“Prowd, Humorous, Dreamying Fellos”
The English East India Company in Southeast Asia and the Failure of the Hirado Factory, 1600-1630
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33011/cuhj20242277Keywords:
History, Japan, Hirado, English trade in Asia, English East India Company, country trade, silver trade, silk trade, 1600-1630, English maritime historyAbstract
The English East India Company established a trading outpost (called "factories") at Hirado, Japan, in 1613, thirteen years after the Company's creation. At the head of the factory was an eccentric, "blabbering," wildly emotional man named Richard Cocks. His ineptitude as a head merchant was certainly a factor in the factory's eventual dissolution at Hirado in 1623. But why did the English trade ultimately fail in Japan, aside from Cocks' obvious incompetence? To what extent was the Company itself responsible for the failure of its factory? Was anything learned from the Hirado factory’s failure? This paper argues that the Hirado factory failed mainly due to overwhelming competition from the Dutch and Iberians, both militarily and economically. Second, this paper argues that the English did not enjoy stable, mutually beneficial relations with the Shogunate or the Matsuura daimyo of Hirado. Third, the English were unable to procure enough stores of silk from the other Company factories for Japanese markets, and were thus unable to procure silver from Japanese merchants, a metal that was incredibly valuable in Southeast Asian economies. Furthermore, the Hirado factory also was failed by the Company itself, as the Hirado venture was created out of a Joint-Stock voyage, whose investors discouraged long-term investments and expected quick profit returns. The lack of a strong country trade, that is, a port-to-port trade between the Company’s factories, also contributed to the Hirado factory’s demise. The final section of this paper will discuss what exactly was learned from the failure at Hirado, and how that failure manifested itself in policy and structural changes within the Company and within its factory system in the East Indies both before and after the factory’s closure in 1623.
For the full text, please visit https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/tb09j715k.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors whose work is accepted and who publish with The University of Colorado Honors Journal agree to the following terms:
1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all objects that may result in subsequent electronic or print publication or distribution.
2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a non-exclusive license, which grants the Journal the right to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions: a. Right of publication in the print format of the journal; b. Right of publication in the online and/or digital format of the journal; c. Right to use in promotional or other journal-related activities, as defined by the journal.
4. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
5. The Author represents and warrants that: a. the Work is the Author’s original work; b. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party; c. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher; d. the Work has not previously been published; e. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and f. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
6. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
11-August-2014
