Tanaka Shosuke
Encyclopedia
Tanaka Shōsuke was an important Japanese technician and trader in metals from Kyoto
during the beginning of the 17th century.
According to Japanese archives (駿府記) he was a representative of the great Osaka merchant Gotō Shōsaburō (後藤 少三郎). He is the first recorded Japanese to have travelled to the Americas
in 1610 (although some Japanese, such as Christopher and Cosmas
, are known to have sailed across the Pacific on Spanish galleons as early as 1587). Returning to Japan in 1611, he again went to North America in 1613, with the embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga
. In total, he accomplished two roundtrips between Japan and North America and helped establish trade and diplomatic relations between Japan and the Spanish Empire
.
Before the travels of Tanaka Shosuke, Japan had few contacts with the Spanish, and had instead relied upon the Portuguese
, the Chinese
, and to a much lesser extent the Dutch
and the English
for her foreign trade during the first part of the "Nanban trade period".
Japan had also been very active sailing Red seal ships
throughout Asia, original Japanese ships that were broadly similar to Chinese junks, but incorporating various Western techniques and designs (such as square and lateen sails), but had never ventured as far as the American continent.
The shogun
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was eager to develop trade with foreign nations, and was particularly looking forward to an opportunity to develop trade with the Spanish Empire. He had already asked William Adams
to exchange trade proposals with the Philippines
in 1608, without great success. An opening finally came when the former interim governor of the Philippines Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco
was shipwrecked on the coast of Japan in 1609. Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco remained in Japan for 9 months, and took the opportunity to negotiate the first treaty of exchanges between Japan and New Spain
, involving offering extraterritorial privileges for a Spanish shipyard and a Naval base in the eastern Japan in exchange for transpacific trade and Mexican silver mining technology.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
to accompany Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco back to New Spain
(Nueva España), together with 22 other Japanese representatives, onboard the San Buena Ventura, a 120 ton ship built in Japan under the supervision of William Adams
a few years earlier. Also among them was Father Muños, a Franciscan
Father, sent by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a representative to negotiate the establishment of trade between Japan and Nueva España.
Following their arrival in New Spain in November 1610, Luis de Velasco
, the viceroy of New Spain received the 23 Japanese and expressed his great satisfaction at the treatment the Spanish sailors had received in Japan. He decided to send an embassy to Japan in the person of the famous explorer Sebastian Vizcaino
. The viceroy confiscated the San Buena Ventura however, fearful that the Japanese would manage to master the art of trans-oceanic navigation.
Spanish sources indicate that Tanaka Shosuke studied silver
mining techniques in Mexico before returning to Japan, obtaining knowledge which would have been very useful to Japan as it relied on silver (and copper) for the payment of her imports (see also Red seal ships
). Tanaka Shosuke is also reported as having brought back mulberry wood from the New World, which he offered to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who used it to build a bath in his Palace.
A contemporary journal, written by the historian Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin
, a noble Aztec born in Amecameca
(ancient Chalco province) in 1579, whose formal name was Domingo Francisco de San Anton Muñon, gives some account of the visit of Tanaka. He explains that Tanaka, retailer and merchant, was considered and treated as an ambassador for the commercial exchanges between Japan and New Spain.
He also says that they were allowed to walk with their sword at the side, something not usually permitted to traders, and that they were in formal Japanese attire:
Several of the Japanese (at least three according to Chimalpahin's account) chose to baptized in Mexico, starting with the head of the delegation, who took the Christian name of Don Alonso:
Tanaka Shosuke was also baptized, and took the Christian name of "Don Francisco de Velasco Josuke".
According to the account, three Japanese from the mission of Tanaka chose to remain in Mexico. He relates the departure of the group:
Tanaka Shosuke returned to Japan in 1611 with Sebastian Vizcaino. Vizcaino had a mission to return 4,000 ducados that Tokugawa Ieyasu
had lent to the previous mission, and to research "gold and silver islands", supposedly to the east of Japan. They left for Japan on 22 March 1611, and arrived in the harbour of Uraga
.
Tanaka Shosuke helped prepare the first official Japanese embassy to the Americas
and Europe, by meeting extensively with Hasekura Tsunenaga
, who was in charge of the project.
He is recorded as again having left for the Americas in 1613 onboard Hasekura's Japanese-built 500 ton galleon
San Juan Bautista
with the embassy and a total of 140 Japanese. Sebastian Vizcaino, whose own ship had been disabled in a storm near Japan, was also on the San Juan Bautista to return to Mexico.
