would also be converted. Talking about Christianity, it was the missionaries that first created a Japanese dictionary. After Francis Xavier trusted the translation of the bible to a young Japanese merchant, and him failing badly, the Jesuits decided that the best way was learning the Japanese language so they could preach, but also enter debates with the Buddhist sects. But was we know the power was fragile in this time, as so the luck of these Europeans was the same. Since Oda Nobunaga was not a huge fan of all the Buddhist sects in the territory and their influence, he took advantage of this natural rivalry. On the other hand, Toyotomi Hideyoshi thought of the Jesuits a threat, mostly because of the idea of “all being equal in the eyes of God”, and that the religious system would not bow to the political system. Still, he let Christianity be in it’s status quo. But, with the rise of power of Tokugawa Ieyasu, then rises the hatred on Christianity. Telling the tale that Christianity was destroying all their native culture [even if he also took pleasure in destroying Buddhist temples, but since he was Japanese its fine] and that thanks to their ideas Daimyos were now responding to God and not their ruler, he took on his hands the start of a persecution. And so, no one else could be converted to Christianity, and so it would suffer a suffocating dead, even if some still defied the government and still practiced the religion in underground tunnels. The Jesuits would be expelled from Japan in 1614, but since Christianity and commerce were hand in hand, some still tried they luck, and what would end up happening is that the Portuguese were also expelled from the country in 1639, and the Dutch limited to Deshima.

But what exactly makes the namban bunka? Well, when these Europeans arrived, they were a novelty. Japanese people had never saw people with different characteristics from them. In the max, they have contacted with Indian, but never white or black people. So, they quickly putted them into their arts. Starting with the most famous ones, the namban screens. We are going to see this amazing procession of the Europeans coming out of their boats. There are actually various variations on the same theme, but one thing is for sure, the Japanese artist make sure that the viewer could differentiate the natives from this “barbarians”. And the way they did it was by amplifying the most prominent characteristics like the eyes, chin, nose and obviously the clothing. One characteristic that makes these screens so special is also the use of golden foil in the scenery, in particular, the clouds that help us distinguish the various parts of the action. But, with Jesuits creating schools in Japanese territory, they also started to teach the western kind of painting – a more realistic style – to young Japanese students. But unfortunately, they manly used these new techniques to paint copies of European art, and not some original work. We can also trace namban inspirations in the furniture. Not only in terms of style – meaning the artisan would go on to replicate indo-portuguese furniture styles – but also in terms of decoration – they would decorate them with namban themes – literally painted them on the furniture- but also make special ones decorated in the style liked by the Europeans, for the commerce purpose.

In terms of dressing, the “weird” ways that the western dressed would go on to be a niche fashion in the higher classes. They would integrate new fabrics, as well as western symbology, mainly Christianity symbols like crosses, into their normal dresses. One of the most famous Portuguese introductions would be the guns. But still, they would decorate these guns with representations of the namban. Not only on guns but also in other things like the helmets, stirrups, and metal shoes. In terms of architecture that would be a more difficult thing. Westerns were used to their buildings being made of stone. Japanese used to them being made from wood. Still, the westerns adapted and started to mix their ways asking local artisans for the best ways to introduce western elements into the architecture. But most of the times, they would simply buy older Buddhist building to transform into churches and their living quarters.