Nicolaes Coeckebacker or Couckebacker was twice Chief

VOC Opperhoofden in Japan

VOC Opperhoofden in Japan were the chief traders of the Dutch East India Company in Japan during the period of the Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the Edo period.Opperhoofd is a Dutch word which literally means 'supreme head[man]'...

 of the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 trading factory at Hirado, the Japanese

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 trading post of the Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

. He arrived in 1633 and stayed till fall 1635. His second stay as VOC

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

 Opperhoofd

Opperhoofd

Opperhoofd is a Dutch word which literally means 'supreme head'.The Danish equivalent Overhoved, which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch word, is also treated here....

 in Hirado was from 1637 till 1639.

Having been ordered by the Matsudaira clan

Matsudaira clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...

 to assist him in destroying the Christian rebels, led by Amakusa Shirō

Amakusa Shiro

also known as was the teenage leader of the Shimabara Rebellion.- Biography :The son of former Konishi clan retainer , Shirō was born in modern-day Kami-Amakusa, Kumamoto in a Catholic family...

 at Shimabara

Shimabara

Shimabara can refer to any of the following:* Shimabara, Nagasaki, a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan* Shimabara Peninsula, the geographic feature that hosts Shimabara, Nagasaki* Shimabara Castle, in Shimabara, Nagasaki...

, Coeckebacker bombarded the insurgents during a fortnight in their stronghold in Hara Castle

Hara Castle

is a castle in Hizen Province. During the Shimabara Rebellion , the rebellious peasants were besieged there.As a result of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637, the Shogunate decided to expel the Portuguese from Japan...

 from his ship De Rijp

De Rijp

De Rijp is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Graft-De Rijp, and lies about 10 km northwest of Purmerend.De Rijp was a separate municipality until 1970, when it merged with Graft....

, starting the 24th of February 1638. On March 12th, Matsudaira Nobutsuna

Matsudaira Nobutsuna

was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kawagoe Domain. First serving Tokugawa Iemitsu as a page, Nobutsuna was renowned for his sagacity. He was named a rōjū in 1633. Nobutsuna led the shogunal forces to their final victory over the rebellion at Shimabara...

 informed him to withdraw and thanked him for his help. Coeckebacker's participation in the assault, part of the Battle of Shimabara was, according to his own reports, both reluctant and ineffective.

In 1640, he was attempting unsuccessfully to negotiate a trade agreement with the Trịnh Lords of Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

.
Nicolaes Couckebacker wrote a Report Concerning His Trip to Tonkin and His Inspection Tour of the Company's Comptoir in Tayouan on the Island Formosa. After his return to Holland, Coeckebacker married, and became schepen

Schepen

A schepen is a Dutch word referring to a municipal civic office in Dutch-speaking countries. The term is still in use in Belgium, but it has been replaced by wethouder in the Netherlands. The closest English terms are alderman, member of the municipal executive, councillor and magistrate,...

 in his hometown Delft

Delft

Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....

.

Coeckebacker was a close friend to François Caron

François Caron

François Caron was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company for 30 years, rising from cabin boy to Director-General at Batavia , only one grade below Governor-General...

, who would oversee the transfer of power to the Japanese in 1641, and who would be the first Chief in Deshima.