Port of Nagasaki (1890s)

Entrance to Nagasaki Harbor at Tomachi, Nagasaki, Japan. On the right is Kanzaki, and on the left Megami. There was a guardhouse at this strategic point, watching over ships entering Nagasaki Harbor.The island in the background is Takahoko Island. It was a landmark for foreign ships entering Nagasaki Harbour. Until the country was opened to foreign trade, they were forced to anchor here, so they could be inspected by the Japanese authorities. The Japanese feared Christianity strongly, and if anything with Christian symbols was found during this inspection, the ship and its crew were in deep trouble. Dutch captains (until 1854, the Netherlands was the only Western nation allowed to trade with the Japanese) therefore would stow away anything that was even remotely of a Christian nature long before they reached Takahoko Island. Goods, weapons, and ammunition, even rudders and sails, were also taken into custody here.Takahoko Island was also known as "Papenberg" (Dutch for Catholic Mountain) among foreigners because it was believed that Christian martyrs had been thrown of its cliffs when Christianity was outlawed in the 17th century. This was later refuted in research done by Professor Ludwig Riess.Original text: "Entrance to Nagasaki Harbor. A narrow inlet from the sea, three miles in length, indented with numerous bays, surrounded by wooded hills."Albumen photograph attributed to Adolfo Farsari (1841-1891) by Nagasaki University, and sourced by Kozaburo Tamamura (1856-1923), 1890s, for "Japan, Described and Illustrated by the Japanese", Shogun Edition edited by Captain F Brinkley. Published in 1897 by J B Millet Company, Boston Massachusetts, USA.