A European ship was stranded on the rugged coast of Kadokura Cape in 1543 where we visited next. The crew members seemed to set foot on the island just beneath where we were. The guns were brought to Japan at that time by Portuguese who were on board. Consequently, the guns changed Japan's history dramatically. I wanted to stop by the place that triggered the transformation of Japanese society. There were no artificial structures by the surf and the crew of the wrecked ship would have seen the same coastline. They apparently stayed on the island for about a half year and had a good relationship with the locals.
It is said that a crew member had fired a gun to scare the inhabitants when they started to gather around the coast, and this fact made this cape noted as the site where the gun was first used in Japan. There were two memorials. One was built by the local government, and the other was by the Portuguese Navy.
(Vocabulary)
by the surf 波打ち際に
門倉岬
１５４３年この場所へ一隻の船が漂着した。この崖下にヨーロッパからの船が漂着したという。乗り組んでいたポルトガル人により日本へ鉄砲がもたらされ、この銃は日本の歴史を変えた。その歴史的な場所へ一度立ち寄ってみたかった。海岸線には人工物がなく、当時のままの姿をとどめていることから漂着した乗組員たちも同じ風景を見たのだろう。乗組員たちは半年間この島に滞在し、友好的な関係を築いたという。
住民を脅すために乗組員の一人が発砲したと伝えられる。従ってこの場所は日本で初めて銃が撃たれた場所になる。この歴史の事実を記念する記念碑が地元自治体と、ポルトガル海軍により記念碑が建てられていた。
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