Shirahama Kenki
Encyclopedia
Shirahama Kenki was a Japanese pirate
of the late 16th-early 17th centuries, one of the first Japanese with whom the southern Vietnam
ese kingdom of the Nguyễn Lords made contact.
He first arrived on the Vietnamese coast in 1585, with five ships, and began to engage in pirate raids and coastal assaults. He was eventually driven off by a fleet of at least ten ships led by the sixth son of Lord Nguyễn Hoàng; two of the pirate ships were destroyed, and Shirahama fled. It is said that he was mistaken for a Westerner by the Vietnamese he encountered at the time.
Fourteen years later, in 1599, Shirahama's craft crashed near the port of Thuan An
. The local magistrate, correctly believing him some variety of pirate or brigand
, attacked Shirahama and was killed. Shirahama was then imprisoned, and Nguyễn Hoàng sent a missive to Tokugawa Ieyasu
, newly shogun
of Japan, asking how to deal with Japanese sailors in the future. This was the first official contact between the two governments, and marked the beginning of a friendly relationship lasting several decades.
Wokou
Wokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...
of the late 16th-early 17th centuries, one of the first Japanese with whom the southern 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 –...
ese kingdom of the Nguyễn Lords made contact.
He first arrived on the Vietnamese coast in 1585, with five ships, and began to engage in pirate raids and coastal assaults. He was eventually driven off by a fleet of at least ten ships led by the sixth son of Lord Nguyễn Hoàng; two of the pirate ships were destroyed, and Shirahama fled. It is said that he was mistaken for a Westerner by the Vietnamese he encountered at the time.
Fourteen years later, in 1599, Shirahama's craft crashed near the port of Thuan An
Thuan An
Thuan An , town of Binh Duong Province in the Southeast region of Vietnam.As of 2003 the town had a population of 143,688. The town covers an area of 116 km². The center of this town- Lái Thiêu is famous for its ceramic and fruits....
. The local magistrate, correctly believing him some variety of pirate or brigand
Brigandage
Brigandage refers to the life and practice of brigands: highway robbery and plunder, and a brigand is a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery....
, attacked Shirahama and was killed. Shirahama was then imprisoned, and Nguyễn Hoàng sent a missive to 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...
, newly shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
of Japan, asking how to deal with Japanese sailors in the future. This was the first official contact between the two governments, and marked the beginning of a friendly relationship lasting several decades.