the orientals described the first Europeans that they have encountered as inferior barbarians.
"They eat with their fingers instead of with the chopsticks such as we use. They show their feelings without any self control. They cannot understand the meaning of written characters... They have no fixed abode, and barter things which they have for those they do not, but withal they are a harmless sort of people."
According to "Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword", this type of account was typical. Japanese in this time regarded the Portuguese and other Europeans as culturally inferior, reflected by the Japanese word for Portuguese (And later other Europeans) in this time: Nanban, which meant barbarian from the South.
Despite this, trade with Europeans brought in some foreign influences from Japan, such as new foods, loan words, art, furniture, and the Christian religion. This continued from the arrival of the Portuguese in 1543 until the Sakoku Edict of 1633, which strictly limited trade with Europeans (And other areas). The only Europeans allowed to trade after this were the Dutch, who could trade only through the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbor.
Oda Nobunaga was adoptive of foreign influences and encouraged conversion to Christianity. However, later, this changed with Toyotomi Hideyoshi who was far more distrustful of Christianity and foreigners. Both of these things were seen as a threat and distrust of foreigners grew in government. Toyotomi wrote that:
"1. Japan is a country of the Gods, and for the padres to come hither and preach a devilish law, is a reprehensible and devilish thing ... 2. For the padres to come to Japan and convert people to their creed, destroying Shinto and Buddhist temples to this end, is a hitherto unseen and unheard-of thing ... to stir the canaille to commit outrages of this sort is something deserving of severe punishment." (From Boxer, The Christian Century in Japan)
The Tokugawa Shogunate also saw Christianity as a threat, having a negative view of foreigners, and eventually banned the religion from the country, persecuting those who practiced it, most notably after the Shimabara Rebellion in 1638. This type of attitude towards foreigners continued until the Fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. After that, during the Meiji Restoration, Europeans were no longer seen as inferior.
