At that time there was virtually
no Central Government in the country, and the various Daimyo were
engaged in constant wars with each other. The south-western island,
Kyushu, was even more independent of such central authority as existed
than were the other parts of Japan, and it was in this island
(containing the port of Nagasaki) that the Portuguese first landed and
were throughout chiefly active. They traded from Macao, bringing
merchandise, match-locks and Jesuits, as well as artillery on their
larger vessels. It was found that they attached importance to the spread
of Christianity, and some of the Daimyo, in order to get their trade and
their guns, allowed themselves to be baptized by the Jesuits. The
Portuguese of those days seem to have been genuinely more anxious to
make converts than to extend their trade; when, later on, the Japanese
began to object to missionaries while still desiring trade, neither the
Portuguese nor the Spaniards could be induced to refrain from helping
the Fathers. However, all might have gone well if the Portuguese had
been able to retain the monopoly which had been granted to them by a
Papal Bull. Their monopoly of trade was associated with a Jesuit
monopoly of missionary activity. But from 1592 onward, the Spaniards
from Manila competed with the Portuguese from Macao, and the Dominican
and Franciscan missionaries, brought by the Spaniards, competed with the
Jesuit missionaries brought by the Portuguese.
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