It may be hard to imagine of a Saturday night in the gaijin gulches of Tokyo's seething Roppongi entertainment district, but back in the 16th century, foreigners — especially of a Western ilk — were a complete novelty in Japan.
In the years after 1543, when the first Europeans showed their big noses in Kyushu, the compatriots of that battered Portuguese vessel's crew were keen to trade with the fabled land at the far end of the world. The Portuguese brought with them all manner of European commodities, many then utterly unknown in Japan. And the place where they — and later Dutch and English traders — centered their activities was Hirado.
Located in present-day Nagasaki Prefecture, Hirado is the name for both the 32-km-long island lying northwest of the Kyushu mainland, and its major town.
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