''San Juan Bautista'' ("

St. John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

") was one of Japan's first Japanese-built Western-style sailing ships. She crossed the Pacific in 1614. She was of the Spanish

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

type, known in Japan as nanban-sen (南蛮船, "Southern Barbarian ships"). She transported a Japanese diplomatic mission of 180 people during the first leg of their trip to the Vatican as envoys to

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

, headed by

Hasekura Tsunenaga was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Ph ...

and accompanied by the Spanish friar Luis Sotelo. After transporting Hasekura to

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

in the Spanish possession of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, the ship returned to Japan. Hasekura and the embassy went on to Europe, eventually reaching Rome.

Construction

''San Juan Bautista'' was built in 1613 by

Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period through the early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful feudal lords in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he w ...

, the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

in northern Japan, in Tsuki-No-Ura harbour (

Ishinomaki is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miya ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

). The project had been approved by the

Bakufu , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

, the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

''s government in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

. The ''shōgun'' already had two smaller ships (80 and 120 tons) built for him by the English pilot William Adams. The larger, the ''San Buena Ventura'', was given to Spanish shipwrecked sailors to return to New Spain in 1610. The ''shōgun'' also issued numerous permits for Red seal ships, destined for Asian trade and incorporating many elements of Western ship design. ''San Juan Bautista'' is reported to have required 45 days' work, with the participation of technical experts from the Bakufu, 800

shipwright Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces i ...

s, 700

smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

s, and 3000

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

s. Two Spanish men also participated to the endeavour: the friar Luis Sotelo, and the Spanish captain

Sebastián Vizcaíno Sebastián Vizcaíno (c. 1548–1624) was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Asia. Early career Vizcaíno was born in ...

. These efforts were seen with disapproval by the Spanish government in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, and Los Rios Coronel suggested that Luis Sotelo should not be allowed into Japan any further (C. R. Boxer).

Two trans-Pacific round-trips

Upon completion, the ship left on October 28, 1613, for

in New Spain, with around 180 people on board, consisting of 10 samurai of the ''shōgun'' (led by the Minister of the Navy

Mukai Shōgen Tadakatsu Mukai Tadakatsu (向井忠勝, 1582–1641), more generally known as Mukai Shōgen (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 cent ...

), 12 samurai from Sendai, 120 Japanese merchants, sailors, and servants, and around 40 Spaniards and Portuguese. The ship arrived in Acapulco on January 25, 1614, after three months at sea. After a year in Acapulco, the ship returned to Japan on April 28, 1615, as Hasekura continued to Europe. It seems that around 50 specialists in mining and silver-refining were invited to Japan on this occasion, so that they could help develop the mining industry in the Sendai area. A group of

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

s led by Father Diego de Santa Catalina, sent as a religious embassy to

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

also sailed on the ship. The ''San Juan Bautista'' arrived in Uraga, Japan on August 15, 1615. In September 1616 the ''San Juan Batista'' headed again to Acapulco, at the request of Luis Sotelo. She was sailed by Captain Yokozawa Shōgen, but the trip went wrong and around 100 sailors died en route. ''San Juan Bautista'' finally arrived in Acapulco in May 1617. Sotelo and Hasekura met in Mexico for the return trip back to Japan. In April 1618 the ship arrived in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, where she was sold to the Spanish government there with the objective of building up defenses against the Dutch. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620. During his absence Japan had changed quite drastically: Christianity was being eradicated, and Japan was moving towards a period of seclusion. Because of these persecutions, the trade agreements with New Spain he had been trying to establish were also denied. In the end, his efforts seem to have had few results, and he died two years later of illness.

1993 replica ship

A new ''San Juan Bautista'' was reconstructed in 1993 on the basis of the records of the House of Date. Although its blueprints have not been found, the ship's dimensions were recorded properly, permitting a speculative reconstitution. The ship is currently on display in a theme park in

, in northern Japan, close to the location where she was originally built. The replica survived the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

with some damage, and there were hopes in 2011 of using the ship as a symbol of the town's reconstruction. In November 2013 the repaired ''San Juan Bautista'' was rededicated. Assistance had come from a

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

lumber company who supplied the massive logs to create masts that had been damaged in the tsunami. However, the replica ship was deemed to be unsafe to the public due to structural damage from floodwater and other factors, and the Miyagi prefectural government decided to demolish the ship rather than to continue repairing it. Dismantling began in November 2021. The government plans to build a new ship in its place, using

fibre-reinforced plastic Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP; also called fibre-reinforced polymer, or in American English ''fiber'') is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass (in fibreglass), carbon (in carbon-fibre ...

and reducing the size to one quarter of the original.

References

Notes

Bibliography

*''The Christian century in Japan 1549–1650'' C. R. Boxer *''Quand le Japon s'ouvrit au monde'' Francis Marcouin and Keiko Omoto

External links

Reconstitution of the San Juan BautistaShip planShip interiorShip gunsVarious views of the ship
{{coord, 38, 24, 32, N, 141, 22, 08, E, display=title, region:JP-04_type:landmark_source:dewiki Replica ships Ships of the Tokugawa Navy Galleons of Japan 1610s ships Ships built in Japan Tall ships of Japan