John Saris was the captain of the first English voyage to Japan, in 1613, on board The Clove

Clove (ship)

The Clove was the first British trade ship to make port in Japan. Captained by John Saris, it landed at Hirado, near Nagasaki, on 12 June 1613....

. As chief factor of the British East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

's trading post in Java, Saris' mission was primarily one of seeking trade.

Note that while the more famous William Adams

William Adams (sailor)

William Adams , also known in Japanese as Anjin-sama and Miura Anjin , was an English navigator who travelled to Japan and is believed to be the first Englishman ever to reach that country...

 was the first Englishman in Japan, William Adams arrived in the country in April 1600, not on an English ship, but as the navigator of the Dutch ship Liefde.

Saris received much aid from Adams, who had become the shogun's advisor on foreign affairs. As result, Saris was able to meet with the retired shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

, and his son, the acting Shogun Hidetada

Tokugawa Hidetada

was the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.-Early life :...

. The shogun promised Saris extensive trade benefits for the English, and suggested, along with Adams, the port of Uraga

Uraga

is a subdivision of the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is located on the south eastern side of the Miura Peninsula, at the northern end of the Uraga Channel, at the entrance of Tokyo Bay.-History:...

 as a strategic point of access to Edo Bay. But Saris decided to place the English trade factory far from the Shogun's capital in Hirado

Hirado, Nagasaki

is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on the island of the same name. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyūshū...

, in Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

, Japan's southernmost island.

At the end of 1613, Saris left Japan for England, never to return to the Far East. He left Richard Cocks

Richard Cocks

Richard Cocks was the head of the British East India Company trading post in Hirado, Japan, between 1613 and 1623, from its creation, and lasting to its closure due to bankruptcy....

 in charge of the Hirado operation, which failed, due in large part to the extensive influence and power of the Dutch, who had already been established in Kyūshū for some time. English efforts to develop a trade relationship with China at this time failed as well, and so the Hirado factory was abandoned ten years later, in 1623.

Saris essentially fell in disgrace upon his return to Britain when he showed around a collection of erotic Japanese paintings (shunga

Shunga

' is a Japanese term for erotic art. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format. While rare, there are extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement...

) he had gathered during his stay in Japan.

Saris died in 1643, and is buried at All Saints Church, Fulham

All Saints Church, Fulham

All Saints Church, Fulham is an Anglican Church in Fulham, London sited close to the river Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Bridge.-History:...

, London.

Saris' journals were published in 1900, as The Voyage of Captain John Saris to Japan, 1613, edited by Ernest M. Satow

Ernest Mason Satow

Sir Ernest Mason Satow PC, GCMG, , known in Japan as "" , known in China as "薩道義" or "萨道义", was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist....

.