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(24 September 1564 – 16 May 1620), better known in Japanese as , was an English
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...
who, in 1600, was the first Englishman to reach Japan in a ship called 'de Liefde' under the leadership of Jacob Quaeckernaeck, the only surviving ship of a five-ship expedition launched by a Rotterdam East India company(which would later be amalgamated into the United East India Company, the VOC). Of the few survivors of the only ship that reached Japan, Adams and his second mate Jan Joosten were not allowed to leave the country while Jacob Quaeckernaeck and
Melchior van Santvoort Melchior van Santvoort (c. 1570 – 1641) was one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, was a purser on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan in 1600. Some of his shipmates were Jacob Quaeckernaeck, Jan Joosten, and William Ada ...
were permitted to go back to the Dutch Republic to invite them to trade. Adams, along with former second mate Joosten, then settled in Japan, and the two became some of the first (of very few) Western samurai. Soon after Adams' arrival in Japan, he became a key advisor to the '' shōgun''
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...
. Adams directed construction for the shōgun of the first Western-style ships in the country. He was later part of Japan's approving the establishment of trading factories by the Netherlands. He was also highly involved in Japan's Red Seal Asian trade, chartering and serving as captain of four expeditions to Southeast Asia. He died in Japan at age 55. He has been recognised as one of the most influential foreigners in Japan during this period.


Early life

Adams was born in Gillingham, Kent, England. When Adams was twelve his father died, and he was apprenticed to shipyard owner Master Nicholas Diggins at
Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through ...
for the seafaring life. He spent the next twelve years learning shipbuilding,Giles Milton, ''Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan'', 2011, Hachette UK, ,
Chapter Five
/ref>
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...
, and navigation before entering the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. With England at war with Spain, Adams served in the Royal Navy under Sir Francis Drake. He saw naval service against the Spanish Armada in 1588 as master of the ''Richarde Dyffylde'', a resupply ship. Adams was recorded to have married Mary Hyn in the parish church of
St Dunstan's, Stepney St Dunstan's, Stepney, is an Anglican Church which stands on a site that has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets. History In about AD 952, D ...
on 20 August 1589 and they had two children: a son John and a daughter named Deliverance. Soon after, Adams became a pilot for the
Barbary Company The Marocco Company or Barbary Company was a trading company established by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1585 through a patent granted to the Earls of Warwick and Leicester, as well as forty others. When she wrote the patents, Elizabeth emphasi ...
. During this service,
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
sources claim he took part in an expedition to the
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
that lasted about two years, in search of a
Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP) is the shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands of Canada is accordingly called the Northwest Passage ( ...
along the coast of Siberia to the Far East. The veracity of this claim is somewhat suspect, because he never referred to such an expedition in his autobiographical letter written from Japan; its wording implies that the 1598 voyage was his first involvement with the Dutch. The Jesuit source may have misattributed to Adams a claim by one of the Dutch members of Mahu's crew who had been on Rijp's ship during the voyage that discovered Spitsbergen.


