In Japan's early culture, including language and art, Confucianism and Buddhism were derived from China and, over the years, became Japanese. During the period of civil wars in the 15th and 16th centuries, in which a feudal system developed, many wars developed in medieval Europe. Each lord had his samurai, or knights, bound to them by oaths of loyalty. But it was only in the mid-16th century that the Western world began to take an interest in this island nation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 1542, Fernando Mendez Pinto was shipwrecked there and brought the brilliant reports of the Portuguese settlement back to Nagasaki. European and soon Dutch merchants followed the missionaries. In 1600 victory over the Western lords was achieved by Tokugawa Ievasu who in 1603 became the Shogus, founding a dynasty that 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 that sailed to Japan. The Tokugawa Shogun took a liking to William Adams after a troubled start and gave him a home. Japanese missionaries and Christian Jesuits served as interpreters. The emperor sent William Adams and asked him to build a ship. Even though 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 was reborn as Miura Anjin, free to remarry although Adams had a wife in England. William Adams married a high-born Japanese woman, but eventually longed to return home. Permission was refused by the emperor. He built another larger ship and had over 80 servants. In 1620, William Adams died. Soon the exclusion decrees were published, Japan was closed to the Western country. After reopening in 1854, the Western world was fascinated by the things made by the Japanese. Commodore Perry had opened to view Japanese culture and society that had been hidden for hundreds of years. Soon, exhibitions of Japanese art were opened throughout Europe and the United States. Japanese art became as fashionable as chinoiserie had been a century earlier. Japanese motifs such as bamboo, fans, bridges, cranes, and butterflies were incorporated into Western furnishings and arts. Literature also responded to the influx of new themes. Poets such as Yeats, Whitman, and Longfellow incorporated Japanese imagery into their works.