path: root/earliest_v2.txt

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77632 ***




                =UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS
                  AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY=

          Vol. 4                                       No. 1


                   THE EARLIEST HISTORICAL RELATIONS
                       BETWEEN MEXICO AND JAPAN

              FROM ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS PRESERVED IN SPAIN
                               AND JAPAN

                                  BY
                             ZELIA NUTTALL

                               BERKELEY
                         THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
                              APRIL, 1906




                =UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS

                  AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY=

          =VOL. 4=                                   =NO. 1=




                  THE EARLIEST HISTORICAL RELATIONS
                       BETWEEN MEXICO AND JAPAN

        (FROM ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS PRESERVED IN SPAIN AND JAPAN.)

                                  BY
                            ZELIA NUTTALL.

         PUBLISHED BY THE CROOKER FUND FOR RESEARCH IN MEXICO.


It is strange but true, that whereas for many years past much has
been said and written about the hypothetical transmission of Asiatic
influences to Mexico and Central America by means of the ship-wrecked
crews of Japanese junks, the precise date when official relations
were first established between Japan and Mexico has only just been
ascertained.

It is Señor C. A. Lera, the actual Mexican Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan and China, who deserves the credit
of having instituted researches in archives and annals of Japan
and succeeded in finding therein the documentary evidence which a
countryman of his, Angel Nuñez Ortega, had vainly endeavored to find
in the national archives of Mexico.

With the coöperation of Father Steichen, a learned missionary
residing in Japan, who is known as the author of a History of
Japanese Commerce, Señor Lera obtained translations of important
original documents, and incorporated them in a report to the Mexican
Minister of Foreign Affairs, which was privately printed in Tokio in
pamphlet form a few months ago, under the title of “First Official
Relations Between Japan and Spain With Respect to Mexico.”

On reading Señor Lera’s valuable contribution I found evidences that
he was unacquainted with the scholarly monograph privately published
in Mexico in 1879, by the distinguished scholar and diplomat, Señor
Ortega, under the title “Historical Note on the Political and
Commercial Relations Between Mexico and Japan in the XVIIth Century.”
I found moreover that although Señor Lera refers to it, neither of
the above writers had ever read that most valuable document, the
detailed report of his embassy submitted to Viceroy Mendoza, by the
first ambassador ever sent from New Spain to Japan. This is contained
in Vol. VIII of that monumental work published in Madrid: Collection
of unedited documents relating to the discovery and conquest and
organization of ancient Spanish possessions in America and Oceania.

Finding myself deeply interested in the facts preserved in the above
disconnected monographs, it occurred to me that I could not send
to the San Francisco meeting of the Anthropological Association
a more acceptable communication than a compilation of all three
publications, with translations of the original documents contained
therein. In preparing this I found it necessary, in order to fill
certain gaps, to refer to a number of works on Japan, and also to
incorporate certain data contained in a newspaper article recently
published in the City of Mexico by the erudite Father V. de P.
Andrade. I venture to believe that the data collectively presented
here, for the first time in English, will be of interest and value,
not only to historians and ethnologists, but also to the general
public.

To them it will doubtless be a matter of surprise, as it was to me,
to learn that it was no less a personage than Tokugawa Iyeyasu,
surnamed “The Illustrious,” who, in 1598, took the first steps
towards establishing official relations with Mexico. Iyeyasu is known
to have inaugurated the policy of exclusion and isolation, which was
perfected by his grandson, Iyemitsu, and to have organized the form
of government which secured to Japan a peace of two hundred years.

At the time, however, when he conceived the desire to enter into
direct communication with New Spain, he was at the beginning of
his remarkable career. Only two years had passed since Taikun
Hideyoshi had bestowed upon him, as a reward for his services as a
general, the eight provinces, which were designated “The Kwanto,” and
ordered him to take up his residence at the then unimportant town
of Yedo, the present Tokio. Considering that since 1542, when the
first Portuguese trading vessels visited Japan, the Portuguese had
been enjoying the monopoly of a system of trade by barter, it was
certainly a new departure for General Iyeyasu to attempt to establish
direct communication between his new domain and Mexico. It was his
idea that this result might be obtained if he could but induce the
merchant vessels which plied between the Philippines and Mexico
to touch at one of the ports of “The Kwanto.” With this object in
view, he sought the advice and aid of the learned Franciscan friar,
Geronimo de Jesús, who wrote for him a Spanish letter to the governor
of the Philippines, in which, as an opening to future negotiations,
Iyeyasu courteously invited the Spanish merchant vessels to seek
shelter in any of the ports situated in his domain, if ever overtaken
by the dangerous storms so prevalent in these regions. This letter,
which was written in the same year in which the second expedition to
Corea came to an end and a number of Coreans were brought from that
country to Japan, was not sent when written, for the negotiations
were suspended by the stirring events which culminated in the famous
battle of Sekigakara, which, in 1600, established Iyeyasu’s supremacy
in Japan. It was not until 1601 that Iyeyasu found leisure to revert
to his plan, and sent Shinkiro, a wealthy merchant of the City of
Sakai, as bearer of the above letter and some costly presents to the
governor of the Philippines. The latter, deeply involved at that time
in the war which Spain was carrying on in Cambodia against Siam,
responded by saying that Iyeyasu’s proposal pleased him extremely,
and that he would accept it as soon as he was free and able to do so.
Meanwhile he begged him to accept certain gifts in return for those
which he had received with much gratitude through the Japanese envoy
Shinkiro.

In the month of May of the following year, a new governor, Don Pedro
Bravo de Acuña, was appointed for the Philippines. In September of
the same year Iyeyasu dispatched Shinkiro again with another letter,
also written in Spanish by the Franciscan friar, Geronimo. The
original draft of this interesting document, which is preserved in
Japan, is in Japanese, from which language it was translated into
French for Señor Lera, so that he, in turn, could translate it into
Spanish, from which language I have made the following literal
translation.

I venture to suggest that it would be an interesting experiment for
some scholar to translate my version back into Japanese, and to
compare his translation with the original document and verify the
changes which must have been produced by its passing through the
crucible of three European languages.

  “Minamoto Iyeyasu of Japan, to his Lordship the Governor of
  Luzon:--

  “After a long voyage your envoy has arrived at last with your
  letter. He has spoken to me of the mode of government and the
  flourishing condition of your country, and, at the same time,
  delivered to me the five objects which you have deigned to
  send me as presents.

  “Although I have never had the honor to see or listen to you,
  your amiable behavior makes me realize how all men are members
  of a single family; which reflection has moved me deeply.

  “Nothing would satisfy my desires so much as to see merchant
  vessels establishing frequent communication between my country
  and New Spain. In formulating this wish, it was not only the
  interests of Japan which moved me, but also, in equal measure,
  your own advantage. Many of your people have assured me that
  it would be a considerable advantage to them to be able to
  count upon a port in the Kwanto as a shelter for their ships
  during tempests. They have also manifested to me the pleasure
  with which they would see Japanese vessels making voyages
  between the Kwanto and New Spain.

  “I shall await your answer with eager anticipation.

  “If you render me this service, I, in turn, will severely
  prohibit piracy even in the most remote islands of Japan, and,
  if you so desire, I will condemn all pirates to death. You, in
  turn, can execute all Japanese who in the Philippines violate
  your laws. If any of the merchants who with my authorization
  visit your country, prove to be rebellious to your authority,
  I will, upon being informed of their names, prohibit their
  embarking again.

  “Although unworthy of you, deign to accept as a sign of
  friendship the Japanese suit of armor, which I send you.

  “My ambassador will tell you all that I have failed to express
  in this letter.”

It is related that Iyeyasu’s assurances did not disarm the
suspicions of the Spaniards, nor convince them that he would or
could keep his promise. Indeed the Spaniards’ fear to send their
galleons to Japan was not unfounded, for, but eight years previously
in 1596, Hideyoshi, since surnamed the “Napoleon of Japan,” had
confiscated without provocation the Spanish vessel named “San
Felipe,” and a month before the date of Iyeyasu’s above letter
another galleon, the “Espirito Santo,” almost incurred the same
fate. It was sailing with contrary winds from Manila to New Spain,
and touched the coast of Tosa in August, 1602. It was immediately
attacked by the natives of this province, and its captain, Lope
de Ulloa, had to resort to arms in order to defend it against its
assailants. As soon as the news of this singularly inopportune
episode reached Iyeyasu, in October, he hastened to write to the
governor of the Philippines, protesting that what had occurred had
been without his knowledge and consent. He laid stress upon the
amicable relations then existing between both countries--adding that
they might almost be regarded as an alliance. Refusing to admit that
his subjects were in fault, he adroitly suggests that it was probably
only the fear of a repetition of the “San Felipe” episode, which had
caused the Spaniards to take alarm and precipitate their departure
from the Japanese coast. He adds: “Henceforth, in case of any kind of
accidents, let your people not hesitate to take refuge in the ports
of my domain, for I have sent to all quarters severe orders relating
to this matter. Through your merchants I have learned that the eight
galleons which leave Luzon every year for New Spain desire to obtain
a license permitting them to take refuge in the ports of my country.
Full of compassion for these foreigners I have had eight licenses
written and sealed. These will preserve them from the rapacity of the
people, and thanks to them they will without fear be able not only to
take refuge in the ports and islands, but also to land and penetrate
into all villages and towns throughout Japan, without incurring the
risk of being treated as spies, even should they devote themselves to
studying the usages and customs of the land.”

While nothing could exceed the courtesy and good will expressed in
this letter, it utterly failed to reassure the governor of the
Philippines, who could but bear in mind several recent disastrous
losses of Spanish galleons, laden with the much coveted riches from
the Spanish possessions in Asia. But fifteen years had elapsed since
Francis Drake had lain in wait at Cape St. Lucas for the galleon
expected from the Philippines, and after robbing it of its treasures,
abandoned its crew on the arid shores of the Peninsula of California.
This disaster had produced a profound commotion throughout the
Spanish colonies, and brought infinite trouble upon the viceroy
of Mexico, who was obliged to send out a maritime expedition with
orders to pursue and punish the English corsairs. The seizure of
another galleon by a Japanese potentate had taken place but six years
previously, and now, at the very time that Iyeyasu was offering
hospitality to Spanish merchantmen, came the news of the real or
imaginary danger incurred by the vessel which had taken refuge in a
Japanese port. Considering that besides all this the memory of the
persecution and martyrdom of Roman Catholic missionaries in 1597 was
still fresh, it is not surprising that the Spanish governor took no
notice of Iyeyasu’s overtures, and broke off negotiations.

In the native history of Japanese Commerce (Nihon Shogyoshi) and
Kottenhamp’s “History of the Colonization of America,” this rupture
and the subsequent failures to establish the desired commercial
relations are attributed, no doubt justly, chiefly to the powerful
merchant princes of Seville, who violently opposed any encroachment
on their monopoly of Asiatic trade. Six years later, however, in
1608, the situation suddenly changed. A new governor, Don Rodrigo de
Vivero, came to the Philippines, where, at that period, there existed
a colony of about fifteen thousand Japanese. The principal Japanese
merchants residing in Manila petitioned him to resume the interrupted
negotiations, and an ambassador sent by Iyeyasu insisted, at the same
time, upon the advantages that would accrue to Spanish interests by a
friendly treaty with Japan.

