Nanban
/ˈnɑːn.bɑːn/noun
A Japanese historical term for Europeans, especially Portuguese and Spanish visitors, and for art, goods, or cuisine associated with them.
Did you know?In sixteenth-century Japan, Nanban screens often depicted European merchants with strikingly foreign clothing, ships, weapons, and facial features.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Chinese
Chinese
南蠻
“Southern barbarians; peoples viewed from the Chinese cultural center as living to the south”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
nâm-mân
“A southern foreign people or culturally non-Chinese group”
8th–9th Century
Japanese
nanban
“A Japanese reading of the Chinese term 南蛮, referring broadly to southern foreign peoples”
16th Century
Japanese
Nanban
“Portuguese and Spanish visitors arriving in Japan from the south by sea”
16th–17th Century
Japanese
nanban
“European-inspired objects, paintings, trade goods, and cultural styles”
Modern English
English
nanban
“A Japanese historical or art-historical term for European contact, influence, or associated objects”