VOC chief traders in Japan were the opperhoofden of the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC) in Japan during the Edo period, when Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate.
The Dutch word opperhoofd (pl. opperhoofden, lit. 'supreme head[man]'), in its historical usage, is a gubernatorial title, comparable to the English name chief factor. It was a name for the chief executive officer of a Dutch factory, in the sense of trading post led by a factor, i.e. agent. The Japanese called the Dutch chief factors kapitan (from Portuguese capitão).
The Dutch East India Company was established in 1602 by the States-General of the Netherlands to carry out colonial activities in Asia. The VOC enjoyed unique success in Japan, in part because of the ways in which the character and other qualities of its opperhoofden were perceived to differ from other competitors.
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Trading posts
Hirado, 1609–1639
The first VOC trading outpost in Japan was on the island of Hirado off the coast of Kyūshū. Permission for establishing this permanent facility was granted in 1609 by the first Tokugawa-shōgun Ieyasu; but the right to make use of this convenient location was revoked in 1639.
Dejima, 1639–1860
In 1638, the harsh sakoku ("closed door" policy) was ordered by the Tokugawa shogunate; and by 1641, the VOC had to transfer all of its mercantile operations to the small man-made island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor. The island had been built to segregate the Dutch, from the rest of Japan, on the account that trade remained highly scrutinized by local authorities and the walls heavily guarded. There was no contact between the Japanese and Dutch merchants, with only 19 people being able to disembark on Dejima.
The Dutch presence in Japan was closely monitored and controlled. For example, each year the VOC had to transfer the opperhoofd. Each opperhoofd was expected to travel to Edo to offer tribute to the shogun (Dutch missions to Edo). The VOC traders had to be careful not to import anything religious; and they were not allowed to bring any women, nor to bury their dead ashore. They were largely free to do as they pleased on the island; but they were explicitly ordered to work on Sunday.
For nearly 200 years a series of VOC traders lived, worked and seemed to thrive in this confined location.
In 1799 the VOC went bankrupt. The trade with Japan was continued by the Dutch at Batavia, with an interruption during the British occupation of Java, during which Stamford Raffles unsuccessfully tried to capture Dejima. After the creation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815) the trade with Japan came under the administration of the minister of the colonies by way of the governor general in Batavia. The directors of the trade (opperhoofd) became colonial civil servants. From 1855 the director of the trade with Japan, Janus Henricus Donker Curtius, became "Dutch Commissioner in Japan" with orders to conclude a treaty with Japan. He succeeded in 1855 to conclude a convention, changed into a treaty in January 1856. In 1857 he concluded a commercial paragraph in addition to the treaty of 1856, thus concluding the first western treaty of friendship and commerce with Japan. His successor, Jan Karel de Wit, was Dutch Consul General in Japan, though still a colonial civil servant. In 1862 the Dutch representation in Japan was transferred to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This change was effected in Japan in 1863, Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek becoming Consul General and Political Agent in Japan.
List of chief traders at Hirado
Hirado is a small island just off the western shore of the Japanese island of Kyūshū. In the early 17th century, Hirado was a major center of foreign trade and included British, Chinese, and other trading stations along with the Dutch one, maintained and operated by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) after 1609. The serial leaders of this VOC trading enclave or factory at Hirado were:
List of chief traders at Dejima
Dejima (出島) was a fan-shaped artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki. This island was a Dutch trading post during Japan's period of maritime restrictions (海禁, kaikin; 1641–1853) during the Edo period. The serial leaders of this VOC trading factory at Dejima were: