The lone comment gives a summary of the situation as a competition between various trading powers which the Dutch won that had all other powers expelled.
The commenters in this thread summarize the Japanese perspective on the situation and why the country's rulers enacted such tight restrictions on foreign influence.
This thread goes into the Dutch experience in Japan and the heavy restrictions under which they traded with the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo Period.
A commenter in this thread summarizes relations between China and Japan from ancient history to the end of the Edo Period with some discussion of trade.
A flaired commenter gives a rundown of cultural, economic, and military change during the Edo Period and another comment links to sources that detail the influence of Western ideas during the same period.