Shogun Iemitsu ordered the creation of the artificial island in 1634. He did this at first to keep the Portuguese merchants living in Nagasaki in one area. After a rebellion of the mostly Christian population in the Shimabara-Amakusa region, the Tokugawa government banned all Western nationals except the Dutch employees of the Dutch East India Company ("Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie", VOC). Without the yearly Portuguese ships from Macau, the economy of Nagasaki suffered heavily.