Jacques Specx | |
|---|---|
 Jacques Specx in 1650 | |
| 7th Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies | |
| In office 25 September 1629 – 27 September 1632 | |
| Preceded by | Jan Pieterszoon Coen |
| Succeeded by | Hendrik Brouwer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1588 Dordrecht, Dutch Republic |
| Died | 22 July 1652 Amsterdam, Dutch Republic |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation | Colonial governor |
Jacques Specx (Dutch: [ʑɑk ˈspɛks]; 1585 – 22 July 1652) was a Dutch merchant, who founded the trade on Japan and Korea in 1609.[1][2] Jacques Specx received the support of William Adams to obtain extensive trading rights from Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shōgun emeritus, on 24 August 1609, which allowed him to establish a trading factory in Hirado on 20 September 1609. He was the interim governor in Batavia between 1629 and 1632. There his daughter Saartje Specx was involved in a scandal. Back home in Holland Specx became an art-collector.
The Dutch, who, rather than "Nanban" were called "Kōmō" (紅毛, "Red Hair") by the Japanese, first arrived in Japan in 1600, on board the Liefde.
In 1605, two of the Liefde's crew, Jacob Quaeckernaeck and Melchior van Santvoort, were sent to Pattani by Tokugawa Ieyasu, to invite Dutch trade to Japan. The head of the Pattani Dutch trading post, Victor Sprinckel, refused on the ground that he was too busy dealing with Portuguese opposition in Southeast Asia.
- ^ "The Days Firando, Capital of the West". Hirado City Official Website. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ "Western Contacts". Korea in the Eye of the Tiger. Korean History Project. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2008.