kugawa rule. They endured partly because of the dedicated efforts of a tiny band of Japanese scholars, who operated under conditions of great difficulty and tight surveillance. An equally important factor was that the Policy of Exclusion did not stem from any lack of interest on the part of Japanese ruling circles in foreign trade and Western science and technology. Although contacts with foreigners were forbidden except under very limited conditions and foreign trade was greatly reduced, a trickle of Western goods continued to be collected by the elite. Every year 25-50 Chinese and Korean junks carried cargo between Japan and the East. A much smaller number of Dutch ships (four to five) brought in goods from China, the Indies and Europe. Smuggling and piracy continued along the Chinese and Korean coasts and in Japanese coastal waters. Japanese were forbidden to leave the country or to build large sea-going vessels; and Japanese abroad were not allowed to return under penalty of death. All the members of a Portuguese mission in 1640 were e
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