Iyeyasu’s ambassador, in this case, was the Englishman William Adams,
a native of Gillingham, Kent, who shares, with his companion Timothy
Shotten, the distinction of being the first Englishmen who went to
Japan. Both served as pilots on a Dutch ship, the “De Liefde,”
which had sailed from Texel at the mouth of the Zuyder Zee in 1598
with four other vessels and was wrecked at Bunzo, in Japan, on April
19, 1600. Adams ingratiated himself with the Japanese, volunteered
to instruct them in the art of ship-building, and won the Emperor’s
notice by offering to teach him geography and geometry. Received at
court, he rapidly rose in favor. The title “Hatamoto,” or Noble, was
conferred upon him, and he became not only Iyeyasu’s influential
adviser, but was employed, as in this case, as the emperor’s envoy in
establishing commercial relations with foreign countries.

Won over by William Adams’ representations, backed by the petition
presented by the Japanese residents of Manila, Governor Vivero agreed
to renew negotiations at once, and commissioned the leaders of the
Japanese colony to write two letters for him in their language. These
and some gifts were entrusted to William Adams, who was likewise
placed in command of the next Spanish vessel which was sent to
Japan. In the first letter, addressed to Iyeyasu, the interruption
of negotiations and its cause were wisely ignored, and great stress
was laid upon “the amiable sympathy which from olden times had bound
one nation to the other,” and assurances were given that “far from
wishing to abandon it or allowing it to become lukewarm, it would be
his aim diligently to tighten the bonds of their long friendship.” He
states, immediately afterwards, that a number of turbulent characters
having promoted sedition and made disturbance in the Japanese colony
at Manila, he had adopted the course of sending them back to Japan.
According to Father Steichen not less than two hundred Japanese
were thus expelled from Manila. Governor Vivero adds that their
troublesome behavior would certainly not prevent him from receiving
any peaceful Japanese merchants who might come to the Philippines.
With respect to such nothing had changed. He continues: That he was
sending a vessel to Japan, and had given orders to William Adams
to take shelter by preference in a port in the “Kwanto.” In case,
however, that contrary winds should impede the vessel’s course,
he had no objection to any other port being entered, now that the
whole of Japan was under Iyeyasu’s Lordship. He did not doubt that
his captain and his people would meet with a good reception, and
he begged, at the same time, that the Catholic friars residing in
Japan should be well treated. In the second letter, addressed to
the shogun, Hidetada, Iyeyasu’s son, in whose favor the latter had
resigned in 1605, Vivero announced the sending of a galleon, and
states that he would be obliged if the shogun would send Japanese
vessels, but not more than four a year, to the Philippines, and he
requests that he view with benevolence the friars and priests who
were living in Japan.

By the time that these letters reached their destination, eight
years had elapsed since Iyeyasu had made his first attempt to open
negotiations. Vivero, the enterprising and enlightened governor of
the Philippines, henceforth became his ally, and, as we shall see,
conducted the first Japanese embassy to Mexico.

The credit of having established amicable relations should be given
to William Adams, whose influence over Iyeyasu finally opened to the
Spaniards the Port of Uraga, the most commodious and flourishing port
of Japan, situated in the Province of Sagami, a day’s journey from
Yedo. An imperial decree, dated 1608, was posted at the entrance of
this port, threatening severe penalties to all who might molest the
merchantmen from Luzon.

The answers to Governor Vivero’s letters, which were soon sent,
express Iyeyasu’s and his son’s pleasure at the realization of their
desire.

With regard to the Japanese who had been forcibly expelled from
Manila, Iyeyasu simply remarks:--

  “In your country the government and the people live in
  harmony, the inhabitants treat each other with good will and
  courtesy, and extend even to foreigners the same general
  benevolence. In Japan we also have just laws, and all are
  governed with equity. Consequently we have no thieves nor
  malefactors. Therefore, if the Japanese who are in the
  Philippines commit injustices, pray condemn them to death.”

In a letter dated October 2, 1608, Hidetada reiterates his father’s
assurances that Spanish vessels might visit Japan without fear,
and expressed the desire that future communications should be more
frequent between both countries.

Perfect harmony having thus been established, friendship increased
between the Japanese and Spaniards, and the galleon which navigated
between Manila and Acapulco regularly touched at Uraga.

In the following year a change of governor took place in the
Philippines, and Don Juan de Silva, the new governor, hastened to
announce to Iyeyasu his arrival in Luzon, and his intention to
continue to send vessels to Japan. He seized this opportunity,
however, to inform the emperor that a number of Japanese residents in
the Philippines were fomenting revolt and disturbing the peace. In
answer to the latter complaint, Iyeyasu sent the governor a copy of
the severe laws applied to criminals in Japan, directing him to apply
these laws in punishing the seditious Japanese in the Philippines. He
ends with the assurance that the friars in Japan were being treated
with sympathy and good will. Considering that, in 1597, twenty-six
Christians and foreign friars, among them a native of Mexico, San
Felipe de Jesús, were crucified at Nagasaki, the imperial assurances
that he viewed the friars with benevolence and good will must have
been extremely welcome to Governor Vivero.

Three months subsequently, Hidedata, who vied with his father in
liberality and affability, renewed the privilege granted to Spanish
vessels to enter all Japanese ports indiscriminately, and sent their
captains copies of an official permission, dated November 2, 1609,
which reads as follows:--

  “The vessels sailing from Luzon to New Spain may freely enter
  all ports in Japan and take shelter therein in stormy weather.”

In this same year a strange combination of circumstances occurred,
which afforded the Japanese rulers an unexpected opportunity not
only of demonstrating their good will towards the Spaniards, but
of giving a proof of their good faith and generosity. Don Rodrigo
de Vivero, the retiring governor of the Philippines, sailed from
Luzon for New Spain on the 25th of July, in a vessel named the “San
Francisco,” escorted by two galleons. Overtaken by a storm, the “San
Francisco” and one of the galleons were wrecked on the shores of
Japan. As soon as the Japanese learned that the ship-wrecked crews
were Spaniards, and that among them was the former friendly governor
of the Philippines, they hastened to offer them shelter and food.
Vivero dispatched two messengers to the Japanese court to inform the
emperor and the shogun of his misfortunes. Whereupon they not only
invited him and his companions to the capital, but with spontaneous
liberality promised a restitution of all the merchandise, etc., which
could be saved from both wrecks. Iyeyasu generously offered to part
with one of the best vessels, which had been constructed for him
by William Adams, and likewise to lend him four thousand ducats,
with which to man and provision the ship, which was named “San
Buenaventura.” Vivero was also loaded with presents for the King of
Spain and Viceroy of Mexico, and was requested to exert his influence
towards the sending of a Spanish ambassador to Japan.

It appears that Vivero took advantage of his sojourn in Japan to
prejudice the Japanese rulers against the Portuguese, who had
hitherto enjoyed the sole privilege of exporting gold from Japan.
He likewise attempted to have this privilege transferred to the
Spaniards.

An interesting fact connected with this visit, and to which I will
revert, is that Iyeyasu requested that as many as fifty expert miners
be sent to Japan from Mexico in order to teach the Japanese the most
advantageous methods of working their gold mines, the principal one
of which was situated in the Island of Sado.

Governor Vivero, having consented to take with him to New Spain a
certain number of Japanese merchants, so that they might learn the
way, and also study commercial conditions, stipulated that the price
of the vessel ceded to him might be payable in Spanish merchandise.

On the first of August, 1610, after having enjoyed Japanese
hospitality for over a year, Vivero and his countrymen embarked for
New Spain with twenty-three Japanese merchants, who were under the
leadership of two noblemen named Tanaka Shosake and Shuya Ryusai.

In Mexico City, where they arrived towards the end of the year, the
Japanese were presented by Vivero to the viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco
the Second, who received them well and stood sponsor at the baptism
of at least one of the two Japanese noblemen, who returned to Japan
bearing the Christian name Francisco and the viceroy’s family name,
Velasco.

The singularly noble conduct of the Japanese towards the ship-wrecked
sailors at a time when all nations accepted the principle of “_jus
littoris_” could but make a particularly deep impression upon the
viceroy, who in the year 1600, for instance, had granted a concession
to the inhabitants of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which legally
authorized them to appropriate all ship-wrecked goods. Moved by
gratitude, or as Father Caro prefers to state, by his ardent desire
for the aggrandizement of New Spain, the viceroy determined to
exert a prerogative usually confined to sovereigns, and to send an
ambassador to Japan, entrusted with a letter in which he expressed
to the Japanese rulers his gratitude and appreciation of the great
charity and liberality towards his ship-wrecked countrymen.

Mexican historians have differed as to the name of the ambassador
appointed, but an original document preserved in the archives of
the Indies proves, beyond a doubt, that it was General Sebastian
Viscaino, who in this document is twice mentioned as being a son of
the viceroy.[1]

  FOOTNOTE:

  [1] It has already been mentioned that the contents of this
      valuable document have not been discussed by Señor Ortega,
      Father Andrade or Señor Lera, who erroneously states in a
      footnote on page 23 of his monograph that the texts of the
      two letters from the Japanese sovereigns are contained in
      Vol. VIII of the collection of unedited documents; whereas
      this contains only the texts of Spanish letters addressed
      by General Viscaino to the emperor and shogun.

The memory of Don Sebastian Viscaino is intimately associated with
California, for, in 1596, he was commissioned by the King of Spain
to make a voyage of discovery to California, and, as is well known,
sailed from the Port of Acapulco with three vessels and reached the
Port of La Paz, where he established himself, built a church and
dispatched a series of expeditions westward. This expedition ended
somewhat disastrously on account of the discontent of the soldiers
under his command, but in 1602 he was appointed Captain General of an
expedition sent by order of Phillip III and fitted out by the Count
of Monterey, viceroy of Mexico. During this voyage, which lasted
nine months, the whole coast of Southern California was carefully
surveyed. After reaching Cape Mendocino, they proceeded as far north
as 45 degrees north latitude, but he was forced to return to Acapulco
on account of illness and mortality amongst his men.

The account of his embassy to Japan, evidently written under his
dictation by the secretary of the expedition, is divided into twelve
chapters, and fills ninety-seven printed pages in the collection of
unedited documents to which I have already referred. This document,
which is full of interesting and valuable information concerning
the avowed and secret aims of his mission, gives a detailed account
of its history. It enables one clearly to recognize moreover the
manifold causes and events which within a few years wrought so
complete a change in Iyeyasu’s views, and which culminated in the
banishment of foreigners, the extirpation of Christianity, and the
complete isolation of Japan for centuries.

On the 22nd of March, 1611, Viscaino sailed in a vessel named the
“San Francisco” from Vera Cruz, accompanied by the Japanese nobleman
now known as Don Francisco de Velasco, twenty-two Japanese merchants,
a commissary and six friars of the Franciscan order, a captain named
Palacios and a crew of fifty-two.