Some of the Japanese traders who had been left behind in Mexico by Tanaka four years before took the opportunity of the return trip of the San Juan Bautista in October 1614 to return to Japan:
It is unknown whether Tanaka Shosuke continued with Hasekura to Europe, or stayed in Mexico waiting for the return of Hasekura, or returned to Japan in October 1614.
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
during the beginning of the 17th century.
According to Japanese archives (駿府記) he was a representative of the great Osaka merchant Gotō Shōsaburō (後藤 少三郎). He is the first recorded Japanese to have travelled to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
in 1610 (although some Japanese, such as Christopher and Cosmas
Christopher and Cosmas
Christopher and Cosmas were two Japanese men, only known by their Christian names, who are recorded to have travelled across the Pacific on a Spanish galleon in 1587, and later accompanied the English navigator Thomas Cavendish to England, Brazil and the Southern Atlantic, where they disappeared...
, are known to have sailed across the Pacific on Spanish galleons as early as 1587). Returning to Japan in 1611, he again went to North America in 1613, with the embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga
Hasekura Tsunenaga
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga or was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai....
. In total, he accomplished two roundtrips between Japan and North America and helped establish trade and diplomatic relations between Japan and the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
.
Background
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and to a much lesser extent 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...
and the English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
for her foreign trade during the first part of the "Nanban trade period".
Japan had also been very active sailing Red seal ships
Red seal ships
were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships bound for Southeast Asian ports with a red-sealed patent issued by the early Tokugawa shogunate in the first half of the 17th century...
throughout Asia, original Japanese ships that were broadly similar to Chinese junks, but incorporating various Western techniques and designs (such as square and lateen sails), but had never ventured as far as the American continent.
The 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...
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...
was eager to develop trade with foreign nations, and was particularly looking forward to an opportunity to develop trade with the Spanish Empire. He had already asked 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...
to exchange trade proposals with the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in 1608, without great success. An opening finally came when the former interim governor of the Philippines Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco
Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco
Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco was a Spanish colonial officer from New Spain. In 1563 he married Melchora de Aberrucia, who was Alonso Valiente's widow, and thereby disposed the encomienda of Tecamachalco...
was shipwrecked on the coast of Japan in 1609. Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco remained in Japan for 9 months, and took the opportunity to negotiate the first treaty of exchanges between Japan and New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
, involving offering extraterritorial privileges for a Spanish shipyard and a Naval base in the eastern Japan in exchange for transpacific trade and Mexican silver mining technology.
First Japanese to the Americas (1610)
On August 1610 Tanaka Shosuke was ordered by the retired ShogunShogun
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...
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...
to accompany Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco back to New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(Nueva España), together with 22 other Japanese representatives, onboard the San Buena Ventura, a 120 ton ship built in Japan under the supervision of 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...
a few years earlier. Also among them was Father Muños, a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Father, sent by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a representative to negotiate the establishment of trade between Japan and Nueva España.
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas , Spanish nobleman, son of the second viceroy of New Spain, and himself the eighth viceroy. He governed from January 27, 1590 to November 4, 1595, and again from July 2, 1607 to June 10, 1611...
, the viceroy of New Spain received the 23 Japanese and expressed his great satisfaction at the treatment the Spanish sailors had received in Japan. He decided to send an embassy to Japan in the person of the famous explorer Sebastian Vizcaino
Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Japan.-Early career:...
. The viceroy confiscated the San Buena Ventura however, fearful that the Japanese would manage to master the art of trans-oceanic navigation.
Spanish sources indicate that Tanaka Shosuke studied silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
mining techniques in Mexico before returning to Japan, obtaining knowledge which would have been very useful to Japan as it relied on silver (and copper) for the payment of her imports (see also Red seal ships
Red seal ships
were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships bound for Southeast Asian ports with a red-sealed patent issued by the early Tokugawa shogunate in the first half of the 17th century...
). Tanaka Shosuke is also reported as having brought back mulberry wood from the New World, which he offered to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who used it to build a bath in his Palace.
A contemporary journal, written by the historian Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin
Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin
Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin , usually referred to simply as Chimalpahin or Chimalpain, was a Nahua annalist from Chalco...
, a noble Aztec born in Amecameca
Amecameca
Amecameca is a town and municipality located in the eastern panhandle of Mexico State between Mexico City and the Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl volcanos of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It is located on federal highway 115 which leads to Cuautla, which is called the Volcano Route...
