Dutch missions to Edo

File:Dutch tribute embassy to Edo.jpg depicting a Dutch tributary embassy to the Tokugawa's castle.]]

The Dutch East India Company missions to Edo were regular tribute missions to the court of the Tokugawa shōgun in Edo (modern Tokyo) to reassure the ties between the bakufu and the opperhoofd. The opperhoofd of the Dutch factory in Dejima and his attendants were escorted by the Japanese to Edo, where they presented exotic and elaborate gifts to the shōgun: clocks, telescopes, medicines, artillery and rare animals were usual gifts of the tribute missions.[http://www.minbuza.nl/PostenWeb/J/Japan/Embassy_of_the_Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands_in_Tokyo/You_and_the_Netherlands/Dutch_Japanese_relations Dutch-Japanese relations]{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The shōgun would correspond at the same time with gifts to the Dutch. The tribute system, as in China, served to enhance the idea of the shōgun{{'}}s supremacy to his subjects. Auslin, Michael R. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=bS3w6tGiraEC&dq=dutch+tribute+shogun&pg=PA15 Negotiating with imperialism: the unequal treaties and the culture of Japanese Diplomacy]. Harvard University Press

File:Dutch embassy to Edo.jpg print depicting a Dutch embassy. Due to their proximity to Edo, the Dutch were required to make more visits to the capital than a more distant vassal such as Ryukyu.]]