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Opperhoofd is a Dutch word (plural opperhoofden) which literally means 'supreme head[man]'. In its historical usage, the word is a
gubernatorial title, comparable to the English
chief factor, for the chief executive officer of a Dutch factory in the sense of trading post, as 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.
Trading posts or factories
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Ieyasu; but the right to make use of this convenient location was revoked in 1639.
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 for the Portuguese, but they had been forced to abandon it and all contacts with Japan. Only the Dutch were permitted to remain after all other Westerners had been excluded.
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 Indian government at Batavia, with an interruption during the English occupation of Java, during which the English (
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:
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 enclave or "factory" at Dejima were:
Maximiliaen Le Maire: 14 February 1641 – 30 October 1641 Le Maire was the first "new" chief trader at Dejima[4]
Janus Henricus Donker Curtius: 2 November 1852 – 28 February 1860 [Donker Curtius became the last in a long list of hardy Dutch Opperhoofden who were stationed at Dejima; and fortuitously, Curtius also became the first of many Dutch diplomatic and trade representatives in Japan during the burgeoning pre-Meiji years.
^
abcdeKornicki, Peter F. "European Japanology at the End of the Seventeenth Century," Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Vol. 56, No. 3 (1993). pp. 510.
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ISBN1-55395-849-7
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Titsingh, I. (1820). Mémoires et Anecdotes sur la Dynastie régnante des Djogouns, Souverains du Japon. Paris.
Titsingh, I. (1822). Illustrations of Japan; consisting of Private Memoirs and Anecdotes of the reigning dynasty of The Djogouns, or Sovereigns of Japan. London.
1 1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequent
invasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was fully recognized.