The Samurai Who Became A Roman Citizen

Last year, we featured in Open Culture how a samurai found his way to the unlikely setting of 17th-century Venice. However, it was told in a video essay format and at the same time persuasively told. otaku writerjust when it started to get interesting, it ended. The last time we parted ways with Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga, he was off on a mission to Europe to have an audience with the Pope and facilitate the brokering of a deal with feudal lord Date Masamune. Date befriends a Japanese-speaking Franciscan friar named Luis Sotelo, and after saving the life of one of his concubines at his missionary hospital, Date gets the idea in his head that he should forge a direct relationship with the mighty Spanish Empire.

Of course, in 1613 it wasn’t as easy as taking a plane from Tokyo (then Edo) to Rome. Approximately 180 Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish men, many of whom had never been to the open sea before, made the long journey. After two uneventful months, they landed 320 miles north of what is now called San Francisco and headed down the coast to Acapulco, a city then known as the colony of New Spain. From there, Date’s embassy could travel inland to the power center of Mexico City, then to Veracruz on the east coast, and from there take another ship across the Atlantic Ocean to New Spain and the Old Town.

King Felipe of Spain was reluctant to establish trade relations with Japan. Granting that remote land access to the Pacific Ocean “risks turning this exclusive imperial corridor into a shared commercial space.” The prospect of limited integration controlled by Spanish hands was appealing to him, but the disruption caused by the arrival of the embassy made him loathe even the idea. In Mr. Hasekura’s opinion, the way forward was to strengthen Japanese Catholicism. Although he was baptized in Philip’s presence in 1615, the vizier realized that he could no longer win against the king. Hasekura then headed to the Eternal City, where on the night of October 25, 1615, he was able to kiss the Pope’s feet.

A few days later, Hasekura officially became a Roman citizen. Sadly, the Pope proved unwilling or unable to cooperate in establishing desirable trade relations, and in the meantime the new countries returned to Japan. general Tokugawa Ieyasu expelled all missionaries from Japan and ordered the destruction of all facilities built by the missionaries. As it turns out, Hasekura never actually arrived in Venice. His letter, discovered at the beginning of Part 1 of this series, had just been sent there as a futile appeal for funds. After the embassy returned to Japan, Sotelo fulfilled his expectations of being martyred in Japan. It is only loosely known how Hasekura returned to his homeland and spent the rest of his unusual life, but whatever happened, it is suspected that he never imagined that he would become the subject of worldwide attention four centuries after his death.

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The mystery of how samurai ended up in Venice in the 17th century

Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages ​​and cultures. he is the author of the newsletter books about cities books as well Home page (I won’t summarize Korea) and korean newtro. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.