Expedition to the Far East

Attracted by the Dutch trade with India, Adams, then 34 years old, shipped as pilot major with a five-ship fleet dispatched from the isle of
Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...
to the Far East in 1598 by a company of Rotterdam merchants (a '' voorcompagnie,'' predecessor of the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock co ...
). His brother Thomas accompanied him. The Dutch were allied with England at that time; both were Protestant nations, and were fighting against Spain for Dutch independence. The Adams brothers set sail from Texel on the ''Hoope'' and joined with the rest of the fleet on 24 June. The fleet consisted of: * the ''Hoope'' ("Hope"), under Admiral
Jacques Mahu Jacob (Jacques) Mahu (1564 – 23 September 1598) was a Dutch merchant and explorer. In 1598, he led an expedition with five vessels organised by Pieter van der Hagen and Johan van der Veeken intended to find a trade route to the Spice Islands a ...
(d. 1598), he was succeeded by
Simon de Cordes Simon de Cordes (born around 1559 – died 11 November 1599) was a Dutch merchant and explorer who after the death of Admiral Jacques Mahu, became leader of an expedition with the goal to achieve the Indies,DE REIS VAN MAHU EN DE CORDES DOOR DE ...
(d. 1599) and Simon de Cordes Jr. This ship was lost near the Hawaiian Islands; * the ''Liefde'' ("Love" or "Charity"), under Simon de Cordes, 2nd in command, succeeded by Gerrit van Beuningen and finally under Jacob Kwakernaak; this was the only ship which reached Japan * the ''Geloof'' ("Faith"), under Gerrit van Beuningen, and in the end,
Sebald de Weert Sebald or Sebalt de Weert (May 2, 1567 – May 30 or June 1603) was a Flemish captain and vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (known in Dutch as ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'', VOC). He is most widely remembered for accurately p ...
; the only ship which came back in Rotterdam. * the ''Trouw'' ("Loyalty"), under Jurriaan van Boekhout (d. 1599) and finally,
Baltazar de Cordes Baltazar de Cordes (16th century–17th century), the brother of Simon de Cordes, was a Dutch corsair who fought against the Spanish during the early 17th century. Born in the Netherlands in the mid-16th century, Cordes began sailing for the ...
; was captured in Tidore. * the ''Blijde Boodschap'' ("Good Tiding" or "The Gospel"), under Sebald de Weert, and later, Dirck Gerritz was seized in Valparaiso.
Jacques Mahu Jacob (Jacques) Mahu (1564 – 23 September 1598) was a Dutch merchant and explorer. In 1598, he led an expedition with five vessels organised by Pieter van der Hagen and Johan van der Veeken intended to find a trade route to the Spice Islands a ...
and
Simon de Cordes Simon de Cordes (born around 1559 – died 11 November 1599) was a Dutch merchant and explorer who after the death of Admiral Jacques Mahu, became leader of an expedition with the goal to achieve the Indies,DE REIS VAN MAHU EN DE CORDES DOOR DE ...
were the leaders of an expedition with the goal to achieve the Chile, Peru and other kingdoms (in New Spain like
Nueva Galicia Nuevo Reino de Galicia (''New Kingdom of Galicia'', gl, Reino de Nova Galicia) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia'') was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain. Nueva ...
;
Captaincy General of Guatemala The Captaincy General of Guatemala ( es, Capitanía General de Guatemala), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala ( es, Reino de Guatemala), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central A ...
; Nueva Vizcaya;
New Kingdom of León The New Kingdom of León ( es, Nuevo Reino de León), was an administrative territory of the Spanish Empire, politically ruled by the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was located in an area corresponding generally to the present-day northeastern Mexica ...
and
Santa Fe de Nuevo México Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico. The ...
). The fleet's original mission was to sail for the west coast of South America, where they would sell their cargo for silver, and to head for Japan only if the first mission failed. In that case, they were supposed to obtain silver in Japan and to buy spices in the
Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ea ...
, before heading back to Europe. Their goal was to sail through the Strait of Magellan to get to their destiny, which scared many sailors because of the harsh weather conditions. The first major expedition around South America was organized by a voorcompagnie, the Rotterdam or Magelhaen Company. It organized two fleets of five and four ships with 750 sailors and soldiers, including 30 English musicians. After leaving
Goeree Goeree-Overflakkee () is the southernmost delta island of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is separated from Voorne-Putten and Hoeksche Waard by the Haringvliet, from the mainland of North Brabant by the Volkerak, and from Scho ...
on 27 June 1598 the ships sailed to
the Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
, but anchored in the Downs till mid July. When the ships approached the shores of North Africa Simon de Cordes realized he had been far too generous in the early weeks of the voyage and instituted a 'bread policy'. At the end of August they landed on
Santiago, Cape Verde Santiago (Portuguese for “ Saint James”) is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation's population. Part of the Sotavento Islands, it lies between the islands of Maio ( to the east) ...
and Mayo off the coast of Africa because of a lack of water and need for fresh fruit. They stayed around three weeks in the hope to buy some goats. Near
Praia Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.Brava, Cape Verde Brava ( Portuguese for "wild" or "brave") is an island in Cape Verde, in the Sotavento group. At , it is the smallest inhabited island of the Cape Verde archipelago, but at the same time the greenest. First settled in the early 16th century, i ...
half of the crew of the "Hope" caught fever there, with most of the men sick, among them Admiral Jacques Mahu. After his death the leadership of the expedition was taken over by Simon de Cordes, with Van Beuningen as vice admiral. Because of contrary wind the fleet was
blown off course To be blown off course in the sailing ship era meant be to diverted by unexpected winds, getting lost possibly to shipwreck or to a new destination. In the ancient world, this was especially a great danger before the maturation of the Maritime Sil ...
(NE in the opposite direction) and arrived at
Cape Lopez Cape Lopez () is a headland on the coast of Gabon, west central Africa. The westernmost point of Gabon, it separates the Gulf of Guinea from the South Atlantic Ocean. Cape Lopez is the northernmost point of a low, wooded island between two mout ...
, Gabon, Central Africa.Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan by Giles Milton An outbreak of scurvy forced a landing on
Annobón Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu an ...
, on 9 December. Several men became sick because of dysentery. They stormed the island only to find that the Portuguese and their native allies had set fire to their own houses and fled into the hills. They put all the sick ashore to recover and left early January. Because of starvation the men fell into great weakness; some tried to eat leather. On 10 March 1599 they reached the
Rio de la Plata Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...
, in Argentina. Early April they arrived at the Strait, 570 km long, 2 km wide at its narrowest point, with an inaccurate chart of the seabed. The wind turned out to be unfavorable and this remained so for the next four months. Under freezing temperatures and poor visibility they caught penguins, seals, mussels, duck and fish. About two hundred crew members died. On 23 August the weather improved.


On the Pacific

When finally the Pacific Ocean was reached on 3 September 1599, the ships were caught in a storm and lost sight of each other. The "Loyalty" and the "Believe" were driven back in the strait. After more than a year each ship went its own way. The ''Geloof'' returned to Rotterdam in July 1600 with 36 men surviving of the original 109 crew. De Cordes ordered his small fleet to wait four weeks for each other on Santa María Island, Chile, but some ships missed the island. Adams wrote "they brought us sheep and potatoes". From here the story becomes less reliable because of a lack of sources and changes in command. In early November, the "Hope" landed on Mocha Island where 27 people were killed by the people from Araucania, including Simon de Cordes. (In the account given to
Olivier van Noort Olivier van Noort (1558 – 22 February 1627) was a Dutch merchant captain and pirate and the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the world.Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 246 Olivie ...
it was said that Simon der Cordes was slain at the Punta de Lavapie, but Adams gives Mocha Island as the scene of his death.) The "Love" hit the island, but went on to Punta de Lavapié near
Concepción, Chile Concepción (; originally: ''Concepción de la Madre Santísima de la Luz'', "Conception of the Blessed Mother of Light") is a city and commune in central Chile, and the geographical and demographic core of the Greater Concepción metropolitan ar ...
. A Spanish captain supplied the "Loyalty" and "Hope" with food; the Dutch helped him against the Araucans, who had killed 23 Dutch, including Thomas Adams (according to his brother in his second letter) and Gerrit van Beuningen, who was replaced by Jacob Quaeckernaeck. During the voyage, before December 1598, Adams changed ships to the ''Liefde'' (originally named ''Erasmus'' and adorned by a wooden carving of Erasmus on her stern). The statue was preserved in the Ryuko-in
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
temple in Sano City, Tochigi-ken and moved to the Tokyo National Museum in the 1920s. The ''Trouw'' reached Tidore (
Eastern Indonesia This is a list of some of the regions of Indonesia. Many regions are defined in law or regulations by the central government. At different times of Indonesia's history, the nation has been designated as having regions that do not necessarily corr ...
). The crew were killed by the Portuguese in January 1601. In fear of the Spaniards, the remaining crews determined to leave the island and sail across the Pacific. It was 27 November 1599 when the two ships sailed westward for Japan. On their way, the two ships made landfall in "certain islands" where eight sailors deserted the ships. Later during the voyage, a
typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
claimed the ''Hope'' with all hands, in late February 1600.