Before launching into Viscaino’s report, of which I shall give a
literal translation, excepting where abbreviations and commentaries
are necessary, let us read the Japanese records of the foregoing
events, which were indirectly communicated by the well-known scholar,
Mr. Ernest Satow, to Señor Nuñez Ortega, in 1879. They demonstrate
that in the 17th century, as now, the official records of Japan were
written with a brevity and reticence which causes so many modern
Japanese war dispatches to read more like our weather reports:--

  “The Sairan Igen of Arai Haku Seki (B. 1657, D. 1725) says:
  In the 15th year of Keycho (1600) a merchant vessel belonging
  to New Spain was driven by a storm on the east coast of Japan
  and considerably damaged. The government ordered that it
  should be repaired, and provisions having been supplied it was
  started to depart. In the summer of the 17th year (1612), an
  ambassador came from that country on a complimentary mission,
  to return thanks. Amongst the presents was a self-sounding
  bell (clock), and our manufacture of this article commenced
  from this date.”[2]

  FOOTNOTE:
  [2] This clock is still preserved in the temple of Kino-San,
      near Shizouka, Province of Suraga. An inscription records
      its history, and a small metal plate, fastened to it,
      records that it was made in Madrid.

The same annals preserve the following report, made to their
government by the Japanese merchants on their return from New Spain:--

  “Some of our sailing merchants departed in company with this
  embassy. They (the merchants) returned in the following
  year, and stated that the country visited was populous and
  productive. They also reported that the foreigners had thanked
  them, saying: ‘Our countries are far apart and navigation is
  difficult. Pray do not come again.’”

It is, of course, evident that this blunt intimation that their
presence was not desired in New Spain emanated from the same
monopolists who had caused the rupture of negotiations in 1602, and
who, later on, obtained a royal decree, limiting the traffic between
Mexico and Japan to one galleon a year, and putting restrictions upon
the value of the cargo it carried.

From Viscaino’s report we learn that the relations between the
Japanese merchants and the Spanish crew of the “San Francisco”
were decidedly strained. He relates that, at the beginning of the
voyage, the Japanese gave trouble on account of their haughtiness
and rudeness to the sailors--especially “concerning matters of the
kitchen,” and by their high-handedness. The general put an end to
this state of affairs by ordering that no Spaniard was to interfere
with a Japanese, nor lay hands on him, nor give occasion for dispute,
under penalty of death. The same threat was made to the Japanese,
and they were enjoined to be civil, and to come to him whenever any
difficulty presented itself, and to avoid all disputes and quarrels
with the sailors. Viscaino likewise threatened that if any Japanese
were insolent, he would have him hanged from the yardarm, and would
report him to the Japanese emperor, of whom it was known that he
did not like his vassals to be insolent--especially when they were
being treated to such a good voyage. Whereupon, it is recorded, the
Japanese were so filled with fear that they “restrained their pride
and haughtiness, became more docile than lambs,” and gave no cause
for complaint during the remainder of the voyage. Their leader was
the first to set an example of changed behavior. Viscaino invited him
to his table, considering it expedient, as he says, to please and
satisfy him, in view of the fact that upon his report to the emperor
would depend the manner of reception accorded to the Spaniards by
his Imperial Majesty, and the dispatch with which permission would be
obtained to set out from said Empire of Japan for the discovery of
said islands of gold and silver, which constituted the principal aim
of this expedition.

It is interesting to note that in the letters which General Viscaino
sent by messengers to the emperor and his son, on his arrival in
Japan after a voyage of eighty days, he emphasized how much respect
and honor had been accorded to the Japanese merchants during the
voyage, but refrained from all mention of the islands of gold and
silver, which it was his main object to discover.

General Viscaino’s letter to Iyeyasu reads as follows:--

  “Most Serene Emperor of the kingdoms and provinces of Japan:--

  “Sebastian Viscaino, General and Ambassador of his Majesty
  the King of Spain, Phillip III, and also of the Marquis of
  Salinas, Viceroy of New Spain and the King’s Lieutenant, as
  well as the Friar, Peter Baptist, of the Order of St. Francis,
  make known unto your Majesty that, to-day, Saturday, the 10th
  of June, 1611, we have reached this Port of Uraga in a vessel
  in which we sailed from the Port of Acapulco, in New Spain, on
  the 22nd of March of this year. We have come to this kingdom
  directly for the sole purpose of bringing you the news that
  said Marquis received the embassy and presents which you sent
  through Friar Alonzo Munoz, and also to bring to this realm
  Josquendono and your other vassals who went last year with Don
  Rodrigo de Vivero to New Spain, as well as to return the money
  which by your order was lent to Don Vivero and the value of
  the ship ‘San Buenaventura,’ which said Marquis purchased in
  the name of my lord and king. It was not considered expedient
  to return here in said vessel for reasons of which Josquendono
  and the other Japanese will inform you. They will tell you at
  the same time how, during their voyage to and from New Spain,
  they were respected and honored and given presents on account
  of their being your servants and vassals. While the said
  Marquis could have sent them back by the Islands of Luzon,
  he did not do so, considering that voyage would be long and
  dangerous, not only on account of difficult navigation but
  because they, the money and the value of the ship which we are
  bringing to your Majesty, in the name of my lord and king,
  might have been endangered on account of the number of Dutch
  pirates, whose vessels are in the vicinity of the Islands, and
  who are going about robbing and in revolt against my lord and
  king.”

Viscaino closes his letter by humbly begging permission to go to
court in order to “kiss the emperor’s hands,” and by an allusion to
the existing relations of peace and good understanding which it is
his mission to promote.

Notwithstanding these relations, the general found it necessary,
before landing his Spanish crew, to confer with the governor of the
port and the commander of the Japanese fleet of junks as to the best
method of avoiding quarrels and disputes between the Spaniards and
Japanese. He issued orders that, under penalty of death, no Spaniard
was to draw his sword or any other arm against the Japanese--nor
use violence against Japanese women, nor take anything from any one
against his will.

A great number of Japanese visited the Spanish vessel, among them
many noblemen. These were received with honors by Viscaino, who
“offered them chairs and gave them sweets, which they soaked in
sherry, which they liked extremely.”

He records complacently that the Japanese merchants and their leader,
Josquendono, departed at once for the court of the emperor, in order
to give him an account of their voyage, in which they expressed
the excellent treatment they had received from the Spaniards. But
since we know the nature of the official report of their voyage,
made by some of these same merchants, who must also have harbored
resentment at the threats employed by Viscaino on ship-board, we may
be prompted to doubt whether all accounts were as favorable as that
of Josquendono, who had been won over by Viscaino. An insight into an
existing undercurrent of ill will towards the Spaniards is afforded
by Viscaino’s remark, “that it was indeed well that they had come
directly to Japan, for their arrival with the Japanese merchants
contradicted the rumors which had been rife, and which had spread the
belief that the Spaniards had deceived the emperor; that the money
lent to Vivero would never be returned, and that the Japanese who
went to New Spain were enslaved and made to serve the Spaniards.”

In a few days Viscaino received a gracious communication, signed by
several court officials, informing him that the shogun, Hidedata, had
received his letter with great pleasure, and granted him permission
and all facilities to visit him immediately at his court. In the five
junks placed at his disposal Viscaino at once embarked with an escort
of thirty Spaniards, armed with muskets and arquebusses, and with the
friars and a few of the Japanese whom he had brought from New Spain.

At the mouth of the river Yedo he was met by the commander of
the junks, who made great demonstrations of joy and offered him
a Japanese collation. The Spaniards responded by a salutation of
musketry and arquebusses and by the beating of the drum. On the main
mast of the ambassador’s junk they flew the royal standard, and at
the stern floated another royal standard, made of Castilian silk,
along with an infantry flag with its streamers, all of which, it is
related, gave great pleasure to the Japanese beholders who crowded
the banks of the river that was filled with innumerable junks.

On landing, the Spaniards were hospitably entertained at the house
of the commander, and were assigned a fine residence, whither a
nobleman, followed by a numerous suite, came with a message from the
shogun. The general went out to meet him at the door, his escort
being drawn up in line. The Japanese nobleman was most polite, bowing
to the ground, according to native usage. The ambassador followed the
Spanish mode, and made a great display of politeness--particularly
at the door, where there was much discussion as to who should enter
first.

The nobleman expressed the shogun’s hope that the Spaniards were
resting and contented in his domain. He informed them that his
messenger had orders to provide amply for the general and his escort,
and that they would be given six meals a day, for the expenses of
which he was sending gold and silver instead of the customary rice,
which was used in barter. On the following day he sent two cooks,
many servants and an abundance of game and fish. Two kitchens were
set up in which meals were respectively prepared in Spanish and
Japanese styles. The shogun’s messenger returned to investigate
whether all was being attended to, and was invited to dine by the
ambassador, who found that his guest cared less for his meat than
for his sherry, but was unwilling or unable to respond when his host
drank his health for the second time.

On the next day, Tuesday, another messenger was sent by the shogun,
announcing that on Wednesday, if the weather were fine, Viscaino
would be permitted to deliver his embassy. This message was
communicated by two noblemen, who then inquired whether Viscaino had
it in mind to adapt himself to the ancient court etiquette of the
rulers of Japan, which required that, in the imperial presence, he
would have to kneel on both knees and remain with his hands and head
on the floor until the shogun gave the sign for him to rise. The
Spanish ambassador promptly answered that he did not intend to do
any such thing, but would adhere to Spanish court etiquette, would
make the bows and render homage to the emperor in the same way as he
would to his own lord, the King of Spain. He also announced that he
would refuse to lay aside his sword and dagger, or remove his boots,
and that the chamberlain would have to assign him a seat near enough
to the shogun to be able to hear what the latter said. This answer
caused much consternation and discussion and an exchange of messages.
Finally the general threatened that if he were not allowed to deliver
his embassy according to Spanish etiquette, he would return to New
Spain without delivering the viceroy’s letter or presents, and would
merely report that he had brought back the Japanese merchants, and
returned the money lent to Vivero. Upon this the shogun’s counsellors
courteously reminded him that, when received at the Japanese court,
Don Rodrigo Vivero, who was not only a cavalier and relative of the
viceroy, but had also been governor of Luzon, had made no objections,
and had entered the presence of the shogun in the way that was
required of him. Ambassador Viscaino replied that all this was
perfectly true in the case of Don Vivero, who personally was worthy
of the highest consideration, but the latter had come to this court
because he had been ship-wrecked and lost, and because necessity
compelled him to seek aid and means to proceed to New Spain. He was
then in such dire necessity that he was not to blame for any act of
submission he may have made, since he came to implore succor and
naturally was grateful to the ruler of this country who afforded
him aid. It was in consideration of all this that the viceroy had
dispatched the present embassy to escort the Japanese merchants home
and to express the good will of their Catholic majesties. He added,
what was not quite true, that he had not come to ask for anything,
nor to bring merchandise, nor to reap gain or profits, but solely for
the purpose of delivering his embassy. He repeated, however, that he
would sooner depart without delivering it than allow the authority of
king and viceroy to be lowered one fraction of its grandeur, for his
king was the greatest lord on earth. Viscaino’s arrogant utterances
naturally gave offense to the shogun’s messengers; they returned to
the palace greatly nonplussed, and affairs came to a standstill.

