 Thank you Mr. Leut for inviting me to tell you something about the ceramic connection between Maastricht, the city you are right now, and Nagasaki in the southern part of Japan. So the first slide shows us a drawing of the industrial zone where the factory of the first industrialist of the Netherlands, Peter Segubus, is located. In front we see the basin and the inland harbor of Maastricht and dozens of chimneys in the center of the image indicate the presence of kilns for the glass and battery production. And some people of you were yesterday evening at the same spot where the festivities took place of the evening party of the E.A. Congress of Maastricht. This map of Asia shows us where a major power of the production of Maastricht was exported to in the second half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century, the Middle East and the Far East. Even to Calcutta, many of the Maastricht ceramics were exported. But now I only will focus on the city of Nagasaki, situated on the Japanese island Kyushu, which is indicated by the arrow and is just over here. On this satellite photo of Japan you see that Nagasaki is located in the extreme southwest of the country and the former Dutch United East Indian Company, the VOC, trading post of Deshima was the only window to the world for centuries as the official guide of the Japan National Tourism Office puts it very well. The artificial island of Deshima was used by the VOC as a trading post between the 7th and the 19th century. And the bridge, see down below here, this is a bridge that connects this artificial island to the island of Kyushu. And this photo shows us Peter's review of whom, and here I quote the man himself, had the courage to sail away from our ports with two ships immediately after the opening of the port of Japan that was in the year 1858. And to send these ships fully loaded with mainly my own products at my own expense. The map below represents the situation of Deshima at the end of the 18th century. At that time the port of Japan was still in use as a Dutch enclave. This situation lasted until 1853. You see here that there are, this here is the bridge, there's always a orientation mark. And you see here several houses, warehouses, and the main street that was still in use at that time. If you see it didn't exist anymore, so it was the moment for the free enterprise of Peter's review to trade with Japan. The map above you see is the later situation. It's the same orientation, you see here the bridge and the main street here and several warehouses. And what is the circle here is the spot where I'm focusing on. Because that is probably the warehouse of a Dutch trader, Mr Spangler. And that was the warehouse that Peter's review was not possessed but hired for some time. In 2015 I visited Deshima for the first time. The immediate cause of my visit were two pictures I received of these two stone pillars preserved at the Deshima site. You see here these two pillars, you see what's so special about them. There was a mark on it and if you can read it, I think you can read it. There is P. Rugu, master it. So in Japan this man has marked two pillars, show you even two of these pillars. What was rather special was that the mark was upside down. And so this was very astonishing because you wouldn't expect that an inscription at Nihide would only be read upside down. So I took several pictures of both stone pillars and I discovered that on the other pillar that you see now in this photo that a similar seal was preserved, somewhat hidden at Nihide also. For me it became clear that they were reused and the professor during a talk I had in Japan told me that these pillars were reused in 1954 and because Japanese people could not read the Western script they placed the pillars upside down because they liked it more like this. Originally these seals were at eye level but where did they come from? And I think that they were originally used in the warehouse of Spangler where Rugu has hired space storage goods in order to mark his belongings. My colleague, archaeologist Muki Iaguchi could be here at this moment where she sent me some slides that I will show you, explained to me that during the excavations in Dashima many potshirts of Maastricht ceramics were found. At one particular spot indicated on the map as a yellow star to the right the largest concentration had been discovered. Just outside the main stone wall the trench was dug and there many ceramics from Maastricht were immersed during construction. More in detail you see some of these decorated. Here is blue decoration and the soil in Dashima. After cleaning these potshirts they all appeared to be made in Maastricht. One group could be recognized as Parsemille number one and then another two, one same decoration, Aurora was also found in potshirts at this particular site. More than 150 years later the mutual history between Maastricht and Arasaki resurfaced. In 2015 I gave a PowerPoint presentation in Dashima to explain this ceramic link between Maastricht and Dashima. Another link between Raju and Japan has been found in the Museum of History and Culture. One of the items I could photograph was this large plate. It probably has been used as a visual catalog. In 1859 to avoid the language barrier you see on this plate are displayed various products that Peter Sragoo wanted to sell in Japan. During excavations in Dashima many potshirts were found and the majority of the lot found in layers from the 19th century was made in Maastricht. For example you see here on the right at the top the mark PR Peter Sragoo Aurora. You see here the complete plate preserved in the museum shows the same decoration, Aurora. It's interesting to remark that the name of this Roman goddess means dawn and so reminds of Japan, the land of the rising sun. Probably it was intended to appeal to the Japanese people. This kind of decoration. Willow was another interesting decoration, very popular for almost an entire century. And this Chinese inspired decoration has been part of the cargo in 1859 as well. Anyway this was confirmed by a visit of several antique shops in Nagasaki. My colleague Miyuki Yamaguchi shows the most two popular Maastricht ceramics in this town Willow and Aurora. And the one to the left, the Willow I bought for 20 euros and so it's now in the collection of the Santa Ceramic here in Maastricht. And here is the, so back in Maastricht you see here the Santa Ceramic. The Deshima Reservation Office, municipality of Nagasaki and Santa Ceramic, municipality of Maastricht of course, established a long-term relationship. In November of this year a completely new so-called archaeology room will be opened in Deshima. A selection of Maastricht ceramics, copper plates and molds used for the production of this earthenware. During the second half of the 19th and the earliest 20th century. And indeed in Santa Ceramic we intend to make a new presentation as well focusing on the worldwide distribution of Maastricht ceramics showing indeed the columns to the left and to the right here preserved in Deshima and the ceramic plate that was used as a catalogue of the goods and also who wanted to sell in Japan, that will be all for today. Thank you very much.