Arrival in Japan

In April 1600, after more than 19 months at sea, a crew of 23 sick and dying men (out of the 100 who started the voyage) brought the ''Liefde'' to anchor off the island of Kyūshū, Japan. Its cargo consisted of eleven chests of trade goods: coarse woolen cloth, glass beads, mirrors, and spectacles; and metal tools and weapons: nails, iron, hammers, nineteen bronze cannon; 5,000 cannonballs; 500 muskets, 300
chain-shot In artillery, chain shot is a type of cannon projectile formed of two sub-calibre balls, or half-balls, chained together. Bar shot is similar, but joined by a solid bar. They were used in the age of sailing ships and black powder cannon to sho ...
, and three chests filled with coats of mail. When the nine surviving crew members were strong enough to stand, they made landfall on 19 April off Bungo (present-day Usuki, Ōita Prefecture). They were met by Japanese locals and
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
missionary priests claiming that Adams' ship was a pirate vessel and that the crew should be executed as pirates. The ship was seized and the sickly crew were imprisoned at Osaka Castle on orders by
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...
, the '' daimyō'' of
Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
and future '' shōgun.'' The nineteen bronze cannon of the ''Liefde'' were unloaded and, according to Spanish accounts, later used at the decisive
Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of th ...
on 21 October 1600. Adams met Ieyasu in Osaka three times between May and June 1600. He was questioned by Ieyasu, then a guardian of the young son of the '' Taikō'' Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the ruler who had just died. Adams' knowledge of ships, shipbuilding and nautical smattering of mathematics appealed to Ieyasu.
Coming before the king, he viewed me well, and seemed to be wonderfully favourable. He made many signs unto me, some of which I understood, and some I did not. In the end, there came one that could speak Portuguese. By him, the king demanded of me of what land I was, and what moved us to come to his land, being so far off. I showed unto him the name of our country, and that our land had long sought out the
East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
, and desired friendship with all kings and potentates in way of merchandise, having in our land diverse commodities, which these lands had not… Then he asked whether our country had wars? I answered him yea, with the Spaniards and Portugals, being in peace with all other nations. Further, he asked me, in what I did believe? I said, in God, that made heaven and earth. He asked me diverse other questions of things of religions, and many other things: As what way we came to the country. Having a chart of the whole world, I showed him, through the Strait of Magellan. At which he wondered, and thought me to lie. Thus, from one thing to another, I abode with him till mid-night. (from William Adams' letter to his wife)''Letters Written by the English Residents in Japan, 1611-1623, with Other Documents on the English Trading Settlement in Japan in the Seventeenth Century''
N. Murakami and K. Murakawa, eds., Tokyo: The Sankosha, 1900, pp. 23-24. Spelling has been modernized.
Adams wrote that Ieyasu denied the Jesuits' request for execution on the ground that:
we as yet had not done to him nor to none of his land any harm or damage; therefore against Reason or Justice to put us to death. If our country had wars the one with the other, that was no cause that he should put us to death; with which they were out of heart that their cruel pretence failed them. For which God be forever praised. (William Adams' letter to his wife)
Ieyasu ordered the crew to sail the ''Liefde'' from Bungo to
Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
where, rotten and beyond repair, she sank.


Japan's first western-style sailing ships

In 1604, Tokugawa ordered Adams and his companions to help Mukai Shōgen, who was commander-in-chief of the navy of Uraga, to build Japan's first Western-style ship. The sailing ship was built at the harbour of Itō on the east coast of the Izu Peninsula, with carpenters from the harbour supplying the manpower for the construction of an 80-ton vessel. It was used to survey the Japanese coast. The shōgun ordered a larger ship of 120 tons to be built the following year; it was slightly smaller than the ''Liefde'', which was 150 tons. According to Adams, Tokugawa "came aboard to see it, and the sight whereof gave him great content". In 1610, the 120-ton ship (later named '' San Buena Ventura'') was lent to shipwrecked Spanish sailors. They sailed it to New Spain, accompanied by a mission of twenty-two Japanese led by Tanaka Shōsuke. Following the construction, Tokugawa invited Adams to visit his palace whenever he liked and "that always I must come in his presence." Other survivors of the ''Liefde'' were also rewarded with favours, and were allowed to pursue foreign trade. Most of the survivors left Japan in 1605 with the help of the '' daimyō'' of
Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...
. Although Adams did not receive permission to leave Japan until 1613,
Melchior van Santvoort Melchior van Santvoort (c. 1570 – 1641) was one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, was a purser on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan in 1600. Some of his shipmates were Jacob Quaeckernaeck, Jan Joosten, and William Ada ...
and
Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn Jan Joosten van Lodensteyn (or Lodensteijn; 1556–1623), known in Japanese as Yayōsu (耶楊子), was a native of Delft and one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, and the second mate on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan in ...
engaged in trade between Japan and Southeast Asia and reportedly made a fortune. Both of them were reported by Dutch traders as being in Ayutthaya in early 1613, sailing richly cargoed ''
junks A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...
.'' In 1609 Adams contacted the interim governor of the Philippines,
Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia, 1st Count of Valle de Orizaba ( es, Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia, primer conde del valle de Orizaba) ( Tecamachalco?, New Spain, 1564–1636) was a Spanish noble who served as the 13th governor and captain-gener ...
on behalf of
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...
, who wished to establish direct trade contacts with New Spain. Friendly letters were exchanged, officially starting relations between Japan and New Spain. Adams is also recorded as having chartered
Red Seal Ships were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships bound for Southeast Asian ports with red-sealed letters patent issued by the early Tokugawa shogunate in the first half of the 17th century. Between 1600 and 1635, more than 350 Japanese ships went ...
during his later travels to Southeast Asia. (The ''Ikoku Tokai Goshuinjō'' has a reference to Miura Anjin receiving a ''shuinjō'', a document bearing a red Shogunal seal authorising the holder to engage in foreign trade, in 1614.)