It was then that the shogun wisely summoned a meeting of the
presidents of the councils of state and government, and other high
officials, who, after lengthy debates, finally formulated the
decree that the Spanish ambassador was to be permitted to fulfill
his “mission according to his own usage as best he could.” It was
moreover decided that it was only when he spoke in the name of his
king that he was to be permitted to occupy the same platform as the
shogun who, seated, would receive the viceroy’s letter and presents.
Having delivered these, the ambassador was to descend a step, and
there deliver his present to the shogun, after which he was to seat
himself. The decree concluded with the resolution that as much honor
and mercy as possible was to be conceded to the first ambassador from
New Spain. All difficulties having thus been overcome by the good
will and courtesy of the Japanese, the audience took place on the
following morning.

The shogun sent four thousand soldiers of his guard to escort the
Spaniards to his palace. The latter formed a group and proceeded in
solemn procession, headed by the captain and pilot of the Spanish
vessel, followed by members of its crew, and a sergeant, who bore
the banner with three streamers, each held by a man. The standard
came next, with its three streamers, the ambassador holding it with
his right hand. Friar Luis Sotelo, the commissary of the Franciscan
order, walked at one side with General Viscaino, and two Franciscan
friars at the other, this group being preceded by the commander of
the junks and another Japanese nobleman.

The rear-guard was formed by the secretary of the expedition, a
sergeant, and the general’s negro drummer, whose appearance and
drumming made a great commotion, and attracted a numerous crowd. A
detachment of the Japanese guard marched in front of the Spaniards
and another behind. At the fifth door of the palace they were met by
the chamberlain and other officials and were led into a waiting room,
where the ambassador sat for a little while. Thence they were ushered
through an inner, richly decorated hall, into a great court-yard,
where stood more than a thousand royal princes and knights, each one
wearing a helmet on which his insignia of rank was displayed. To them
the ambassador made the courtesies and bows which he considered they
were entitled to, beginning with the highest in rank. He records that
they responded by folding their hands and bowing until their heads
touched the ground. Passing on to another square, the ambassador
came into the presence of the shogun, seated in his royal robes on
cushions and rich carpets. To his right, at a distance, sat his nine
counsellors, and, at a lower level, his steward, chamberlain, and
secretary. A sign was made to the ambassador to approach, and he
did so, all present observing him in profound silence. First of all
he made three bows, which were not very deep, and lowered the staff
he carried until it nearly touched the ground. He then advanced six
paces to a lower platform and made three bows, which were slightly
lower than the preceding ones. The next three bows he made, while
standing on the lowest platform, were still more profound. Then he
placed on his head the viceroy’s letter, and, after making three
more bows, deposited it on the platform. During all this time the
shogun and his counsellors were observing the ambassador and his
extraordinary performances with unconcealed merriment, which the
Spanish attributed entirely to the fact that before this the Japanese
had never seen a full dress Spanish costume. Viscaino’s raiment is
described as being very fine. His cap was adorned with feathers and a
gold band. His sword and dagger were gilt, his boots were white with
buttons, and his frill was of the finest lace.

Showing evidence of being pleased, the shogun beckoned to his
secretary, and gave him an order to lead the ambassador to the
seat prepared for him, also to tell him that the shogun was glad to
have seen him--especially after all the hardships of the long sea
voyage. The thought of not seeing land for eighty-one days seemed
to the shogun to be truly dreadful. The ambassador replied, through
the interpreter, that he kissed his Highness’ hands for the great
condescension that he was showing him, and that, as far as the
hardships were concerned, which he had undergone and was yet to
undergo on the return voyage, he had come to regard them as gifts
ever since he had come into the presence of such a prince. When
this speech was translated by the secretary, the prince bowed his
head several times towards the ambassador to express his thanks.
Viscaino then arose, and after a very profound obeisance presented
the viceroy’s gifts. Up to the present the Spanish ambassador had
had everything his own way, but now occurred an episode which was
probably unexpected. After a moment’s silence, the prince waved
his hand with great majesty, and two chamberlains approached the
ambassador and led him out of the audience chamber. After a little
while, during which the shogun examined the vice-regal presents,
Viscaino was again led into the hall, which he entered as he had made
his exit, performing the same series of triple bows. This time, it is
related, these bows were more profound, a sign that the ambassador
had been impressed with great respect for the shogun’s authority.
The latter informed him, through his chief counsellors, that he much
esteemed the gifts, and that, if the general would like the Spanish
soldiers and servants to see him, they would be permitted to enter
the audience room. The ambassador then made another bowing exit, and
returned with his men, who were, as he takes pains to record, “booted
and armed.” The shogun examined them with evident curiosity. The
friars were then presented, and offered him their gifts themselves,
two of them being excellent interpreters.

Each time that the friars addressed a word to the ambassador, he,
although in the presence of the shogun, arose and made them an humble
and respectful bow, thus demonstrating his reverence for their
priesthood, an observance which, he says, impressed the shogun and
his counsellors. At the end of a quarter of an hour, during which
the prince contemplated the Spaniards, he made a sign to two of his
chief counsellors, who again went to the ambassador and led him out
of the hall. He was then requested to allow the shogun to view the
portraits of the King and Queen of Spain, which were intended for
the emperor. When these were sent for and brought before the shogun,
he arose and dismissed every one from the audience room and sent a
message to the ambassador, telling him that he was to return to his
lodgings, and that the portraits would be sent back to him later.
It is recorded that he and his consort and the ladies of the palace
particularly enjoyed seeing the portrait of the Spanish queen, on
account of her beauty and rich costume, which to them seemed very
strange.

On receiving his dismissal, the ambassador set out as he had come,
but received the injunction that no volleys of musketry were to be
fired as long as he was inside the palace precincts. Once outside, to
the great delight of the Japanese, the Spanish soldiers began to fire
loud volleys of musketry, with such rapidity that in an hour they had
used a whole barrel of powder.

The following days were spent in making visits and presents to the
court officials, and on St. John’s day the ambassador and his men
went in state to mass, at the Convent of San Francisco, in order,
as is stated, to honor the feast of the Saint, and also to give an
example to the Japanese to go to church and respect the priests.

At mass they offered a thanksgiving for the mercy that during their
stay in the city there had been no accident or bloodshed such as
might have been expected. At the Elevation of the Host, volleys were
fired and the royal standard and banner were lowered to the base of
the altar. On their way to the convent the Spaniards were met by
Masumane, the mighty Lord of the Province of Oxo, who was awaiting
them on horseback, accompanied by two thousand soldiers and many
mounted horsemen. This noble prince, who was to become the friend and
protector of the Spaniards and all Christians, is described as so
powerful that, in case of warfare, he could command the services of
eighty thousand men. As soon as he saw the ambassador he dismounted
and sent him a message, asking him as a favor to order the Spanish
soldiers to discharge their firearms, because he wanted to see and
hear them do so. Acceding to this request, they discharged two such
loud volleys that he put his hands to his ears in alarm. Frightened
by the noise a number of horses threw their riders, or rolled on
the ground. Viscaino relates that the prince and his suite were so
amused at this that they nearly died of laughter. When order was
restored, the prince approached the ambassador, and bowing to the
ground, offered him thanks and his services, and passed on with such
demonstrations of politeness and courtesy that the Spanish ambassador
was led to state that the Japanese nobility excelled in politeness
all of the nations of the world.

The return journey to the Port of Uraga was made at the expense of
the shogun and with a large escort of people. About a week later
the embassy set out for the court of the emperor, Iyeyasu, at
Shizuoka, in the Province of Suraga. On their way the Spaniards met
nothing but hospitality, and on arriving at “Corunga,” were lodged
in houses adjacent to the palace. On the following day the emperor
sent a gracious message, expressing the hope that the ambassador
was sufficiently rested to come to the palace. If not, he would be
granted an audience whenever it suited him best. Viscaino, who, it
is said, was always ready to guard his dignity and impose his will,
sent answer that he was ready to deliver his embassy, but that he
first desired to know how the ceremony was expected to be. He, for
his part, refused to remove his sword, dagger and boots, nor would
he kneel upon the floor; what is more, it was his wish and intention
to be accompanied by his armed men bearing the insignia of war, the
standard, banner and drum. The answer was that the emperor graciously
permitted him to deliver his embassy according to his own usage, but
that on no account would he be permitted to fire volleys of musketry
in the imperial court. Possibly as a means of giving the emperor an
opportunity of expressing his displeasure at the arrogance of the
Spanish ambassador, it was decided that he was to enter and leave the
audience chamber twice,--the first time as the ambassador of the king
and viceroy, the second time in his capacity of captain general.

On arriving at the palace, Viscaino was notified of this arrangement,
and when he made his first entrance the emperor bowed his head in
silent acknowledgment of the series of bows with which he advanced
and presented the letter and viceregal gifts.[3]

  FOOTNOTE:

  [3] These gifts consisted, in the first case, of the clock,
      manufactured in Madrid, which the Japanese described as
      a “self-sounding bell,” and copied with such success that
      Japanese clocks subsequently became famous as articles of
      commerce.

      Besides this, the viceregal gifts consisted of the royal
      portraits already mentioned; of a water-proof coat, two
      saddles, a roll of paper, two barrels of Spanish wine, two
      sets of the implements used in falconry, and a roll of
      ribbon with gold braid, such as was used in Spain to adorn
      gala shoes.

When Viscaino entered the second time, he was received on a lower
platform, and the emperor with what is described as “greater
severity” bowed his head only at the captain general’s entrance and
exit, being apparently absorbed in examining the royal portraits just
received.

When the friars offered their gifts, they were spoken to with great
friendliness by the emperor, who asked them many questions. A message
was sent to the ambassador, who was waiting outside, telling him that
the emperor had been pleased to see him, that he was to go back to
his lodgings, and that the emperor would speak to him later on--a
promise which was never fulfilled.

The following days were spent in an interchange of visits with
court officials. One of the ladies of the imperial palace, a devout
Christian convert named Julia, went to visit the ambassador and
hear mass at his residence. Her example was followed by a number of
Christian Japanese, who were received with much affection by the
Franciscan friars. Many other Japanese also came and expressed their
desire to be taught the Catholic religion and to be baptized.

Meanwhile General Viscaino was preparing petitions to the emperor,
which were worded as follows:--

  “Sebastian Viscaino, Captain General of Phillip, King of
  Spain, says:--

  “That he carries an order from his king and the viceroy of New
  Spain to make a survey of all the ports of this kingdom from
  Nagasaki to its northernmost limits, providing your Imperial
  Majesty grants the permission to do so. He is to make charts
  and take soundings, so that if obliged to take shelter from
  storms, Spanish vessels on their way from Luzon to New Spain
  may know which are the best ports to enter, and may not be
  wrecked and lost as heretofore. Viscaino begs, as mercy, that
  a Japanese official be sent to accompany him, and to obtain
  ships and provisions for him everywhere at moderate prices.
  He ends with the promise that when the survey map is made, he
  will send one copy to the emperor and another to his lord and
  king.”

