Suetsugu Heizo Masanao

Suetsugu Heizo Masanao was a member of a prominent merchant family that had made its fortune in Nagasaki. He emerged as an important merchant in the late 16th century when he received multiple trading passes (shuinjo) to send ships to Southeast Asia.

Most oh Heizo’s commercial operations were involved around Taiwan. Chinese merchants would bring their goods to island, most notably silk, and the goods were than bought by Japanese for silver. Taiwan also had an abundance of deer skins thanks to the island’s enormous herds of deer. Most of this trade was in the hands of Suetsugu Heizo. He was also an important official in Nagasaki. His political career took off in 1619 after he seized control of the important office of Nagasaki magistrate by accusing Murayama Toan, previous magistrate, of embezzling funds, murdering innocent men and favoring Christians.

By the 1620s, the Taiwan’s great potential as an entrepot sitting astride important sea routes was increasingly obvious to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). From Taiwan, the Dutch could access markets in Fujian without dealing directly with Ming authorities, who had refused them access to Chinese ports. In 1624, VOC forces moved into the island, establishing Fort Zeelandia on a sandbank in the bay of Tayouan. Japanese merchant were also band from Chinese ports so the location of VOC’s fort lead to conflict with them. Suetsugu Heizo held most of commercial operations on Taiwan in his hands so the Dutch interference and their effort to limit Japanese access to the bay made him the most prominent opponent of the VOC.

The fight for the island’s trading rights commenced in 1625, when VOC started to act as island’s authority and demanded that Japanese captains pay a uniform tax of ten percent of all goods taken out of the island. Suetsugu Heizo used his influence and tried to subjugate Taiwan to official rule of the Japanese shogun, but had eventually failed. His largest success in the conflict was the ban imposed on VOC by the Japanese government on trade with Japan from 1628 till 1632. Suetsugu Heizo died in 1630.