Tanegashima
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Tanegashima (種子島) is an island lying to the south of Kyushu, south Japan, and is part of the Kagoshima Prefecture.
It is a long low stretch of land, carefully cultivated, being 57.5 kilometers from north to south, and 5-12 kilometers from east to west.
This island is celebrated as the place where Mendes Pinto landed when he found his way to Japan in 1543. Until modern times firearms were colloquially known in Japan as " Tanega-shima," in allusion to the fact that they were introduced by Pinto. Legend and History start to be difficult to tell appart after almost 500 years. In fact, Pinto was not probably present in the first portuguese contact with the japanese, altough he did in fact visited Tanegashima soon after, and legend says he did married a local women and had a son. The Namban had arrived to trade, not only guns, but also soap, tobacco and other goods unknow in medieval Japan, for the excelent japanese manufactures sold for a good price in Europe.
The headquarters of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the spaceport Tanegashima Space Center is located at the
southeastern end of the island.
External link
Initial text from a 1911 Encyclopedia. Please update as needed.Template:Japan-geo-stub