I headed for the Gun Museum. This island is well known as the place to which guns had been brought from Portugal in 1543. A Ming's ship on which the Portuguese were on board was washed ashore at Kadokura Cape at the southernmost tip of Tanegashima Island. The feudal lord of the island, Tanegashima Tokitaka, spent a fortune for two guns from the Portuguese and ordered his subordinates to produce the same one. Consequently, more powerful guns than the original began to be produced within a year. The technologies about guns were informed to the nerve center of those days, present Osaka, and mass production of the guns started. Not only the history of the guns, but other cultural assets of this island were also displayed.
A funny story is handed down. Other Portuguese came to the island with lots of guns to make money a few years later. The lord paid huge money for only two guns, so they'd expect that they would get a lot of money, but their offer was rejected. There were already more sophisticated guns in Japan.
(Vocabulary)
the Ming dynasty 明朝
be washed ashore 漂着する
まず向かったのが、鉄砲館。この島は日本に初めて鉄砲がもたらされた島として名を知られている。１５４３年南端の門倉岬にポルトガル人を乗せた一隻の明の船が漂着した。この島を治めていた種子島時尭（ときたか）は大金をはたいて二丁の鉄砲を購入し、１年を待たずして国産化に成功。この銃は関西へ伝えられ瞬く間に大量生産が始まった。鉄砲館はこの島の文化史を知ることの出来る貴重な博物館となっている。ポルトガルから伝わった銃だけの展示かと思っていたが、国産第一号の銃を始め、国内外の鉄砲約１００丁が展示されていた。
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