This geocache is all about the relationship between Nagasaki and the Portuguese which is as old as the foundation of the City itself in the 16th century. To describe the long history of this prolific relation, ten pages would not be enough and you certainly want to go out and hunt the cache, so we leave you with the most important in a relationship… people! Below you’ll found a few lines about Japanese in Portugal and a Portuguese in Japan.
The Tenshō Embassy to Europe (1582～1586) One of the most remarkable events in the history between the two countries is surely the delegation of "Tenshō Mission" from Japan to Europe. In 1549, Jesuit missionaries, including St. Francis Xavier arrived in Kagoshima, southern Japan, and started the first mission of evangelization in Japan
The three Daimyos (Christianized Japanese feudal Lords) Ōtomo Sōrin, Ōmura Sumitada and Arima Harunobu, designated Father Alessandro Valignani for the preparation of a Christian mission to visit the Pope in Rome. The mission was composed of four young Japanese missionaries, amongst which Mancio Itō (the spokesman) Miguel Chijiwa (千々石 ミゲル), Julião Nakaura (中浦 ジュリアン) and Martinho Hara (原 マルチノ). All of them had only between thirteen and fourteen years old.
The four young men and their tutor and interpreter Diego de Mesquita left the city of Nagasaki on the 20th February 1582 and, passing through Macau and Goa, arrived at Lisbon in August 1584. In Portugal, they were visiting the Church of San Roque, Jerónimos Monastery and also other places like Sintra and Évora. From Portugal, the delegation of Japanese missionaries went to Rome where they finally had an audience with Pope Gregory XIII.
The return to Japan of the Tenshō Embassy started in Lisbon in April 1586 and they arrive to Nagasaki in 1590.
Nagasaki evokes João Rodrigues “Tçuzu” (the Interpreter) who came to Japan in 1577 with twenty years of age and there remained until 1610. João Rodrigues devoted himself to teaching of grammar and Latin and also to Japanese language learning, which he accomplished with enormous ease. Few years later completed studies in theology in Nagasaki. He was still interpreter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobunaga, took the difficult task of conciliate the interests of the most powerful Japanese literary society with those of Nagasaki Portuguese merchants.
In Nagasaki was firstly published the work of this “bridge-man” between two worlds, the "Nihon-dai bunten" in 1604 which was the first grammar of the Japanese language. João Rodrigues is considered a classic for the knowledge of Japan and one of the bases for the study of Japanese archaic. His work includes also the “Nippo jisho Japan”, the first Japanese-Portuguese dictionary published in 1603.
His writings reveal a (typically Portuguese) open mind about the culture of his host country, including a praise on the holiness of the Buddhist monks.
Note: If you still feel curious about this thematic and want to go deep further, we can suggest you a few search words/phrases: Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki; Fernão Mendes Pinto; Tristão Vaz de Veiga; Tempura; twin cities Porto/Nagasaki; Kokura; Namban trade; Japanese words of Portuguese origin; Luis Frois; Wenceslau de Moraes; Luis de Almeida;
The Cache: Due to container fragility we choosed an indoor placement, so, after finding the coordinates, you have to enter the pleasant place in front of you, enjoy the visit, have a drink maybe, and ask for the "geocacher's portuguese house"...
The cache is available from 12:00 to 14:00 & 18:00 to 23:00 except Sunday and first Monday.
acknowledgment
We are gratefull to Mr. Takahira and to geocachers fisherman@nagasaki and NUAO for their interest and important support to this project.
SawCastro & Kyamacyan