Portuguese traders reached Japan in 1543 over 200 years after Marco Polo made contact with the region and its people. They introduced firearms and worked as middlemen dealing in products from China in the Nanban trade.
Marco Polo suggested that the people he met were civilized and more like Europeans. A description by Tome Pires argued that the Japanese were trustful men and more dignified compared to their Asian counterparts. Religiously, the first Europeans considered the Japanese as heathens just like other Asian communities they encountered during their voyages and exploration. Racially, they referred to the Japanese as white, but not as pale as people in the northern nations. The Europeans regarded the Japanese as a superior people and compared them to the ancient Romans in terms of character. This was stated and confirmed by Alessandro Valignano and Giovanni Maffei.
“...not only all other Oriental people, but surpass the European as well”- Alessandro Valignano
“They surpass in judgment, docility, and memory not only the oriental but also the occidental nations.”- Giovanni Maffei
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