In a second petition Viscaino requests permission to build a ship,
so that when he returns to New Spain in the vessel in which he came,
he could fill the new one with Japanese products, which he wished
to take home as presents. He begs that the emperor will aid him
by issuing an order that wood, carpenters, blacksmiths and other
necessary workmen be supplied to him at reasonable rates such as are
paid by his Imperial Majesty. He also asks that a Japanese official
be placed in charge of the building of the vessel, and adds that he
would gratefully receive this favor in the name of his king, for
whom the ship was intended, and that he would return in it to Japan
in the following year, with a view to promoting the friendship and
commercial treaty already existing.

In the third remarkable petition Viscaino makes the false assertion
that he had come to Japan for the sole purpose of bringing thither
the Japanese vassals of his Imperial Majesty, and of returning the
money lent to Rodrigo de Vivero. He claims that he had no other
interests or merchandise, but admits that he has some stuffs and
cloths, which he was obliged to sell in Japan in order to provide
food for his men and to build the ship mentioned in the previous
petition. He complains that when he attempted to sell the stuffs in
the Port of Uraga, he was prevented from doing so by some Japanese
courtiers, who stated that his Majesty needed said stuffs for his
personal use. If this is the case, he says, “the whole ship’s cargo
and its men are at the emperor’s disposal. If not, then will his
Majesty please send an order, so that now, and whenever he may
return to this land from New Spain or Luzon, General Viscaino can
sell such stuffs free from duty or taxation.” It would be well, he
adds, to settle once and for all time what was to be done, so that
one could know whether to return another time to Japan and whether
peace and amity are to continue. Viscaino closes his note by stating
“that in New Spain the Japanese merchants were allowed to sell their
merchandise without paying duties or taxes of any kind.”

The imperial message brought to Viscaino, after four days, stated
that the orders had been given, and that he would be permitted to
build a ship wherever he chose to do so--that the material and
workmen would be furnished him at very moderate prices, and that the
concessions to survey the ports and to sell stuffs free of taxation
would be granted him. Not satisfied with this, Viscaino sent his
expression of thanks, somewhat contradictorily adding, “that he
wished to inform the emperor that the principal business for which he
had come to Japan was to find out whether his Majesty intended to be
friends with the Dutch and allow them to enter his realm. If so, the
Spanish king would not like his vassals to come to Japan to trade,
and the peace begun could not be continued, for many reasons which he
would explain, if permitted to do so, to his Majesty and the council.”

On the next day at the house of the emperor’s secretary, the latter
and the president of the council listened attentively to Viscaino’s
representations. He asked them, in the first place, for a written
acknowledgment that he had faithfully brought back the Japanese
who had gone to New Spain, and that they themselves had testified
that they had been well treated during their voyage. He added that
if any one had any complaint to make, he would certainly give him
satisfaction. He also wished a written acknowledgment of his having
paid all that was lent to Don Rodrigo de Vivero, and the proceeds of
the sale at Acapulco of the Japanese ship in which Vivero had made
the voyage to New Spain. He here volunteered to pay any debt that
might be found remaining due, and then asked for a return of the
bonds or bills which Vivero had left as guarantees for the payment of
the debt. The Japanese officials told him that they considered his
requests just ones, and that both of them would immediately report
to the emperor on the subject. After having thus emphasized the
faithfulness and honesty with which he had performed his mission,
Viscaino made an attack upon the Dutch, which was to cost him and
his countrymen dear. He accused certain Dutch traders who had made
a mercantile contract with the emperor a year previous, of being
pirates, who, after committing many robberies, had been pursued
and chastised by the governor of the Philippines. He affirmed that
they certainly would not be able to fulfill their contract with
the emperor, and asked “what friendship could the latter have with
people who were not only thieves, but were disobedient and in revolt
against their lord, the King of Spain!” He requested his auditors
to reflect upon what he had already written on this subject to the
emperor, and also requested an answer as to whether the Japanese
intended to tolerate Dutch trade or not. He expressed a wish not to
have to leave Japan without knowing the result of his embassy, so as
to report it to the King of Spain. Viscaino’s listeners expressed
great surprise at his accusations against the Dutch traders and
withdrew. On the following day they sent a message, saying that they
had reported all he had told them to the emperor; that as they knew
he intended to spend some time in Japan, an answer would be sent
him before his departure for New Spain; that he was to go in God’s
name to the Port of Uraga. On his return to that port, he found
that the emperor had cut off the free supply of food and lodgings
which had heretofore been given to Viscaino. Viscaino interprets
this act as a token of the displeasure the emperor was said to have
felt at the Spanish embassy having visited the court of his son, the
shogun, before his. He also accuses the emperor of an avarice which
was increasing with advancing years, and makes other derogatory
remarks concerning the aged monarch. A few days later the Spaniards
entered the domain of the shogun, who sought to make amends for his
father’s abrupt action, and attributed it to the influence of his
counsellors. Notwithstanding Viscaino’s report against the emperor,
he boasts further on of his embassy not having cost his king one
hundred pesos, or dollars--a fact, however, which he attributes to
the shogun’s generosity and to his own practical wisdom and industry,
which enabled him, as he said, “to make a quarter of a dollar of his
Majesty’s treasury appear like a million.”

A series of disappointments awaited the Spaniards at Uraga. Their
sale of stuffs did not yield as much as they expected, for being
unknown to them, the Japanese did not appreciate the real value of
the finest woolen cloths and friezes, and would not buy them. Then,
when the cost of building a vessel was estimated, it was found to
exceed by far the means at their command; so it was determined to
repair and strengthen the vessel they had come in, and to make the
survey of the ports in it alone. It was found necessary before
starting to apply to the shogun not only for credentials to the lords
and princes who resided in the north of Japan and were not on good
terms with the emperor, but also for the escort of a high official,
who, in the name of the shogun, was to oblige people to furnish the
necessary provisions and all assistance needed in making the survey.
The shogun, who was under the influence of Friar Luis Sotelo, and
showed a decided leaning towards Christianity, sent kindly messages
to Viscaino, and expressed the wish to see and speak with him at
length on his return concerning the friendly relations between his
country and the Spanish nation. He also sent word, through the
commander of the junks, that he had heard that Viscaino had given up
building the vessel for lack of means, and he deplored his father’s
parsimoniousness. He expressed the desire that the emperor’s license
to build the vessel be transferred to him, as he would like to carry
out the plan himself. Viscaino states that he gave him the imperial
permit on account of being under obligations to him, and as it was
important not to offend him on account of his friendliness towards
Christians. Viscaino caused, however, a document to be drawn, in
which he ventured to impose the following conditions upon the
shogun:--

  “The ship was not to carry more than one hundred tons. It was
  to be placed under his entire command; only two Japanese were
  to go as stewards of the ship and of its cargo. Not a cent was
  to be spent on the vessel by the Spaniards, but, on arrival
  at Vera Cruz, if the viceroy desired to buy the ship, it was
  to be given him at a moderate price. If not wanted, it was to
  sail for Manila, or wherever the viceroy might command.”

It is needless to state that these conditions, which Viscaino
attempted to impose upon the Japanese ruler who was to defray the
entire expense of the building, were never fulfilled. What happened
will be told later on. While at Uraga, Viscaino had a memorable
interview with William Adams, the staunch partisan of his former
employers, the Dutch, for whom, in 1611, he had obtained permission
to establish a ship-building factory at Firando. Two Dutchmen had
arrived at Uraga while Viscaino was there, carrying many presents for
the emperor, who through William Adams’ influence received them very
well, and gave them all the permits and grants they asked for. In
their name Adams went to see the Spanish general, and demanded from
him an explanation as to “why he had told the emperor that the Dutch
were a bad people, who were disobedient and in revolt against their
king, and who went about robbing and creating trouble.” Viscaino’s
characteristic answer, which is verbally given, was, “that it was
perfectly true that he had said all that to the emperor, and much
more besides, and that he had fallen short of the truth in describing
what the Dutch were. He ended by stating that he was ready to give
them any satisfaction they desired.” He adds, “that it was agreed
that the Dutchmen were to meet him, but that they did not dare to
do so and adopted the alternative of leaving Uraga at night without
seeing him.”

Viscaino little imagined when he wrote thus disparagingly of the
Hollanders, that these same men were about to secure a monopoly of
Japanese trade which was to last for as many centuries as the dynasty
of the Tokugawas.

The above encounter, in which William Adams called Viscaino to
account, is of special interest, for it was to him that Friar Cavo
attributes the total failure of Viscaino’s embassy, and the fresh
persecution of the Catholics which began at about this time.

According to Cavo, the emperor, surprised at the Spanish ambassador’s
over-bearing threats and demands, asked William Adams, his friend
and adviser, whether such was the style of European nations. The
answer was an emphatic denial, followed by a warning to the emperor
“to be on his guard against the Spaniards, because it was their
desire to dominate the whole world. For this purpose, they sent out
as precursors the Jesuits, who, under the pretext of teaching the
Christian religion, incited the people to rise in rebellion against
their sovereigns. By this method they had made themselves masters of
immense possessions in Asia and America. It was because they knew
all this that the Dutch had cast off the yoke of their rule, and
that the English and Germans were in warfare against them.” It was
evidently immediately after his interview with Viscaino, in which
Adams had ascertained the Spaniards’ antagonism towards the Dutch and
more besides, that he returned to the emperor’s court, and informed
his Majesty that they knew for a certainty that the principal aim
of the Spanish ambassador’s visit was to discover certain islands
of gold and silver. Adams and the merchants then took the liberty
of asking the emperor how he could possibly have given the Spanish
general permission to make a survey of the entire coast and of all
the ports of his realm. The Spaniards, they said, were bellicose and
skilled in the use of arms, and might come with a great armada to
conquer Japan. In England and Holland no such permission would have
been given to the Spaniards.

The old emperor evidently resented the criticism of his action--even
from his friends, for he loftily answered, “that if the English
and Dutch would not grant such a permission, they must indeed be
cowardly, since they admitted fear of another nation.” He said that
“he had certainly not understood that the Spaniards had any such evil
intentions, but that even if they had, he would have given them as
ample a permission as he had done. He would have no fear even if the
whole of Spain came against him, for he had enough men to defend him,
so that this matter did not cause him the slightest anxiety. As to
the islands that were to be discovered in his realm, he would like to
know where they were--what report had been made about them and what
their riches were reputed to be. If they belonged to his crown, he
would know how to defend them, and if not, he wished the Spaniards
good luck in discovering them, and he hoped that they would find
them situated at a convenient distance, so that he could enter into
mercantile relations with them, this being what he cared for most.”
The Dutchmen then told him that the rumor of the existence of these
islands was attributable to some Portuguese, who, being lost at sea,
had come across them. They had spent several days on them, saw that
they were inhabited, and that the land was fertile and produced gold
and silver, but they could not tell in what latitude, nor at how
many leagues from Japan the islands were situated.