Samurai status

Taking a liking to Adams, the shōgun appointed him as a diplomatic and trade advisor, bestowing great privileges upon him. Ultimately, Adams became his personal advisor on all things related to Western powers and civilization. After a few years, Adams replaced the Jesuit Padre João Rodrigues as the Shogun's official interpreter. Padre Valentim Carvalho wrote: "After he had learned the language, he had access to Ieyasu and entered the palace at any time"; he also described him as "a great engineer and mathematician". Adams had a wife Mary Hyn and two children back in England, but Ieyasu forbade the Englishman to leave Japan. He was presented with two swords representing the authority of a Samurai. The Shogun decreed that William Adams the pilot was dead and that Miura Anjin (三浦按針), a samurai, was born. According to the shōgun, this action "freed" Adams to serve the Shogunate permanently, effectively making Adams' wife in England a widow. (Adams managed to send regular support payments to her after 1613 via the English and Dutch companies.) Adams also was given the title of ''
hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...
'' (bannerman), a high-prestige position as a direct retainer in the shōgun's court. Adams was given generous revenues: "For the services that I have done and do daily, being employed in the Emperor's service, the emperor has given me a living" (''Letters''). He was granted a fief in
Hemi Hemi may refer to: People Surname * Jack Hemi (1914–1996), New Zealand freezing worker, rugby union and league player, shearer * Ronald Hemi (1933–2000), New Zealand rugby union player Given name * Hemi Bawa, Indian painter and sculptor * ...
(Jpn: 逸見) within the boundaries of present-day
Yokosuka City is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...
, "with eighty or ninety husbandmen, that be my slaves or servants" (''Letters''). His estate was valued at 250 ''
koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...
'' (a measure of the yearly income of the land in rice, with one koku defined as the quantity of rice sufficient to feed one person for one year). He finally wrote "God hath provided for me after my great misery" (''Letters''), by which he meant the disaster-ridden voyage that had initially brought him to Japan. Adams' estate was located next to the harbour of Uraga, the traditional point of entrance to
Edo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...
. There he was recorded as dealing with the cargoes of foreign ships.
John Saris John Saris () was chief merchant on the first English voyage to Japan, which left London in 1611. He stopped at Yemen, missing India (which he had originally intended to visit) and going on to Java, which had the sole permanent English trading sta ...
related that when he visited Edo in 1613, Adams had resale rights for the cargo of a Spanish ship at anchor in Uraga Bay. It is rumored that William had a child born in Hirado with another Japanese woman. Adams' position gave him the means to marry Oyuki (お雪), the adopted daughter of Magome Kageyu. He was a highway official who was in charge of a packhorse exchange on one of the grand imperial roads that led out of Edo (roughly present-day Tokyo). Although Magome was important, Oyuki was not of noble birth, nor high social standing. Adams may have married from affection rather than for social reasons. Adams and Oyuki had a son Joseph and a daughter Susanna. Adams was constantly traveling for work. Initially, he tried to organise an expedition in search of the
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
passage that had eluded him previously. Adams had a high regard for Japan, its people, and its civilisation:
The people of this Land of Japan are good of nature, courteous above measure, and valiant in war: their justice is severely executed without any partiality upon transgressors of the law. They are governed in great civility. I mean, not a land better governed in the world by civil policy. The people be very superstitious in their religion, and are of diverse opinions.William Adams' letter to Bantam, 1612


Establishment of the Dutch East India Company in Japan

In 1604 Ieyasu sent the ''Liefdes captain, Jacob Quaeckernaeck, and the treasurer,
Melchior van Santvoort Melchior van Santvoort (c. 1570 – 1641) was one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, was a purser on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan in 1600. Some of his shipmates were Jacob Quaeckernaeck, Jan Joosten, and William Ada ...
, on a shōgun-licensed Red Seal Ship to
Patani Patani Darussalam ( Bahasa Malayu Arabic : , also sometimes Patani Raya or Patani Besar, "Greater Patani"; th, ปาตานี) is a historical region in the Malay peninsula. It includes the southern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala (Ja ...
in Southeast Asia. He ordered them to contact the Dutch East India Company trading factory, which had just been established in 1602, in order to bring more western trade to Japan and break the Portuguese monopoly. In 1605, Adams obtained a letter of authorization from Ieyasu formally inviting the Dutch to trade with Japan. Hampered by conflicts with the Portuguese and limited resources in Asia, the Dutch were not able to send ships to Japan until 1609. Two Dutch ships, commanded by
Jacques Specx Jacques Specx (; 1585 – 22 July 1652) was a Dutch merchant, who founded the trade on Japan and Korea in 1609. Jacques Specx received the support of William Adams to obtain extensive trading rights from Tokugawa Ieyasu, the '' shōgun'' emerit ...
, ''De Griffioen'' (the "Griffin", 19 cannons) and ''Roode Leeuw met Pijlen'' (the "Red lion with arrows", 400 tons, 26 cannons), were sent from Holland and reached Japan on 2 July 1609. The men of this Dutch expeditionary fleet established a trading base or "factory" on Hirado Island. Two Dutch envoys, Puyck and van den Broek, were the official bearers of a letter from Prince Maurice of Nassau to the court of Edo. Adams negotiated on behalf of these emissaries. The Dutch obtained free trading rights throughout Japan and to establish a trading factory there. (By contrast, the Portuguese were allowed to sell their goods only in Nagasaki at fixed, negotiated prices.)
The Hollandes be now settled (in Japan) and I have got them that privilege as the Spaniards and Portingals could never get in this 50 or 60 years in Japan.
After obtaining this trading right through an edict of Tokugawa Ieyasu on 24 August 1609, the Dutch inaugurated a trading factory in
Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...
on 20 September 1609. The Dutch preserved their "trade pass" (Dutch: ''Handelspas'') in Hirado and then
Dejima , in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, i ...
as a guarantee of their trading rights during the following two centuries that they operated in Japan.


