Picture: The historic Dutch Trading Post and waterfront road at Hirado.

Ted and I spent ten days in Hirado, savoring its culture, history and food. Our first tour was by bike to Hirado castle. We rode our bikes to a tourist/information center near the castle and then climbed up some stone steps through a small forest. Unlike European castles, the Hirado castle has Japanese style tiled roofs but, like European castles, it has heavy wooden doors and is surrounded by high stone walls. It was originally built in the 1500's but suffered a fire and was rebuilt in 1718 under Shigenobu, the 29th Lord Matsura, and Yamaga Soko. These days the castle contains a small museum displaying artifacts, including Samurai armor and swords. From the top floor of the central tower the views of the beautiful landscape below are spectacular.

Back in town we strolled through the streets, past numerous small bronze sidewalk statues depicting early Europeans, mainly Dutch, a delightful reminder of the influence of the early Dutch traders. Just a short distance from where we docked "Shuang Yu" was the Dutch Trading Post. The building was very imposing with prominent massive wooden pillars inside. Each pillar is half a meter (20 inches) thick, 11 of them on the ground floor and 10 on the first floor. The trees used for these wooden pillars were over 700 years old! The Dutch came to Hirado in 1609 and were granted permission by the Shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, to trade with Japan. Trading grew rapidly providing high yields and prosperity to those involved. To consolidate its East-Asia trade, the Dutch built two elaborate and expensive stone warehouses, the first in 1637 and the second in1639. However, the buildings were ordered to be demolished by the Japanese government (Edo-Bakufu) in 1640 because the date on the front of the newest building used the Christian calendar. The buildings were seen as contravening government policy, called "Sakoku", which forbade contacts with the outside world. The trading house was then relocated to Dejima (in present-day downtown Nagasaki) in 1641, bringing an end of the thirty-two years of Dutch trading with Hirado. In 2009, 369 years after the original warehouses where demolished, they were rebuilt at the original site to celebrate Japan's international relationships and trade. Besides the impressive building, the original Dutch wall and the Dutch wells are nearby, just as there were nearly 400 years ago.