Editing Nagasaki (section)

=== Seclusion era ===
[[File:Deshima - KONB11-388A6-NA-P-052-GRAV.jpg|thumb|[[Dejima]] was an artificial island in Nagasaki Bay; its fan shape was easily recognizable. The trading post consisted mainly of warehouses and dwelling houses (1669 engraving).]]

The [[Great Fire of Nagasaki]] destroyed much of the city in 1663, including the [[Lin Moniang|Mazu]] shrine at the [[Kofukuji (Nagasaki)|Kofuku Temple]] patronized by the Chinese sailors and merchants visiting the port.<ref name=properties>{{citation |contribution=Cultural Properties |contribution-url=http://kofukuji.com/english/properties.php |url=http://kofukuji.com/ |title=Official site |access-date=December 23, 2016 |location=Nagasaki |publisher=Thomeizan Kofukuji |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228051540/http://kofukuji.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1720, the ban on Dutch books was lifted, causing hundreds of scholars to flood into Nagasaki to study European science and art. Consequently, Nagasaki became a major center of what was called ''[[rangaku]]'', or "Dutch learning". During the [[Edo period]], the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] governed the city, appointing a {{lang|ja-latn|[[hatamoto]]}}, the ''[[Nagasaki bugyō]]'', as its chief administrator. During this period, Nagasaki was designated a "shogunal city". The number of such cities rose from three to eleven under the Tokugawa administration.<ref>[[Louis Cullen|Cullen, Louis M.]] (2003). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ycY_85OInSoC&q=bugyo&pg=PA59  ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds'', p. 159.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406145220/https://books.google.com/books?id=ycY_85OInSoC&q=bugyo&pg=PA59 |date=April 6, 2023 }}</ref>

Consensus among historians was once that Nagasaki was Japan's only window on the world during its time as a closed country in the Tokugawa era. However, nowadays, it is generally accepted that this was not the case, since Japan interacted and traded with the [[Ryūkyū Kingdom]], [[Korea]] and Russia through [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]], [[Tsushima-Fuchū Domain|Tsushima]] and Matsumae respectively. Nevertheless, Nagasaki was depicted in contemporary art and literature as a cosmopolitan port brimming with exotic curiosities from the Western world.<ref name=CEJ>Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan, [[Richard Bowring]] and Haruko Laurie</ref>

In 1808, during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the [[Royal Navy]] frigate [[HMS Phaeton (1782)|HMS ''Phaeton'']] [[Phaeton Incident|entered Nagasaki Harbor]] in search of Dutch trading ships. The local magistrate was unable to resist the crew’s demand for food, fuel, and water, later committing ''[[seppuku]]'' as a result. [[Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels|Laws were passed]] in the wake of this incident strengthening coastal defenses, threatening death to intruding foreigners, and prompting the training of English and Russian translators.

The ''Tōjinyashiki'' (唐人屋敷) or Chinese Factory in Nagasaki was also an important conduit for Chinese goods and information for the Japanese market. Various Chinese merchants and artists sailed between the Chinese mainland and Nagasaki. Some actually combined the roles of merchant and artist such as 18th century [[Yi Hai]]. It is believed that as much as one-third of the population of Nagasaki at this time may have been Chinese.<ref>Screech, Timon. ''The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan: The Lens Within the Heart''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. p15.</ref> The Chinese traders at Nagasaki were confined to a walled compound ([[:ja:唐人屋敷|Tōjin yashiki]]) which was located in the same vicinity as Dejima island, and the activities of the Chinese, though less strictly controlled than the Dutch, were closely monitored by the [[Nagasaki bugyō]].