Establishment of an English trading factory

In 1611, Adams learned of an English settlement in
Banten Sultanate The Banten Sultanate (كسلطانن بنتن) was a Bantenese Islamic trading kingdom founded in the 16th century and centred in Banten, a port city on the northwest coast of Java; the contemporary English name of both was Bantam. It is said ...
, present-day Indonesia. He wrote asking them to convey news of him to his family and friends in England. He invited them to engage in trade with Japan which "the Hollanders have here an Indies of money." In 1613, the English captain
John Saris John Saris () was chief merchant on the first English voyage to Japan, which left London in 1611. He stopped at Yemen, missing India (which he had originally intended to visit) and going on to Java, which had the sole permanent English trading sta ...
arrived at
Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...
in the ship ''
Clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer produc ...
,'' intending to establish a trading factory for the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. The
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock co ...
(VOC) already had a major post at Hirado. Saris noted Adams' praise of Japan and adoption of Japanese customs:
He persists in giving "admirable and affectionated commendations of Japan. It is generally thought amongst us that he is a naturalized Japaner." (John Saris)
In Hirado, Adams refused to stay in English quarters, residing instead with a local Japanese magistrate. The English noted that he wore Japanese dress and spoke Japanese fluently. Adams estimated the cargo of the ''Clove'' was of little value, essentially
broadcloth Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finished width) and then hea ...
, tin and
clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer produc ...
s (acquired in the
Spice Islands A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices ar ...
), saying that "such things as he had brought were not very vendible". Adams traveled with Saris to Suruga, where they met with Ieyasu at his principal residence in September. The Englishmen continued to Kamakura where they visited the noted Kamakura Great Buddha. (Sailors etched their names of the Daibutsu, made in 1252.) They continued to Edo, where they met Ieyasu's son
Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...
, who was nominally shōgun, although Ieyasu retained most of the decision-making powers. During that meeting, Hidetada gave Saris two varnished suits of armour for King James I. As of 2015, one of these suits of armour is housed in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, the other is on display in the
Royal Armouries Museum The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a national museum which displays the National Collection of Arms and Armour. It is part of the Royal Armouries family of museums, with other sites at the Royal Armouries' traditio ...
, Leeds. The suits were signed by Iwai Yozaemon of Nanbu. They were part of a series of presentation armours of ancient 15th-century Dō-maru style. On their return, the English party visited Tokugawa again. He conferred trading privileges to the English by a Red Seal permit, giving them "free license to abide, buy, sell and barter" in Japan. The English party returned to Hirado on 9 October 1613. At this meeting, Adams asked for and obtained Tokugawa's authorisation to return to his home country but he finally declined Saris' offer to take him back to England: "I answered him I had spent in this country many years, through which I was poor... nddesirous to get something before my return". His true reasons seem to lie rather with his profound antipathy for Saris: "The reason I would not go with him was for diverse injuries done against me, which were things to me very strange and unlooked for." (William Adams letters) Adams accepted employment with the newly founded Hirado trading factory, signing a contract on 24November 1613, with the East India Company for the yearly salary of 100 English Pounds. This was more than double the regular salary of 40 Pounds earned by the other factors at Hirado. Adams had a lead role, under
Richard Cocks Richard Cocks (1566–1624) was the head of the British East India Company trading post in Hirado, Japan, between 1613 and 1623, from its creation, and lasting to its closure due to bankruptcy. He was baptised on 20 January 1565 at St Chad's, Se ...
and together with six other compatriots (Tempest Peacock, Richard Wickham, William Eaton, Walter Carwarden, Edmund Sayers and William Nealson), in organising this new English settlement. Adams had advised Saris against the choice of Hirado, which was small and far away from the major markets in Osaka and Edo; he had recommended selection of Uraga near Edo for a post, but Saris wanted to keep an eye on the Dutch activities. During the ten-year operations of the East India Company (1613 to 1623), only three English ships after the ''Clove'' brought cargoes directly from London to Japan. They were invariably described as having poor value on the Japanese market. The only trade which helped support the factory was that organised between Japan and South-East Asia; this was chiefly Adams selling Chinese goods for Japanese silver:
Were it not for hope of trade into China, or procuring some benefit from Siam, Pattania and Cochin China, it were no staying in Japon, yet it is certen here is silver enough & may be carried out at pleasure, but then we must bring them commodities to their liking. (Richard Cocks' diary, 1617)


Religious rivalries

The Portuguese and other Catholic religious orders in Japan considered Adams a rival as an English Protestant. After Adams' power had grown, the Jesuits tried to convert him, then offered to secretly bear him away from Japan on a Portuguese ship. The Jesuits' willingness to disobey the order by Ieyasu prohibiting Adams from leaving Japan showed that they feared his growing influence. Catholic priests asserted that he was trying to discredit them. In 1614, Carvalho complained of Adams and other merchants in his annual letter to the Pope, saying that "by false accusation dams and othershave rendered our preachers such objects of suspicion that he eyasufears and readily believes that they are rather spies than sowers of the Holy Faith in his kingdom." Ieyasu, influenced by Adams' counsels and disturbed by unrest caused by the numerous Catholic converts, expelled the Portuguese Jesuits from Japan in 1614. He demanded that Japanese Catholics abandon their faith. Adams apparently warned Ieyasu against Spanish approaches as well.


Character

After fifteen years spent in Japan, Adams had a difficult time establishing relations with the English arrivals. He initially shunned the company of the newly arrived English sailors in 1613 and could not get on good terms with Saris but Richard Cocks, the head of the Hirado factory, came to appreciate Adams' character and what he had acquired of Japanese self-control. In a letter to the East India Company, Cocks wrote:


Participation in Asian trade

Adams later engaged in various exploratory and commercial ventures. He tried to organise an expedition to the legendary Northwest Passage from Asia, which would have greatly reduced the sailing distance between Japan and Europe. Ieyasu asked him if "our countrimen could not find the northwest passage" and Adams contacted the East India Company to organise manpower and supplies. The expedition never got underway. In his later years, Adams worked for the English East India Company. He made a number of trading voyages to Siam in 1616 and
Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
in 1617 and 1618, sometimes for the Company, sometimes for his own account. He is recorded in Japanese records as the owner of a Red Seal Ship of 500 tons. Given the few ships that the company sent from England and the poor trading value of their cargoes (broadcloth, knives, looking glasses, Indian cotton, etc.), Adams was influential in gaining trading certificates from the shōgun to allow the company to participate in the Red Seal system. It made a total of seven junk voyages to Southeast Asia with mixed profit results. Four were led by William Adams as captain. Adams renamed a ship he acquired in 1617 as ''Gift of God;'' he sailed it on his expedition that year to Cochinchina. The expeditions he led are described more fully below.


1614 Siam expedition

In 1614, Adams wanted to organise a trade expedition to Siam to bolster the company factory's activities and cash situation. He bought and upgraded a 200-ton Japanese junk for the company, renaming her as ''Sea Adventure''; and hired about 120 Japanese sailors and merchants, as well as several Chinese traders, an Italian and a Castilian (Spanish) trader. The heavily laden ship left in November 1614. The merchants Richard Wickham and Edmund Sayers of the English factory's staff also joined the voyage. The expedition was to purchase raw silk, Chinese goods, sappan wood, deer skins and ray skins (the latter used for the hilts of Japanese swords). The ship carried £1,250 in silver and £175 of merchandise (Indian cottons, Japanese weapons and lacquerware). The party encountered a typhoon near the
Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonagun ...
(modern Okinawa) and had to stop there to repair from 27 December 1614 until May 1615. It returned to Japan in June 1615 without having completed any trade.