The emperor somewhat sarcastically rejoined that “it would certainly
require great good fortune for any one to discover anything so vague.”

Although the Dutchmen were dissatisfied at the way in which the
emperor had received their communications, they evidently bore fruit.
Soon after, a Portuguese frigate arrived, with Don Nuño de Sotomayor,
the Admiral of the Fleet of the Indies, as ambassador to Iyeyasu and
the shogun. With the presents he offered, he made a request that the
Portuguese be allowed to return to trade in Japan, stating that they
would like to do so under certain conditions, the principal one being
the removal of the governor of Nagasaki, against whom they had made
some complaint. The emperor received them coolly and simply said that
“if they desired to come to his country, they might do so, but that
it was not for them to ask him to reform things therein, and that he
did not wish to grant their request.” The Portuguese left without
obtaining more than this rebuff, and “with evil disposition towards
the Japanese.”

Doubtless the enemies of the Spaniards likewise brought to Iyeyasu’s
notice a disagreeable little episode which occurred at about that
time, and cited it as an example of Spanish commercial dishonesty.
It seems that no less a personage than a son of the commander of
the junks had entrusted a member of Don Rodrigo Vivero’s suite with
a quantity of valuable merchandise, which was taken to Mexico and
sold there. From the proceeds the Spaniards were to buy certain
woolen stuffs and fine cloths for the Japanese nobleman’s household.
The latter learned, on Viscaino’s arrival, that the Japanese goods
had been sold in Mexico, and also that Vivero’s follower had
sent him nothing in return. It seems that it was with difficulty
that the ambassador pacified the incensed creditor, and tried to
exonerate Vivero from all blame, stating that he doubtless knew
nothing about his follower’s affairs. In order to hush the matter
up, however, Viscaino and the Franciscan friars jointly compensated
the Japanese lord with woolen stuffs of the value of seven hundred
dollars. Commenting on this, Viscaino expresses himself as follows,
unconsciously rendering a tribute to Japanese commercial honesty, at
that period:--

  “This transaction was wrong and deserving of
  punishment--especially with people like these, who are so
  punctual and exact, and are unacquainted with such dealings.”

Unfortunately, about this period, a high official in the house
of the aged emperor was found guilty of an unprecedented act of
deceitfulness and treachery, and, on being tortured, confessed that
not only he but his wife and other fellow servants had been converted
to Christianity by the Spanish friars. All were arrested and
threatened with punishment and the confiscation of their property if
they did not abjure their new faith. Many remained firm and incurred
disgrace and loss of property, among them the lady Julia, who was
expelled from the palace with shorn head and exiled to an island.

Shortly afterwards, under pretext of having to extend the boundaries
of the town, the Franciscan monastery at Yedo was destroyed, and
throughout the country the Christian churches and monasteries were
razed to the ground. An ill-timed speech delivered by Viscaino
during his visit to a Japanese lord was also doubtless reported to
the emperor, and must have prejudiced him still more against the
Spanish influence. Viscaino had assured his Japanese host “that the
latter could not give greater satisfaction to the King of Spain
than by allowing the friars to enter his domain and preach to his
vassals--thus establishing permanent peace. For the King of Spain,”
he said, “did not care about trade with Japan, nor any temporal
interests, for God had given him many kingdoms and dominions. The
only inducement that his Christian Majesty had (to enter into
relations with Japan) was a pious desire that all nations should be
taught the holy Catholic faith, and thus be saved.”

While the emperor, under the influence of his English and Dutch
protestant advisers, daily took more active measures to expel the
Roman catholicism introduced by the Spaniards and Portuguese,
Viscaino was sailing northward, surveying ports and thickly populated
islands, and bestowing upon them the names of his patron saints! He
little thought, as he took his soundings, and in the absence of a
Spanish cosmographer, superintended the drawing of his charts by a
Japanese artist, that he had become the unconscious educator of the
Japanese, and that they, and never the Spaniards, were to make sole
use of the results of his trained skill.

His charts, of which he duly sent the promised copies to the
emperor and shogun, were examined with great interest by more than
one Japanese nobleman. One lord, the coast of whose domain he had
surveyed, sent him presents and a message, saying “that he much
esteemed the trouble Viscaino was taking in discovering towns of his
dominion, that he was delighted to hear that there were good ports in
his land, and that he would much like to see the map of demarcation
and the paintings which had been made.”

Everywhere Viscaino and his companions were well received and
generously entertained. Friar Luis Sotelo accompanied him for part
of the time, and was with him when he visited Masumane, the powerful
Lord of Oxo, who had displayed such interest in Spanish musketry at
Yedo. This prince welcomed the Spanish general, and particularly
Friar Sotelo, with utmost affection, respect and reverence, and
insisted upon serving food and drink to them with his own hands. As a
pledge of a friendship which he faithfully kept, he changed his sword
for Viscaino’s dagger, and, on receiving this, kissed its crossed
handle, and placed it on his head. He displayed his socialistic
tendencies and esteem for Christians by bestowing a title on one of
his own servants, who was a convert, and by inviting him to dine with
him and his Spanish Christian friends. Thereupon, naturally enough,
many other members of Prince Masumane’s household crowded around the
friar, kissed the hem of his robe, and announced their intention
to frequent the Franciscan monastery and study the Christian
religion. Masumane from the first exhibited the greatest interest and
inclination towards the Catholic faith, proved himself a true friend
and protector of the Christians, and ultimately became a convert with
all of his family, and a large number of his vassals.

At the beginning of December, General Viscaino had reached 40 degrees
north latitude. On interrogating the natives he found that they knew
the use of the compass, and was told that there was a distance of
about sixty leagues from the extremity of Japan to Corea, and that
before reaching Tartary, in the channel lay a great island called
Yeso, which was inhabited by people like savages who were so covered
by hair that only their eyes were visible, and who habitually visited
Japan in the months of July and August for trading purposes. Intense
cold set in, and as Viscaino concluded that ports situated on the
northwestern and southeastern shores of Japan would be of little use
to vessels trading from the Philippines, he decided to return to
Uraga, where he arrived on the 4th of January and met the members of
his crew who had remained behind. He lingered at Uraga until the end
of May selling his woolen stuffs at Yedo, “with difficulty and poor
profits,” and then started on a survey of the coast lying between
Uraga and Nagasaki.

He first went to Ito, however, where, as agreed upon, the ship was
being built by Japanese workmen under the patronage of the shogun.
He found that beyond the preparing of the timber nothing had been
done to advance its construction, and was struck by the lukewarmness
and slowness with which the work was progressing. The general gave
instructions to the shipbuilders by word and by letter, and then
proceeded on his journey. On returning to Miaco on July 2, he had
four copies made of his survey charts, or as he calls them his
“Discovery of Japanese Ports,” these being intended for Iyeyasu, the
shogun, the King of Spain and himself. From Corunga, a week later,
he sent a message to the emperor, asking permission to start on his
homeward voyage. It is evident that the emperor understood that
Viscaino intended to sail directly to New Spain, for he sent word
that Viscaino was to go on to Uraga, whither his answer would reach
him, and there the emperor sent him a gift and a letter for the
Viceroy of Mexico. The fact of his not sending any letter or gift to
the King of Spain by Viscaino proved that he, probably enlightened by
William Adams, had not taken very seriously Viscaino’s pretence to be
the ambassador of the king as well as of the viceroy. Viscaino, who
had been informed that the emperor was so incensed at the Christians,
on account of the treachery in his household, that no Christian dared
approach him, complains that the emperor’s answer to the viceroy was
very different from what had been promised, since in it his Majesty
wrote “that he did not like” the Christian religion.

The complete text of this remarkable letter has just been published
by Señor Lera, who wrongly states, however, on page 23, that Spanish
translations of both letters are contained on page 185, Vol. VIII,
of the “Documentos Ineditos,” and on page 22, that the first galleon
which sailed from Uraga for Acapulco carried six letters to the
viceroy.

In Iyeyasu’s letter, dated July 18, 1612, which closes the
official correspondence between him and the viceroy of New Spain,
he courteously thanks the viceroy for his presents and letter,
and “expresses the hope that Heaven will permit that their mutual
relations will be as close as those which result from familiar
intercourse between neighboring countries.” He remarks “that the
interchange of merchandise could but be of mutual advantage”; and
then expounds the elements of the Japanese religion, explaining that
“in Japan, in making solemn compacts or agreements, it was customary
to appeal to the gods to act as witnesses of their sincerity. These
gods infallibly reward those who are faithful to their promises, and
punish those who violate them.” Iyeyasu next asks, “whether the path
of all virtue is not to be found in the practice of the five virtues:
Humanity, Justice, Courtesy, Prudence, and Fidelity?”

He then makes a statement which reveals too well what unfortunate
experiences he had had in his dealings with the very people whose
intercourse he had cordially desired for many years, and what
erroneous ideas concerning the Christian religion had reached him in
his seclusion within his palace walls, for he says:--

  “The doctrine followed in your country differs entirely from
  ours, therefore, I am persuaded it would not suit us.”

“In the Buddhist writings it says that it is difficult to convert
those who are not disposed towards being converted. It is best,
therefore, to put an end to the preaching of your doctrine on our
soil.

“On the other hand, you can multiply the voyages of merchant ships,
and thus promote mutual interests and relations. Your ships can
enter Japanese ports without exception. I have given strict orders
to this effect.” The presents sent with this letter are said to have
been “five pairs of gilt screens and a map of Japan.”

The shogun’s letter was brief and reserved, but entirely friendly.
He gives thanks for the viceroy’s letter and presents, states “that
intercourse and inclination, mocking at distance, have brought them
together as neighbors,” and adds “that he would await with impatience
the merchant vessel, which, once a year, was to bring him news of the
viceroy and his nation.”

In conclusion he mentions three breast-plates and other pieces of
Japanese armor, which he begs the viceroy “to accept as a proof of
his devotion.”

At the time this letter was written, the shogun, who did not share
his father’s views, and was under the influence of Friar Luis Sotelo,
was preparing to send an embassy to New Spain on his own account,
with a view of counteracting his father’s severity and establishing
direct relations between New Spain and his own domain.

The first step towards the execution of his plan had been his request
to Viscaino to transfer to him the emperor’s license to build a
vessel, and it would seem as though the whole affair had been kept a
profound secret from his father and from General Viscaino. As soon as
the latter had departed, presumably for New Spain, the rigging and
fitting up of the vessel, which seems to have been purposely delayed,
were rapidly completed. Five weeks after Viscaino’s departure, Friar
Sotelo sailed from Uraga for New Spain with credentials appointing,
him the shogun’s ambassador, and with a numerous suite of Japanese.
They had barely reached the open sea, however, when they were
overtaken by a storm which drove their ship upon the rocky coast and
completely wrecked it. The fact that when building it the dimensions
planned by Viscaino had been altered and the probability that the
Japanese were as yet unskilled in the navigation of similar vessels
may in part account for the loss of the vessel. The shogun, who, for
unknown reasons, cast the entire responsibility and blame for the
disaster upon Friar Sotelo, had him cast into prison and sentenced
to death. He released and pardoned him, however, at the instance of
Masumane, who took Friar Sotelo to his court and made him his chief
counsellor.

