1577 Portuguese voyage to Japan
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The 1577 Portuguese voyage to Japan was a private Portuguese junk voyage to Japan that was blown off course by a typhoon and driven to the coast of Korea, where the damaged vessel was surrounded by many Korean boats.[1] The Koreans attacked the junk's sampan and killed its crew, after which the Portuguese drove them off with firearms before attempting to repair the junk and escape.[1]
| 1577 Portuguese voyage to Japan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nanban ships arriving in Japan, 16th century | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Kingdom of Portugal | Kingdom of Joseon | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Domingos Monteiro | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1 junk 1 sampan | Numerous Korean boats | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown number of crew killed | Unknown | ||||||
Another similar voyage occurred in August 1578, which some regard as the first "documented physical presence of a European off the Korean coast", when a typhoon swept the Portuguese ship San Sebastián toward the Korean coast during its journey from Macau to Nagasaki, with fear of the locals prompting the crew not to land.[2] In contrast, C. R. Boxer links this episode to the previous voyage in 1577. If this is true, then the commander, Domingos Monteiro,[3] would be the first Westerner to have set foot in the country.[4][5]
We realized that this second land was not the land of Japan as we thought, but Korea⦠which is inhabited by barbaric and inhuman people, who do not wish to trade with us at any price. And they say that in the past a Portuguese junk desired to land there, but these fierce people took their boat and all who were in it. And they were lucky to get away without being burned alive.[2]