1615 Siam expedition

Adams left Hirado in November 1615 for Ayutthaya in Siam on the refitted ''Sea Adventure,'' intent on obtaining
sappan wood ''Biancaea sappan'' is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is native to tropical Asia. Common names in English include sappanwood and Indian redwood. Sappanwood is related to brazilwood (''Paubrasilia echinata''), an ...
for resale in Japan. His cargo was chiefly silver (£600) and the Japanese and Indian goods unsold from the previous voyage. He bought vast quantities of the high-profit products. His partners obtained two ships in Siam in order to transport everything back to Japan. Adams sailed the ''Sea Adventure'' to Japan with 143 tonnes of sappan wood and 3,700 deer skins, returning to Hirado in 47 days. (The return trip took from 5 June and 22 July 1616). Sayers, on a hired Chinese junk, reached Hirado in October 1616 with 44 tons of sappan, wood. The third ship, a Japanese junk, brought 4,560 deer skins to Nagasaki, arriving in June 1617 after the monsoon. Less than a week before Adams' return, Ieyasu had died. Adams accompanied Cocks and Eaton to court to offer company presents to the new ruler,
Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...
. Although Ieyasu's death seems to have weakened Adams' political influence, Hidetada agreed to maintain the English trading privileges. He also issued a new Red Seal permit (Shuinjō) to Adams, which allowed him to continue trade activities overseas under the shōgun's protection. His position as ''
hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...
'' was also renewed. On this occasion, Adams and Cocks also visited the Japanese Admiral
Mukai Shōgen Tadakatsu Mukai Tadakatsu (1582–1641), more generally known as Mukai Shōgen (Jp:向井将監), was the Admiral of the fleet (Jp:お船手奉行) for the Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu during the beginning of the Edo period, in the early 17th century. Between ...
, who lived near Adams' estate. They discussed plans for a possible invasion of the Catholic Philippines.


1617 Cochinchina expedition

In March 1617, Adams set sail for Cochinchina, having purchased the junk Sayers had brought from Siam and renamed it the ''Gift of God''. He intended to find two English factors, Tempest Peacock and Walter Carwarden, who had departed from Hirado two years before to explore commercial opportunities on the first voyage to South East Asia by the Hirado English Factory. Adams learned in Cochinchina that Peacock had been plied with drink, and killed for his silver. Carwarden, who was waiting in a boat downstream, realised that Peacock had been killed and hastily tried to reach his ship. His boat overturned and he drowned. Adams sold a small cargo of broadcloth, Indian piece goods and ivory in Cochinchina for the modest amount of £351.


1618 Cochinchina expedition

In 1618, Adams is recorded as having organised his last Red Seal trade expedition to Cochinchina and
Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includ ...
(modern Vietnam), the last expedition of the English Hirado Factory to Southeast Asia. The ship, a chartered Chinese junk, left Hirado on 11 March 1618 but met with bad weather that forced it to stop at
Ōshima Ōshima, Oshima, Ooshima or Ohshima may refer to: Places * (sorted by prefecture): ** Ōshima (Aomori), an island in Hiranai and a part of Asamushi-Natsudomari Prefectural Natural Park ** Nii Ōshima Island, part of Niihama in Ehime Prefecture ** ...
in the northern Ryukyu Islands. The ship sailed back to Hirado in May. Those expeditions to Southeast Asia helped the English factory survive for some time, during that period, sappan wood resold in Japan with a 200% profit, until the factory fell into bankruptcy due to high expenditures.


Death and family legacy

Adams died at Hirado, north of Nagasaki, on 16 May 1620, at the age of 55. He was buried in Nagasaki, where his grave marker may still be seen. His gravesite is next to a memorial to Saint Francis Xavier. In his will, he left his townhouse in Edo, his fief in Hemi, and 500 British pounds to be divided evenly between his family in England and his family in Japan. Cocks wrote: "I cannot but be sorrowful for the loss of such a man as Capt William Adams, he having been in such favour with two Emperors of Japan as never any Christian in these part of the world." (Cocks' diary) Cocks records that Hidetada transferred the lordship from William Adams to his son Joseph Adams with the attendant rights to the estate at Hemi:
He (Hidetada) has confirmed the lordship to his son, which the other emperor (Ieyasu) gave to the father. (Cocks' diary)
Cocks continued to remain in contact with Adams' Japanese family, sending gifts; On the Christmas after Adams' death, Cocks gave Joseph his father's sword and dagger. In March 1622, he offered silks to Joseph and Susanna. Cocks also administered Adams' trading rights (the shuinjō) for the benefit of Adams' children, Joseph and Susanna. He carried this out conscientiously. Back in England, Adams' daughter Deliverance married
Ratcliff Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames between Limehouse (to the east), and Shadwell (to the west). The place name is no longer commonly used. History Etymolog ...
mariner Raph Goodchild at
St Dunstan's, Stepney St Dunstan's, Stepney, is an Anglican Church which stands on a site that has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is located in Stepney High Street, in Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets. History In about AD 952, D ...
on 30 September 1618. They had two daughters, Abigail in October 1619 who died on the same month, and Jane in April 1621. Deliverance would later marry for a second time, to John Wright at
St Alfege Church, Greenwich St Alfege Church is an Anglican church in the centre of Greenwich, part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London. It is of medieval origin and was rebuilt in 1712–1714 to the designs of Nicholas Hawksmoor. Early history The church is de ...
on 13 October 1624. In 1623, the unprofitable English trading factory at Hirado was dissolved by the East India Company and Cocks departed for England, the Dutch traded on Adams' children's behalf via the Red Seal ships. Joseph Adams inherited the title of Miura Anjin became a trader and made five voyages to Cochinchina and Siam between 1624 and 1635. By 1629 only two of Adams' shipmates from 1600 survived in Japan.
Melchior van Santvoort Melchior van Santvoort (c. 1570 – 1641) was one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, was a purser on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan in 1600. Some of his shipmates were Jacob Quaeckernaeck, Jan Joosten, and William Ada ...
and Vincent Romeyn lived quietly in Nagasaki. In 1635,
Tokugawa Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川 家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, w ...
enforced the Sakoku Edict for Japan to be closed against foreign trading; both Joseph and Susanna disappeared from historical records at that time. Adams has a second memorial monument at the location of his residence in Hemi. Consisting of a pair of ''
hōkyōintō A is a Japanese pagoda, so called because it originally contained the .Iwanami Kōjien Japanese dictionary A Chinese variant of the Indian stūpa, it was originally conceived as a cenotaph of the King of Wuyue – Qian Liu. Structure and funct ...
'', the tuff memorial on the right is that of Adams, and the andesite one of the left is for his wife. The monuments were erected by his family in accordance with his will, and the site was designated as a National Historic Site in 1923.