While all this was occurring at Uraga, General Viscaino was cruising
about in search of the two islands, for it had never been his
intention to sail for New Spain until he had accomplished what he
and his father, the viceroy, had decided to be the principal aim of
his voyage, namely, the discovery of the islands described by the
Portuguese mariners. To his chagrin, he had had to give up setting
out with the second ship, as he had planned from the beginning, for
it had been built of a greater capacity, and although he had seen it
actually afloat at Uraga, it could not be finished before he left.

On the 16th of September, Viscaino, with a reduced crew, and short
of many necessary provisions, sailed from Uraga. On the 25th,
after covering more than two hundred leagues, he found himself in
the latitude in which, according to certain charts, the islands
were supposed to lie. Finding no sign of these, the general held a
consultation with the pilots on board as to what would be the best
method to pursue in searching for them. All agreed to sail southward
to 32 degrees of latitude, and did so, coming across many signs of
a proximity to land, such as floating pieces of pumice stone, ducks
and turtles. But they did not find the islands. The general, who it
is recorded would not allow himself to think of returning to Acapulco
until he had ascertained whether the islands existed or not, gave
orders to retrace the ship’s course. They continued their search with
extraordinary diligence until October 12th, when some of the sailors
became disheartened. The pilot then declared that, to his belief,
the islands did not exist, and that he had exceeded his obligations
and the viceroy’s orders. Some of the crew mutinied, and, as he had
no armed men to back him, the general, to avoid being killed, was
obliged to pacify them with good words. On the 14th a violent storm
overtook them, followed on the 18th by a hurricane which obliged them
to cut down the mainmast. For eleven days they were in great peril,
and suffered from lack of water and food, all cooking utensils having
been washed overboard. Giving themselves up as lost, and realizing
the importance of continuing their voyage to New Spain, they held a
consultation and decided that there was nothing to do but return to
Japan, obtain a loan from the emperor, which their king would approve
of, and make preparations to go back to New Spain in the following
year. With a vessel which owed its escape from foundering to the
lining which had been given it in Uraga, they reached this port,
where further trials and deceptions awaited them.

The first news learned by Viscaino, on reaching the harbor of Uraga,
was the history of the shogun’s attempt to send an embassy and the
loss of his vessel. The following is his characteristic comment on
this disaster:--

  “We found on reaching Uraga that the ship ‘San Sebastian’ had
  sailed and had run aground about a league from port, because
  the Japanese had insisted on carrying out their will, and had
  loaded it without permission from the Spaniards. The Japanese
  recognized their mistake.”

On landing, Viscaino at once sent messages to Iyeyasu and the shogun,
announcing his return and explaining his misfortunes and the absolute
necessity there was for him to obtain means to fit himself out for
his return journey to Mexico in the following year.

The answer he received was that both sovereigns were grieved at his
hardships, and that he was not to be troubled, as they would furnish
him with what was necessary; that the emperor was about to visit his
son at Yedo, and that, while there, both would discuss what was to
be done. As soon as the general heard that the emperor had reached
Yedo, he went thither to see him and solicit the loan he had asked
for. He spent five whole months making extraordinary efforts, by
means of presents and petitions, to attain his end. He underwent many
hardships and suffered from exposure to cold--even waiting for hours
by the roadside and in the places where he expected the emperor to
pass when out hunting, but he never succeeded in speaking to him, nor
did his petitions ever reach their destination, being intercepted by
the secretaries and counsellors.

All this did not correspond with what had been promised him, and it
was but natural he should abuse the Japanese, and accuse them of bad
faith, etc. Later on he learned the cause of the treatment he had
received and exonerated the emperor’s counsellors from blame. It
seems that a friar, whose name and whose order Viscaino withholds,
had sent a communication to the emperor, stating that he had heard
that the general was soliciting a loan of six thousand dollars, to
be repaid in New Spain. He warned the emperor and his counsellors
to be careful, because Viscaino carried no authorization from the
viceroy or from the King of Spain to make a loan there, that he
had no means of repaying it, and that none of the friars would be
responsible for the debt. Naturally the emperor withheld the loan,
but kept Viscaino waiting in uncertainty for five months. Meanwhile
the latter received an offer from certain Spaniards to loan him the
sum he needed, the capital and interest to be payable in New Spain.
This offer was joyfully accepted, and Viscaino drew up a mortgage
of his and the king’s property to give as security. But the friars
warned the Spaniards also, stating that they had their grave doubts
as to whether the loan would ever be repaid, and other things which,
Viscaino says, could not bear repetition. In his dire necessity he
called together his men, who were suffering from hunger, explained
the situation and told them that nothing remained but for him to try
to sell in Yedo at auction all he possessed--not only his negro slave
and the mattresses from his own bed, but also the merchandise he had
bought on commission for several noblemen of Mexico. He appealed
to them to follow his example, and to sell all their personal
belongings, so that they would be able to pay what they owed, repair
their vessel and sail for New Spain. He thought that even if they had
to live on rice and water alone during the whole voyage, it would
be better than “to remain in the heathenish country they were in.”
When on the next day he endeavored to collect the clothing, etc., in
order to take all to Yedo for sale, the majority of his men excused
themselves, some hid their belongings and others sold them secretly
and deserted. Being powerless, as he says, to “exercise the power of
royal justice,” Viscaino confesses that he thought it best “to be
silent and dissimulate.” So he collected all he possessed and went to
Yedo to dispose of it, with the intention of paying his debts, and
then meeting the expenses of his return voyage by taking freight and
Spanish and Japanese passengers on his vessel.

The Spaniards agreed to this and some Japanese were inclined to
do so, when another friar of the same order crossed Viscaino’s
plans--not only hindering the sale of his effects and the realization
of his project, but also preventing Japanese merchants from even
visiting the general’s lodgings.

After making certain accusations against the friar, who seems to have
been no other than Luis Sotelo, Viscaino describes how he became so
discouraged that he actually fell ill. He was rapidly growing worse
when a new vista suddenly opened out before him. Agents sent by Lord
Masumane arrived, and offered to employ him and his men to build a
vessel and to navigate it, when ready, to New Spain. Viscaino, who
had had to relinquish all hope of ever being able to return in his
own ship, which had become unseaworthy, only too gladly drew up a
contract, the terms of which were, as he states, most favorable to
his Majesty, the King of Spain. Masumane’s agents undertook not only
to give the remainder of the Spanish crew, consisting of twenty-six
pilots, carpenters and other workmen, the same salary they had
been receiving from the crown, but also to advance them good wages
and free transportation for themselves and their belongings to the
prince’s domain.

General Viscaino, the royal constable, the surgeon and three or four
other officers were to remain in the pay of the Spanish crown, but
were to have free board and lodgings from the time they embarked
until they reached Acapulco. Over and above these terms of agreement,
which were faithfully kept by the Japanese, Viscaino imposed upon the
agents two conditions which Masumane did not subsequently recognize.
The first of these was that all employees, whether Japanese or
Spaniards, were to be exclusively under the general’s orders. The
second was that, if, previous to sailing, no permission was received
from the viceroy of Mexico for Japanese to go to New Spain, only a
few Japanese were to be allowed to fill menial positions on board,
and only in case they were needed. This clause, similar to that
introduced by Viscaino in his previous contract, absolutely confirms
the statement of the Japanese merchants who returned from New Spain
and reported that they had been asked not to return, and shows that
the vice-regal government of Mexico had received orders from Spain
to follow a policy of exclusion in order to protect Spanish-Asiatic
trade.

It was not until the 26th of October, 1613, that the vessel was ready
for the voyage. Viscaino complains of having had great trouble with
the Japanese, and of suffering much from the constant interference of
“a friar who had persuaded the Japanese to help him to further a plan
he had in mind.” At the last moment, Viscaino relates, “the friar
took entire command of everything, embarked as many Japanese as he
wanted, and constituted himself Governor and Captain General of the
vessel.” The friar was no less a personage than Friar Luis Sotelo,
whose previous expedition as the shogun’s ambassador had ended so
disastrously. This time he and a Japanese nobleman, named Hasekura
Rokuyemon, set out as co-ambassadors for Masumane, the Lord of Oxo,
with a suite of one hundred and eighty Japanese, including sixty
Samurai and several merchants. They were provided with letters not
only to the viceroy of Mexico, but also to the King of Spain and to
Pope Paul V.

Viscaino pathetically records that he protested in vain, and finally,
in order to avert a great disaster, was forced “to dissimulate and to
embark as a mere passenger” upon the ship he and his men had built.
He adds that the humor of the Japanese was such that they actually
would have killed him had he attempted to do otherwise.

It would seem as though Viscaino left the vessel at the first Mexican
port which was touched, for it is from Zacatula, north of Acapulco,
that Viscaino dispatched, on January 22, 1614, his report to his
father, Don Luis de Velasco, then living in Spain, and whom he
probably soon joined. He seems to have ended his days in obscurity,
for the date of his death was unknown to his Mexican biographer,
Beristian.

The somewhat lengthy superscription of Viscaino’s report conclusively
reveals the true aim of his embassy, which he took such pains to
conceal from the Japanese, but of which they were informed by William
Adams and his Dutch friends. It reads as follows:--

  “Account of the voyage made for the discovery of the Islands
  named ‘The Rich in Gold and Silver,’ situated in Japan, Don
  Luis de Velasco being Viceroy of New Spain, and his son,
  Sebastian Viscaino, the General of the Expedition.”

Here ends the history of the first and last Spanish vice-regal
ambassador to Japan.

Friar Sotelo’s arrival in Mexico as the ambassador of the Protector
of Christianity in Japan, and with a flock of would-be converts,
was regarded as a triumph of the church and particularly of the
deservedly much loved Franciscan order. At Acapulco, the town
officials determined to honor the members of an embassy to the
viceroy, the king and the pope with extraordinary honors, and greeted
it with salutes of artillery. Its members were escorted with music to
luxuriously appointed lodgings, and the festivities were crowned by
a gala bull-fight. The viceroy sent orders that provisions for the
journey to the capital were to be provided, and a large mounted and
armed escort was to accompany the embassy on its long and somewhat
perilous journey. In all villages, towns and cities along their route
the travelers were received with military music and triumphal arches.
Carpets strewn with pieces of gold were spread on their pathway, and
they were lodged and lavishly entertained at the royal houses. In
the capital, where they were anxiously expected, they were lodged in
a palace near the Convent of San Francisco, where they were at once
visited by the archbishop, the judges and officers of the inquisition
and the high nobility and gentlemen of Mexico.

