VOC chief traders in Japan

Hirado, 1609–1639

The first VOC trading outpost in Japan was on the island of Hirado off the coast of Kyūshū. Permission for establishing this permanent facility was granted in 1609 by the first Tokugawa-shōgun Ieyasu; but the right to make use of this convenient location was revoked in 1639.^{[citation needed]}

Dejima, 1639–1860

In 1638, the harsh sakoku ("closed door" policy) was ordered by the Tokugawa shogunate; and by 1641, the VOC had to transfer all of its mercantile operations to the small man-made island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor. The island had been built to segregate the Dutch, from the rest of Japan, on the account that trade remained highly scrutinized by local authorities and the walls heavily guarded. There was no contact between the Japanese and Dutch merchants, with only 19 people being able to disembark on Dejima. ^[1]

The Dutch presence in Japan was closely monitored and controlled. For example, each year the VOC had to transfer the opperhoofd. Each opperhoofd was expected to travel to Edo to offer tribute to the shogun (Dutch missions to Edo). The VOC traders had to be careful not to import anything religious; and they were not allowed to bring any women, nor to bury their dead ashore. They were largely free to do as they pleased on the island; but they were explicitly ordered to work on Sunday.^{[citation needed]}

For nearly 200 years a series of VOC traders lived, worked and seemed to thrive in this confined location.^{[citation needed]}

In 1799 the VOC went bankrupt. The trade with Japan was continued by the Dutch at Batavia, with an interruption during the British occupation of Java, during which Stamford Raffles unsuccessfully tried to capture Dejima. After the creation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815) the trade with Japan came under the administration of the minister of the colonies by way of the governor general in Batavia. The directors of the trade (opperhoofd) became colonial civil servants. From 1855 the director of the trade with Japan, Janus Henricus Donker Curtius, became "Dutch Commissioner in Japan" with orders to conclude a treaty with Japan. He succeeded in 1855 to conclude a convention, changed into a treaty in January 1856. In 1857 he concluded a commercial paragraph in addition to the treaty of 1856, thus concluding the first western treaty of friendship and commerce with Japan. His successor, Jan Karel de Wit, was Dutch Consul General in Japan, though still a colonial civil servant. In 1862 the Dutch representation in Japan was transferred to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This change was effected in Japan in 1863, Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek becoming Consul General and Political Agent in Japan.^{[citation needed]}