Life on Dejima

Many of the buildings on Dejima had storage space on the main floor.

 This room was used to store a balance and counterweights, charcoal and a lesser quality of sugar.

The Captains Quarters.

While in port, the Dutch ship captain stayed alone in the second floor room on the west side of this building. The east side was living space for factory clerks. The ground floor was used to store lesser quality sugar, a weighbeam and charcoal. The basic structure is identical to that of the typical Japanese house at the time.

The Import of Sugar

Sugar was one of the most important items on Dejima. Produced mostly on sugar plantations in Indonesia. Sugar was transported to Japan as both merchandise and ballast for the Dutch ships. White, brown and rock sugars were imported and the refined white sugar, mainly sorted into three different grades. Sugar was not only sold as a commodity but also used by the Dutch as a gift to courtesans, Japanese officials and people encountered on the regular trip to Edo.

Leiden University

Leiden University, founded by Prince Willem of Orange in 1575, is the oldest university in the Netherlands and the only Dutch university to offer Japanese as a course of study. In 1855 the university established the world's first academic chair for the study of Japan Inspired in part by von Siebold, who had returned to the Netherlands with an impressive collection of art and artefacts from Japan. King Willem III paid for this professorship out of his pocket, in the belief that knowledge of the Far East was of vital importance. Today the course admits around 100 students annually.

 

Many of the porcelain fragments unearthed in Dejima show letters of the alphabet, like VOC, the insignia of the Dutch East India Company, as well as crests of provincial capitals in the Netherlands and other emblems. Decorative, the letters often indicates the initials of the company or person who placed the original order.

Hizen Porcelain won the heart of Europe.  

When the Dutch East India company began exporting Hizen porcelain, the Dejima employees showed examples of Chinese porcelain to the potters of Arita and asked them to make similar pieces. In response, the potters began to produce porcelain with the “fuyode” and other Chinese designs loved by Europeans. Orders focused on illustration and design at first but eventually exerted an influence on the style of the porcelain itself. Simulating the production of spittoons, bowls with handles and other vessels suited for the European needs.

Dutch East India Company Coins

Some of the copper exported from Japan was used by the Dutch East India Company to mint coins in Asia and Europe and several of these have excavated at Dejima. These coins bear the VOC insignia and relief, as well as words such as ZEELANDIA, the Dutch Province of Zeeland or HOLLANDIA. The Dutch East India Company received permission to mint currency and the coins circulated widely in the company’s vast network of trade. The letters and crests on the coins provide information such as names of Dutch provinces at the time and the value in “striver” units.

Glassware from Abroad

A variety of European glassware has been found at Dejima. The majority came from wine and liquor bottles and windowpanes, but fragments of wine glasses and tumblers have excavated. Although used mostly within Dejima, this glassware was also prized as a novelty among Japanese people and was sold both as a company product and a special trade item.