Windows onto the New World
The Portuguese man featured on the inrō stands against an elaborate background: green pigment with specks of gold has been used to render the hilly ground, a pine tree stands out against the sky, and a building with a big window is placed to its right, dark brown in color and decorated with gold powder.
The tree is a Japanese pine tree, and its presence immediately conveys the idea that the scene is set in Japan: however, the building is designed according to Western architecture.
At the time of writing the exact building has not been identified as any specific establishment or location. However this detail shows us the innovations and transformations that the Portuguese were bringing about in the Japanese archipelago. The Portuguese had settled in the port of Nagasaki, which they transformed from a small fishermen’s village to a lively trading harbor, and also into a Portuguese Jesuit colony for a brief period after 1580.
But due to the social and political instabilities cause by the spread of Christianity, the Japanese feudal rulers tried to limit the influence of foreigners in Japan: in 1634, the Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu decided to have a trading post constructed on an artificial fan-shaped island, where the Portuguese traders were to reside. The trading post, called Deshima, was characterized by its Japanese style buildings which featured Western style balustrades. But the residence of the Portuguese traders on Deshima did not last long: in fact by 1639 the Portuguese were expelled from the country.