Historical events related to Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga

After Andres de Urdaneta discovered the route from the Philippines to Mexico in the16th century, Spain started trans-Pacific shipping between Mexico and China based on their territory-the Philippines. Manila became the main base in 157 1.

Spanish merchant ships often crash near the coast of Japan due to bad weather, which is the beginning of contact between the two countries. The Spanish wanted to develop Christian faith in Japan, but this effort was strongly resisted by Jesuits, who began to preach in Japan from 65438 to 0549. In addition, Portugal and the Netherlands do not want Spain to participate in trade with Japan.

1609, the Spanish galleon San Francisco was wrecked in Chiba near Edo due to bad weather on its way from Manila to Acapulco. The crew were treated warmly after being rescued, and the captain Rodrigo de Vivero also met with Tokugawa Ieyasu.

1609165438+1October 29th, the two sides signed a treaty. According to the treaty, Spaniards can set up factories in eastern Japan and introduce new Spanish mining experts. When necessary, Spanish merchant ships are allowed to visit Japan, and Japan will send special envoys to the Spanish royal family. A Franciscan friar named Luis Sautereau preached in Edo, and he persuaded the Tokugawa shogunate to use him as a messenger to send a mission to New Spain (Mexico). 16 10, he set out with some returning Spanish sailors and 22 Japanese aboard the San buenaventura built by British adventurer General San Pu. In New Spain, Sotiro met with the Governor-General Luis de Velazco, who agreed to send a special envoy to Japan in the name of the famous explorer Sebastian Bisca, and added an additional task, that is, to explore the so-called "Treasure Island" which is considered to be east of Japan.

Bisca enoch arrived in Japan in 16 1 1 and met the shogunate and feudal lords many times. However, due to his contempt for Japanese traditions, Japan's growing resistance to Catholic beliefs and the Dutch's vigilance against Spanish ambitions, no progress has been made. Bisca Enoch finally left to look for "Treasure Island" and encountered bad weather during the search, which forced him to return to Japan with serious injuries.

The shogunate decided to build a galleon to carry Bisca Enoch and the Japanese delegation to New Spain.

Data Masamune, a celebrity in Sendai, is in charge of this project, and he ordered Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga (はせくらつねなが), a domestic servant, to take charge of this task. The Japanese named the galleon Idamura Maru, and later the Spanish renamed it San Juan Bautista. It took 45 days to build the ship, and the shogunate sent 800 shipbuilders, 700 blacksmiths and 3000 carpenters to participate in the project. After the completion of the project, the ship will leave for Acapulco, Mexico on1October 28th 16 13. The entourage is about 180, including shogunate 10 (provided by the secretary of the navy to the supervisor), Sendai samurai 12, Japanese businessman, crew and entourage 120, and about 40 Spanish and Portuguese.

After three months' sea voyage, the ship arrived in Acapulco on1October 25th 16 14 14, and the envoys were given a grand reception. Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga's final task is to go to Europe. After staying in Mexico for a while, he set sail in Veracruz on a ship named Don Antonio Oquendo. The sailboat set out from San Jose for Europe on June 10. Zhicang had to leave the huge Japanese mission in Acapulco to wait for his return.