The Samurai Who Became A Roman Citizen

"Last year, we fea­tured here on Open Cul­ture the sto­ry of how a samu­rai end­ed up in the unlike­ly set­ting of sev­en­teenth-cen­tu­ry Venice. But as com­pelling­ly told as it was in video essay form by Evan Puschak, bet­ter known as the Nerd­writer, it end­ed just as things were get­ting inter­est­ing. We last left Haseku­ra Rokue­mon Tsune­na­ga as he was set­ting out on a mis­sion to Europe in order to meet the Pope and facil­i­tate the bro­ker­ing of a deal for his feu­dal lord, Date Masamune."

"Of course, in 1613, it was­n't quite as easy as catch­ing a flight from Tokyo (or rather, in those days, Edo) to Rome. Mak­ing the long pas­sage by ship were about 180 Japan­ese, Por­tuguese, and Span­ish men, many of whom had nev­er been out on the open ocean before. After two less-than-smooth months, they land­ed 200 miles north of what we now call San Fran­cis­co, then made their way down the coast to Aca­pul­co."

Hasekura Rokue�mon Tsunenaga embarked in 1613 on a diplomatic mission to Europe to meet the Pope and broker a deal for his feudal lord, Date Masamune. Date sought a direct relationship with the Spanish empire after a Japanese-speaking Franciscan friar, Luis Sotelo, and his missionary hospital aided one of Date’s concubines. The voyage included about 180 Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish men and lasted two difficult months before landing north of present-day San Francisco. The embassy traveled down to Acapulco, then inland to Mexico City, onward to Veracruz, and prepared to cross the Atlantic to Spain. King Philip harbored reservations about opening trade with Japan.

Read at Open Culture