Honours for Adams

* A town in
Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
(modern Tokyo), Anjin-chō (in modern-day
Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The current ...
) was named for Adams, who had a house there. Anjin-chō no longer exists in Nihonbashi and is now known as Nihonbashi Muromachi 1-Chōme. However within Muromachi 1-Chōme a street, Anjin-dori, remains named after Adams. * A village and a
railroad station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...
in his fiefdom, Hemi, in modern Yokosuka, were named for him. * In the city of Itō, Shizuoka, the Miura Anjin Festival is held annually on 10 August. On the seafront at Itō is a monument to Adams. Next to it is a plaque inscribed with
Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was a ...
's poem, "To the Citizens of Ito", which commemorates Adams' achievement. * Adams' birth town, Gillingham, has held a Will Adams Festival every September since 2000. Since the late 20th century, both Itō and Yokosuka have become sister cities of Gillingham. * A monument to Adams was installed in Watling Street, Gillingham, Kent, opposite Darland Avenue. The monument was unveiled 11 May 1934 by
Tsuneo Matsudaira was a Japanese diplomat of the 20th century. Diplomatic and political career The son of Lord Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu, Tsuneo served as Japanese Ambassador to the United States. In 1929–1935 served as Ambassador to Britain, and in that ...
GCVO, Japanese ambassador to the Court of St James. * A roundabout named Will Adams Roundabout with a Japanese theme, just along from the Gillingham monument to Adams, with two roads named after the Gillingham sister cities "Ito Way" and "Yokosuka Way" * The townhouse of Will Adams still exists in Hirado. It is currently a sweet shop called ''Tsutaya'' at 431 Kihikidacho. It is known as Anjin no Yakata (Anjin's House).


Analysis of skeletal remains

William Adams was buried in 1620, in Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture. However, a few years later foreign cemeteries were destroyed and there was prosecution of Christians by the Tokugawa shogunate. The bones of Anjin were taken for safekeeping and reburied. In 1931, skeletal remains were first discovered there and assumed to be of Anjin, but this could not be confirmed due to technological limitations at the time. The remains were later placed in a Showa period ceramic funerary urn and reburied where they were discovered. In July 2017, the excavation of the skeletal remains began at the William Adams Memorial Park on Sakigata Hill, Hirado. In 2019, Japanese archaeologists announced the discovery of bones at the site believed to be those of Adams. These remains match the 1931 description. The subsequent biomolecular anthropological investigation of the genetic background showed the mtDNA analysis indicates Anjin's mitochondrial DNA likely belongs to haplogroup H. The analysis also showed aspects such as the dietary habits and burial style matched with Anjin. In April 2020, the
University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
conducted conclusive forensic tests on the bones and confirmed it was William Adams' grave. Confirmation of the identity of the remains may have been possible with DNA data from living relatives of Adams. However, even if living relatives had been identified, there would probably have been the equivalent of about eight generations of genetic difference between them and Adams. Thus there may not have been sufficient similarities to establish with sufficient certainty whether such a relationship existed.


Representation in other media

* James Clavell based his best-selling novel '' Shōgun'' (1975) on Adams' life, changing the name of his protagonist to " John Blackthorne". This was adapted as a popular TV mini-series, '' Shōgun'' (1980). It was also adapted as a Broadway production, '' Shōgun: The Musical'' (1990), and the video game ''
James Clavell's Shōgun ''James Clavell's Shōgun'' is an interactive fiction video game written by Dave Lebling and published by Infocom in 1989. It was released for the Amiga, Apple II, DOS, and Macintosh. The game is based on the 1975 novel ''Shōgun'' by James Clav ...
'' (1989). * Michel Foucault retold Adams' tale in ''The Discourse on Language''. According to Foucault, the story embodies one of the "great myths of European culture," namely, the idea that a mere sailor could teach mathematics to the Japanese shogun shows the difference between the open exchange of knowledge in Europe as opposed to the secretive control of knowledge under "oriental tyranny." In fact, however, Adams was not a mere sailor but the chief navigator of the fleet, and his value to the Shogun was along the practical lines of shipbuilding. There were numerous earlier works of fiction based on Adams.Henry Smith, editor. ''Learning from Shogun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy'', Program in Asian Studies University of California, Santa Barbara, 1980. Pg. 7–13 * William Dalton wrote ''Will Adams, The First Englishman in Japan: A Romantic Biography'' (London, 1861). * Richard Blaker's ''The Needlewatcher'' (London, 1932) is the least romantic of the novels; he consciously attempted to de-mythologize Adams and write a careful historical work of fiction. * James Scherer's ''Pilot and Shōgun'' dramatises a series of incidents based on Adams' life. * American Robert Lund wrote ''Daishi-san'' (New York, 1960). * Christopher Nicole's ''Lord of the Golden Fan'' (1973) portrays Adams as sexually frustrated in England and freed by living in Japan, where he has numerous encounters. The work is considered light pornography. * In 2002,
Giles Milton Giles Milton FRHistS (born 15 January 1966) is a British writer who specialises in narrative history. His books have sold more than one million copies in the UK. and been published in twenty-five languages. He has written twelve works of non-f ...
's historical biography ''Samurai William'' (2002) is based on historical sources, especially Richard Cocks' diary. * The 2002
alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
novel ''
Ruled Britannia ''Ruled Britannia'' is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove, first published in hardcover by New American Library in 2002. The book is set in the years 1597–1598, in an alternate universe where the Spanish Armada is successful in 158 ...
'' by
Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...
features a brief appearance by Adams, piloting cargo and passengers between England and
Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariaker ...
, both of which are puppet states of the Habsburg Empire in this timeline. * In the second season of ''
Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...
'', a story set in samurai-era Japan features an Englishman who seems to be based on Adams. * A book series called '' Young Samurai'' is about a young English boy who is ship wrecked in Japan, and is trained as a samurai. * Adams also serves as the template for the protagonist in the
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and PC video game series ''
Nioh is an action role-playing video game developed by Team Ninja. It was released for PlayStation 4 in February 2017, and was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment internationally, and by Koei Tecmo in Japan. An edition for PlayStation 4 ...
'' (2017) and non-playable in its prequel/sequel hybrid game (2020), but with supernatural and historical fiction elements. As of the end of the second game, some time after managing to arrest the female Spaniard Maria, he married Okatsu instead and had an English-Japanese son who inherited her mother's guardian spirit. ** This version also appeared in the ''Warriors'' series' crossover game, ''
Warriors All-Stars ''Warriors All-Stars'', (or in Japan) is a hack and slash video game by Koei Tecmo. It is a crossover based on the long-running '' Warriors'' series, featuring an array of cast taken from various titles owned by the company, similar to the ''War ...
''.


