In 1543, a Chinese boat was wrecked off the island of Tanegashima. As far as we know, the ship carried the first Europeans to Japan: three Portuguese men with muskets. A local lord immediately bought two of the muskets, and a year later, local armourers were already manufacturing them. The word tanegashima has remained in the Japanese language, meaning arquebus, while the word teppoo usually referred to firearms. During the brutal civil war of the 16th century, new and more effective weapons were rapidly adopted.
