Red-Haired Barbarians
The Dutch and other foreignersin Nagasaki and Yokohama
1800 - 1865

Until the middle of the nineteenth century, Japan was closed to foreigners. The only Westerners allowed to stay in Japan and engage in trade were the Dutch. They had to submit to very strict regulations, however, and were only allowed to live on Deshima, a small artificial island in Nagasaki harbor.

This is a digital exhibition of a collection of 40 Japanese woodblock prints published between 1800 and 1865, depicting Dutch traders in Nagasaki. Now extremely rare, at the time of their publication the prints were sold as souvenirs to Japanese who visited Nagasaki and perhaps hoped to catch a glimpse of these strange 'red-haired barbarians'.

  thanks to Speckled paint