Depiction

According to Professor Derek Massarella of
Chuo University , commonly referred to as or , is a private flagship research university in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1885 as Igirisu Hōritsu Gakkō (the English Law School), Chuo is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the country. The univer ...
in Tokyo: There is however one genuine contemporary image. "It is a derivative drawing of William Adams, which appears to be based in a sketch attributed to Dorothy Burmingham, from a description given by Melchior von Santvoort. The original drawing is to be found at the Rotterdam Maritime Museum, whose specialist Marcel Kroon considers it to be from Adams' time. A copy is preserved at the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second ...
, University of Oxford."


See also

*
Anglo-Japanese relations The Anglo-Japanese style developed in the United Kingdom through the Victorian period and early Edwardian period from approximately 1851 to the 1910s, when a new appreciation for Japanese design and culture influenced how designers and craftsp ...
* Jan Joosten – known in Japanese as ''Yan Yōsuten'', was a Dutch colleague of Adams, and the only known Dutch samurai. The Yaesu neighbourhood in
Chūō, Tokyo is a special ward that forms part of the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyobashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metro ...
was named for him. * Henry Schnell – known in Japanese as ''Hiramatsu Buhei'', was a Prussian arms dealer, who served the
Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princi ...
domain as a military instructor and procurer of weapons. * Eugène CollacheFrench Navy officer, who fought for the shōgun during the
Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
(1868–1869). * Jules Brunet (1838–1911) – French officer who fought for the shōgun in the
Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...
* Ernest Mason Satow (1843–1929) – British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist *
Hendrick Hamel Hendrick Hamel (1630 – 1692) was a Westerner to provide a first hand account of Joseon Korea. After spending thirteen years there, he wrote "Hamel's Journal and a Description of the Kingdom of Korea, 1653-1666," which was subsequently publis ...
(1630–1692) – first European to live in the Joseon-dynasty era in Korea (1666) and write about it * Yasuke (b. c. 1556) – a black (African) retainer briefly in the service of the Japanese warlord
Nobunaga Oda was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...
*
List of foreign-born samurai in Japan This is a list of foreign-born people who became samurai in Japan. Definition In this list, Japan means the Japanese archipelago. The word ''samurai'' has had a variety of meanings historically; here it is taken to mean 'those who serve in cl ...
* List of Westerners who visited Japan before 1868


Notes


References

* ''England's Earliest Intercourse with Japan'', by C. W. Hillary (1905) * ''Letters written by the English Residents in Japan'', ed. by N. Murakami (1900, containing Adams' Letters reprinted from Memorials of the Empire of Japan, ed. by T. Rundall, Hakluyt Society, 1850) * ''Diary of Richard Cocks'', with preface by N. Murakami (1899, reprinted from the Hakluyt Society ed. 1883) * Hildreth, Richard, ''Japan as it was and is'' (1855) * John Harris, ''Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca'' (1764), i. 856 * ''Voyage of John Saris'', edited b
Sir Ernest M. Satow
(Hakluyt Society, 1900) * ''Asiatic Society of Japan Transactions'', xxvi. (sec. 1898) pp. I and 194, where four formerly unpublished letters of Adams are printed; * ''Collection of State Papers; East Indies, China and Japan.'' The MS. of his logs written during his voyages to Siam and China is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. * ''Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan'', by
Giles Milton Giles Milton FRHistS (born 15 January 1966) is a British writer who specialises in narrative history. His books have sold more than one million copies in the UK. and been published in twenty-five languages. He has written twelve works of non-f ...
(UK 2002: ) * ''William Adams and Early English Enterprise in Japan'', by Anthony Farrington and Derek Massarell

* ''Adams the Pilot: The Life and Times of Captain William Adams: 1564–1620'', by William Corr, Curzon Press, 1995 * ''The English Factory in Japan 1613–1623'', ed. by Anthony Farrington, British Library, 1991. (Includes all of William Adams' extant letters, as well as his will.) * ''A World Elsewhere. Europe’s Encounter with Japan in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries'', by Derek Massarella, Yale University Press, 1990. * ''Recollections of Japan'', Hendrik Doeff,


Hardcopy

* ''The Needle-Watcher: The Will Adams Story, British Samurai'' by Richard Blaker * ''Servant of the Shogun'' by Richard Tames. Paul Norbury Publications, Tenterden, Kent, England.. * ''Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan,'' by Giles Milton; ; December 2003


External links


Williams Adams- Blue Eyed Samurai, Meeting Anjin

"Learning from Shogun. Japanese history and Western fantasy"

William Adams and Early English enterprise in Japan

William Adams – The First Englishman In Japan
full text online, Internet Archive
Will Adams Memorial
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, William Samurai Foreign samurai in Japan 1564 births 1620 deaths 16th-century English people 17th-century English people 16th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese people Advisors to Tokugawa shoguns English emigrants to Japan English Anglicans English sailors Hatamoto Japan–United Kingdom relations People from Gillingham, Kent Royal Navy officers Sailors on ships of the Dutch East India Company Foreign relations of the Tokugawa shogunate