In Japan's early culture, including language and art, Confucianism and Buddhism were derived from China and, over the years, are became Japanese. During a period of civil wars in the 15th and 16th centuries, a feudal system, many medieval Europe developed in these wars. Each lord had his samurai, or knights, who were bound to them by oaths of loyalty. But it was not until the mid-16th century that the Western world became interested in this island nation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayIn 1542, Fernando Mendez Pinto was shipwrecked there and brought back glowing reports of the Portuguese settlement in Nagasaki. European and soon Dutch merchants followed the missionaries. In 1600 victory over the western lords was won by Tokugawa Ievasu and in 1603 became the Shogus, founding a dynasty which effectively ruled Japan until 1867. An Englishman, William Adams, who served under Sir Francis Drake. William Adams had been a pilot for the Barbary merchants. He joined a Dutch fleet sailing to Japan. The Shogun, Tokugawa, took a liking to William Adams after a difficult start there and gave him a home. Japanese missionaries and Christian Jesuits acted as interpreters. The emperor sent William Adams and asked him to build a ship. Although William knew nothing about shipbuilding, he was so successful that the emperor gave him two swords. William also taught the emperor some mathematics. The emperor declared that William Adams had died and been reborn as Miura Anjin, free to remarry although Adams had a wife in England. William Adams married a high-born Japanese woman, but he ultimately wanted to return home. Permission was refused by the emperor, he built another larger ship and had more than 80 servants. In 1620, William Adams died. Soon the exclusion decrees were issued, Japan was closed to the Western country. After its reopening in 1854, the Western world became fascinated with Japanese-made objects. Commodore Perry had opened his doors to discover Japanese culture and society that had been hidden for hundreds of years. Soon, exhibitions of Japanese art opened throughout Europe and the United States. Japanese art became fashionable in the same way that Chinoiserie had been a century before. Japanese motifs such as bamboo, fans, bridges, cranes and butterflies have been incorporated into Western furniture and arts. The influx of new themes was also responded to by literature. Poets such as Yeats, Whitman and Longfellow incorporated Japanese imagery into their works.