od-carvers within the Four Seas congregated there.

Historians speak with profound regret of the dismantling and
destruction of these splendid edifices a few years after the Taiko's
death; but it is more than probable that the permanent possession of
even such monuments of applied art could not have benefited the
country nearly as much as did their destruction. For the immediate
result was an exodus of all the experts who, settling at Fushimi, had
become famous for the sake of their Momo-yama work. They scattered
among the fiefs of the most powerful provincial nobles, who received
them hospitably and granted them liberal revenues. From that time,
namely, the close of the sixteenth century, there sprang up an
inter-fief rivalry of artistic production which materially promoted
the development of every branch of art and encouraged refinement of
life and manners. Not less noteworthy in the history of this military
epoch is the improvement that took place in the social status of the
merchant during the sixteenth century. Much was due to the liberal
views of the Taiko. He encouraged commercial voyages by his
countrymen to Macao and to Cambodia, to Annam, and to other places.
Nine ships engaged in this trade every year. They carried licences
bearing the Taiko's vermilion stamp, and the ports of departure were
Nagasaki, Osaka, and Sakai.

ENGRAVING: SIGNATURE OF TOKUGAWA IEYASU

ENGRAVING: MOUNTAIN "KAGO"

CHAPTER XXXVII

CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN

DISCOVERY OF JAPAN BY EUROPEANS

THE Portuguese discovered Japan in 1542 or 1543--the precise date is
not known. Three of them, travelling by junk from Spain to Macao,
were driven from their course and landed at Tanegashima, a small
island off the south of Kyushu. The strangers were hospitably
received by the Japanese, and great interest was excited by their
arquebuses, the first firearms ever seen in Japan. It was, of course,
out of the question to hold any oral direct conversation, but a
Chinese member of the junk's crew, by tracing ideographs upon the
sand, explained the circumstances of the case. Ultimately, the junk
was piloted to a convenient port, and very soon the armourers of the
local feudatory were busily engaged manufacturing arquebuses. News of
the discovery of Japan circulated quickly, and several expeditions
were fitted out by Portuguese settlements in the Orient to exploit
the new market. All steered for Kyushu, and thus the Island of the
Nine Provinces beca