Having opportunely arrived in Holy Week, the Japanese were able to
witness the solemn processions and impressive religious ceremonies
held in the cathedral and churches of Mexico, the interiors of which
were beautifully decorated with flowers. They were so impressed with
what they saw that seventy-eight members of the Japanese ambassador’s
suite expressed their desire to be baptized. This sacrament was
performed in the Church of San Francisco with great solemnity and
the sanction of the archbishop’s presence, members of the highest
nobility acting as sponsors. Subsequently the Japanese ambassador
expressed his desire to be baptized, but after consultation the
archbishop and the commissary-general of the Franciscan order advised
him to defer this ceremony until his arrival at the Spanish court.

It is recorded that on the day the Japanese ambassador went to “kiss
the hand” of the viceroy, he distributed new liveries to his servants
and went in state to the palace, with a mounted escort.

The viceroy, Don Diego Fernandez de Cordova, Marquis of Guadalcazár,
who received him with great delight and courtesy, expressed his
satisfaction at the embassy’s having been sent from Japan. He
consented to give the Japanese passports allowing them to go to
Spain, but informed them that it would be necessary for them to
obtain from the King of Spain permission to return to Mexico; a
detail which again reveals the existence of an established policy of
exclusion.

On account of the difficulties of transporting so many persons,
it was decided that the majority of the ambassador’s suite was to
remain in Mexico. The baptized converts were sent back to Acapulco,
and the few merchants who had accompanied the embassy remained in
the country, doubtless studying its products and manufactories. The
mercantile relations with Mexico, which are said in the “Japanese
History of Commerce” to have been kept up until 1636, when they
entirely ceased, were probably established by these merchants and
limited to Masumane’s domain.

Friar Sotelo, Masumane’s ambassador, his relatives and the sixty
Samurai departed for Vera Cruz, visiting Puebla, where bull-fights
and tournaments were held in their honor, and where they were lodged
in the Franciscan monastery.

On the 10th of June, after spending four and a half months in Mexico,
the embassy embarked in one of the best Spanish vessels and, escorted
by the fleet commanded by General Antonio de Oquendo, reached Havana
a fortnight later, and finally landed in Spain on the 5th of October,
1614.

The embassy was received with honors in Madrid, where the baptism of
the ambassador was celebrated. He was given the name of the king, who
probably acted as his sponsor, and that of Francis, the founder of
Friar Sotelo’s order.

Friar Cavo states that “this embassy did not succeed in establishing
commercial relations between Spain and Japan on account of the
persecution of Christians going on in the latter country.” It is
obvious, however, that no diplomatic negotiations could possibly
have been entered into by the King of Spain with ambassadors who were
sent by one of the feudal lords and not by the emperor of the country
whence they came.

After a very short stay in Madrid, during which, however, the King
of Spain appointed Friar Sotelo his court preacher, the embassy
went to Rome, where the friars and Hasekura Phillip Francis were
received in audience by the Pope on the 3rd of November, 1615. It is
recorded that after being presented to his Holiness they read him,
probably with a view of obtaining his support, Latin translations
of Masumane’s letters, in which the prince cordially invited
Franciscan friars to his domain, promised to protect all converts
to the Catholic faith, expressed his desire to hold friendship with
his Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, and to enter into direct
commercial relations with Mexico.

The Franciscan friar, Gregorio Petrocha, then made an address,
and a Monsignor answered for the Pope, expressing his joy at the
embassy, his benevolent acceptance of the homage and reverence paid
to the Apostolic See by the “King,” Masumane, who, he hoped, would
soon follow his pious inclination and be baptized. The embassy was
dismissed with presents and a letter for Masumane.

Beristian states that a painting from life of Friar Sotelo and
Hasekura is preserved in the Quirinal Palace, in the ante-chamber of
the chapel.

Señor Lera’s publication contains the only statement I have been able
to find concerning the date of the return of Masumane’s embassy to
Japan. He says that after an absence of six years it reached Nagasaki
in 1620. This prolonged absence seems to indicate that it would have
been dangerous for them to have returned sooner on account of the
emperor’s persecution of the Christians, and the proscription of
their religion. It is not impossible that some of these converted
Japanese remained permanently in Mexico.

Three years after the return of the embassy Iyeyasu died under tragic
circumstances, and was succeeded by his grandson, Iyemitsu, who, in
1624, issued an edict ordering away all foreigners and interdicting
Christianity.

In the following year Friar Sotelo, with several companions, was
burned alive at Bomura, thus realizing, as is quaintly said, “the
desire with which he had come to Japan, to win a martyr’s crown.”

In 1636 all commercial relations with New Spain ceased, and in 1638
the Portuguese were expelled from Japan, and all ports were closed
to foreign traffic. The Dutch alone were tolerated as traders and
settlers, but the latter were virtually imprisoned on the peninsula
of Dashima, where they had a factory.

Iyemitsu completed the system inaugurated by his predecessor, and
put an end to Japanese trade and intercourse with foreign countries
by issuing an edict forbidding his subjects to leave their country,
under pain of capital punishment. He also ordered the destruction of
all vessels of European pattern belonging to Japan. From that time to
1854, when Commander Perry made a treaty with the shogunate at Uraga,
Japan “maintained a most rigid policy of isolation.”

The foregoing history of the events which followed Iyeyasu’s attempt
to establish commercial relations with New Spain, based on original
documents only and here presented for the first time, explains
some of the reasons why, later on, the same emperor decided that
intercourse with European nations positively endangered the integrity
and future of Japan.

All had been simple at first when the Portuguese, regularly meeting
Japanese merchants at the Island of Hirado, traded by barter and
exported from Japan on an average of over three million dollars
a year in gold. The three Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, St.
Francis Xavier, Torres, and Fernandez, who landed in the Province
of Satsuma in 1549, met with unexpected success in introducing the
Catholic religion. The arrival of certain Spanish Franciscan friars,
sent on a mission to Miaco by the governor of Manila, divided the
Christian foreigners and converts in Japan into two rival parties,
one consisting of the Portuguese Jesuits backed by the merchants of
their own country, the other of the Spanish Franciscans supported by
the Manila merchants, who bitterly resented the Portuguese monopoly
of Japanese trade. The arrival of the Spanish Dominicans caused
still further complications; the dissensions among the members and
followers of the three orders giving direct provocation to the
persecution of Christians by the Japanese government. In order to
establish peace, Pope Gregory XIII in 1585 issued a Bull forbidding
all religious orders but that of the Jesuits to exercise priestly
offices in Japan.

Vivero, the first Spanish official who landed in Japan, made efforts
to poison the emperor’s mind against the Portuguese, with a view of
securing the monopoly of gold exportation for the Spaniards. Vivero
and the viceroy of Mexico also ignored Iyeyasu’s request for the
expert Mexican miners, whom he had wished to employ to teach the
Japanese the best methods of working their own gold mines.

Viscaino, the first Spanish ambassador, maligned the Dutch, with
whom a commercial treaty had just been made, and went so far as to
threaten that if the Japanese intended to tolerate the Dutch, the
Spanish king would not allow his subjects to have dealings with
Japan. On the other hand, the protestant Dutch republicans, and their
influential English friend, William Adams, denounced the religion of
the Portuguese and Spaniards, and described the latter’s thirst for
gold and success in conquering many remote countries which yielded
the precious metal.

The revelation that Viscaino’s secret mission was precisely to
discover an unknown source of gold, presumably belonging to his
dominion, was received by Iyeyasu simultaneously with the reproach
of having unsuspectingly granted permission to survey the Japanese
coast, which would unquestionably facilitate any future invasion of
Japan, whether actually intended or not by the Spaniards. It seems
possible that the existence of Viscaino’s charts may have suggested
to the emperor and his counsellors the idea of closing all Japanese
ports to foreign nations.

The discoveries that certain converts made by Japanese missionaries
had pledged their allegiance to a foreign power; that in the
emperor’s own household Christians had been guilty of treachery and
duplicity, and the memory that missionaries, in open defiance of the
emperor’s orders, not only had preached in the streets of Miaco,
but had even erected a church, explain, moreover, why the ruling
class in Japan took alarm, and concluded that the Christian religion
“struck at the root of the political and religious systems of Japan,”
and that “Christians formed a dangerous and anti-national class,
whose extirpation was essential to the political system initiated by
Iyeyasu and perfected by Iyemitsu.”

While it has seemed to me that the foregoing data concerning the
earliest relations between Japan and Mexico were interesting from a
historical point of view, I have also realized that they could but
be of particular value to ethnologists and those who are especially
interested in evidences of Asiatic influences in Mexico and Central
America. To them I venture to recommend the consideration of the
following facts:--

More or less frequent indirect intercourse between Japan and Mexico
undoubtedly took place as soon as communication was established
between the Philippine Islands and Acapulco.

In 1608 there were fifteen thousand Japanese residing in the
Philippines, some of whom were probably employed in the crews of the
galleons, eight of which came to Acapulco each year. In 1610, with
the ex-governor of the Philippines, Vivero, twenty-three Japanese
noblemen and merchants spent five months in Mexico and its capital.

In 1613, one hundred and eighty Japanese spent four and a half months
in Mexico. The majority remained when the embassy departed for
Europe, seventy-eight returning to Acapulco. The presumption is that
they remained there awaiting the return of the ambassadors, which was
delayed for six years.

Iyemitsu’s prohibition to Japanese to leave their country, under
penalty of death, indicates that a large number of persecuted
Christians had been going into voluntary exile. In all probability
some of these, and also members of the Japanese colony in the
Philippines, came to Mexico and settled there. What is more, for
over two hundred years Mexico was the highroad over which passed the
merchandise brought from Spain’s Asiatic possessions, and landed at
Acapulco by vessels whose crews frequently were partly Asiatic.

It is obvious, therefore, that it is the first duty of ethnologists
to assign to the above influx of Japanese into Mexico in historical
times any indications of Asiatic influence that they may detect, and
for anthropologists to consider the more or less limited mingling of
races which doubtless occurred in the 17th century and afterwards.

I will set an example by attributing to the Japanese who visited
Mexico in the 17th century the introduction of the raincoat made of
grass or palm leaves, which is worn by the Indians inhabiting the
Pacific coast of Mexico, and which is said to be identical with that
used in Japan from time immemorial.

In this connection it suffices to point out the significant fact that
the members of Masumane’s suite returned to Acapulco from the City of
Mexico in June, precisely at the beginning of the rainy season. It
being absolutely necessary for them to have some protection from the
torrential showers they were exposed to during their long journey, it
seems more than probable that they deftly manufactured from native
grasses or palm leaves such rain-coats as they had been accustomed to
make and wear in their native land.

The practical lesson thus taught the observant natives and the models
furnished by the rain-coats discarded at the end of the wet season
would surely sufficiently account for the introduction and use to
the present day of these useful and easily manufactured garments, of
which a specimen, bought in the marketplace at Oaxaca, has been sent
by the writer to the Museum of the Department of Anthropology of the
University of California.




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Transcriber’s Note:


Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
this_. Those in bold are surrounded by equal signs, =like this=.
The list of University Publications was consolidated at the end of
the book. Footnotes were renumbered sequentially. Obvious printing
errors, such as partially printed letters and punctuation, were
corrected. Words may have inconsistent hyphenation in the text. Three
misspelled words were corrected.


*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77632 ***