(ancient Chalco province) in 1579, whose formal name was Domingo Francisco de San Anton Muñon, gives some account of the visit of Tanaka. He explains that Tanaka, retailer and merchant, was considered and treated as an ambassador for the commercial exchanges between Japan and New Spain.
- "Today, Thursday in the afternoon, the 16th of the month of December of the year 1610, at 6 o'clock, was when perhaps as many as nineteen people from Japan, China, arrived and entered here in the city of Mexico. A noble, their lord, the ambassador, from the court of the great ruler the emperor of Japan, who brought them, came to make peace with the Christians so that they would never make war but always be at peace and esteem each other, so that Spanish merchants will be able to enter Japan and none of the people there will be able to impede them. And likewise the people of Japan will be able to come enter Mexico to do business, to come here to sell goods that are made there, and no one here will be able to impede them, for thus the lord Viceroy don Luis de Velasco, Marqués of Salinas, whom they came to see, informed them" Chimalpahin diary, "Annals of his time" 16 December 1610, p171.
He also says that they were allowed to walk with their sword at the side, something not usually permitted to traders, and that they were in formal Japanese attire:
- "And they came gotten up as they are gotten up up there; they wear something like an ornamented jacket, doublet, or long blouse, which they tie at their middle, their waist; there they place a katanaKatanaA Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
of metal, which counts as their swords. [...] They seem bold, not gentle and meek people, going about like eagles" Chimalpahin diary, "Annals of his time" 16 December 1610, p171.
Several of the Japanese (at least three according to Chimalpahin's account) chose to baptized in Mexico, starting with the head of the delegation, who took the Christian name of Don Alonso:
- "They were baptized in true splendour. It was done in the presence of all the different ecclesiastics who dwell in Mexico, who all appeared here. The first baptized was a noble and lord of Japan whose name upon baptism became don Alonso; don Hernando Altamirano, then captain of the guard, became his godfather." Chimalpahin diary, "Annals of his Time" 23 January 1611, p175.
Tanaka Shosuke was also baptized, and took the Christian name of "Don Francisco de Velasco Josuke".
According to the account, three Japanese from the mission of Tanaka chose to remain in Mexico. He relates the departure of the group:
- "Today, Monday, the 7th of the month of March of the year 1611, was when Sebastián Vizcaíno, citizen of Mexico, set out and left Mexico here, appointed general of the China boats going to China [the Philippines]. At that time he then took the Japanese; he placed next to himself the Japanese nobleman whose name was now Don Alonso and who now went dressed as a Spaniard, to return to his home; here he threw away his outfit that he wore coming here. He was the only one to change [his clothing] here in Mexico. They had been here in Mexico just two months when seventeen of them returned home; three stayed in Mexico." Chamalpahin diary, 7 March 1611, "Annals of his time" p175
Tanaka Shosuke returned to Japan in 1611 with Sebastian Vizcaino. Vizcaino had a mission to return 4,000 ducados that 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...
had lent to the previous mission, and to research "gold and silver islands", supposedly to the east of Japan. They left for Japan on 22 March 1611, and arrived in the harbour 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:...
.
Second travel (1613)
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and Europe, by meeting extensively with Hasekura Tsunenaga
Hasekura Tsunenaga
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga or was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai....
, who was in charge of the project.
He is recorded as again having left for the Americas in 1613 onboard Hasekura's Japanese-built 500 ton galleon
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...
San Juan Bautista
Japanese warship San Juan Bautista
San Juan Bautista was one of Japan's first Japanese-built Western-style sail warships. She crossed the Pacific in 1614. She was of the Spanish galleon type, known in Japan as Nanban-Sen San Juan Bautista (“St. John the Baptist”) (originally called Date Maru, 伊達丸 in Japanese) was one of Japan's...
with the embassy and a total of 140 Japanese. Sebastian Vizcaino, whose own ship had been disabled in a storm near Japan, was also on the San Juan Bautista to return to Mexico.
Some of the Japanese traders who had been left behind in Mexico by Tanaka four years before took the opportunity of the return trip of the San Juan Bautista in October 1614 to return to Japan:
- "Today, Tuesday the 14th of the month of October of the year 1614, was when some Japanese set out from Mexico here going home to Japan; they lived here in Mexico for four years. Some still remained here; they earn a living trading and selling here the goods they brought with them from Japan" Chimalpahin diary, 14 October 1614, "Annals of his Time" p291
It is unknown whether Tanaka Shosuke continued with Hasekura to Europe, or stayed in Mexico waiting for the return of Hasekura, or returned to Japan in October 1614.