<論文>オランダ東インド会社とサントメ鮫皮 --17-18世紀の対日本貿易と南アジア--

Abstract

In early modern Japan there was a special demand for the skins of ray fish which were used as standard material for sword mountings. The most highly valued skins for Japanese sword hilts were from ray fish living in tropical and semi-tropical waters. A strong demand for rayskins was a unique feature in Japan in early modern times, considering that they had to be imported from overseas. This article explores the trade in rayskins using the records of the Dutch East India Company, which played a significant role in procuring tropical rayskins for the Japanese market in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The article specifically focuses on rayskins from the southern region of South Asia, called São Thomé rayskins in the Japanese and Dutch contemporary sources. South Asia was by far the most important source of rayskins available to Dutch traders. By observing the activities of Japanese merchants and ships in Southeast Asia in the early seventeenth century, Dutch traders realized that this tropical product could be a promising commodity for the Japanese market. At first, the Dutch East India Company tried to buy rayskins from Southeast Asian ports, especially in Siam. By the mid-1600s, however, the Company was heavily dependent on its factories along the Coromandel Coast, and later also in Ceylon, for obtaining rayskins. This trend continued in the following century, becoming stronger. In the context of the importance of the region, this article sheds light on how the Dutch East India Company sought to purchase São Thomé rayskins, taking into account the Company's entangled relations with local rulers, merchants and traders against the fluctuating political situation in South Asia, as well as the impact of Japan's changing trade policies.