Tanaka Shōsuke facts for kids
Tanaka Shōsuke was a skilled Japanese metal worker and trader from Kyoto. He lived in the early 1600s. He is famous for being the first Japanese person officially recorded to travel to the Americas. He made two round trips across the Pacific Ocean. Tanaka helped Japan start important trade and friendly relationships with the Spanish Empire.
Japan's Early Trade Connections
Before Tanaka Shōsuke's travels, Japan mostly traded with the Portuguese, the Chinese, and sometimes the Dutch and English. This was during a time called the "Nanban trade period". Japanese ships, known as red seal ships, sailed all over Asia. These ships were similar to Chinese junks but also used Western sailing ideas. However, they had never traveled as far as the Americas.
The leader of Japan, the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, really wanted to trade with more countries. He especially hoped to trade with the Spanish Empire. An opportunity came when a Spanish governor from the Philippines, Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia, was shipwrecked in Japan in 1609. He stayed for nine months. During this time, he worked out the first trade agreement between Japan and New Spain (which is now Mexico). This agreement allowed Spain to build a shipyard in Japan. In return, Japan would get trade across the Pacific and learn about silver mining from Mexico.
First Trip to the Americas (1610)
In August 1610, the retired shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu asked Tanaka Shōsuke to go with Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia back to New Spain. Twenty-two other Japanese people also went. They sailed on a ship called the San Buena Ventura. This ship was 120 tons and had been built in Japan a few years earlier. William Adams, an English sailor, had helped build it.
They arrived in New Spain in November 1610. The viceroy, Luis de Velasco, was very happy with how the Spanish sailors had been treated in Japan. He decided to send an explorer named Sebastián Vizcaíno to Japan. However, the viceroy took the San Buena Ventura ship. He was worried that the Japanese would learn how to sail across oceans too well.
Spanish records show that Tanaka Shōsuke studied how to mine silver in New Spain. This knowledge was very important for Japan. Japan used silver and copper to pay for things it bought from other countries. Tanaka Shōsuke also brought back mulberry wood from the Americas. He gave it to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who used it to build a bath in his palace.
A historian named Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, who was an Aztec noble, wrote about Tanaka's visit. He said that Tanaka was treated like an ambassador, even though he was a merchant. This showed how important the trade talks were. Chimalpahin wrote that the Japanese visitors were allowed to carry their swords. This was unusual for traders. They also wore their traditional Japanese clothes.
Several Japanese people from Tanaka's group chose to be baptized in New Spain. The leader of the group was baptized and took the Christian name Don Alonso. Tanaka Shōsuke was also baptized. He took the Christian name "Don Francisco de Velasco Josuke."
Three Japanese people from Tanaka's group decided to stay in New Spain. The rest returned to Japan in March 1611 with Sebastian Vizcaíno. Vizcaíno's mission was to return money that Tokugawa Ieyasu had lent. He also wanted to look for "gold and silver islands" east of Japan. They arrived back in Japan in the harbor of Uraga.
Second Trip (1613)
Tanaka Shōsuke helped get ready for the first official Japanese trip to the Americas and Europe. He met many times with Hasekura Tsunenaga, who was in charge of this big project.
Tanaka is recorded as leaving for the Americas again in 1613. He sailed on Hasekura's ship, the San Juan Bautista. This was a 500-ton galleon built in Japan. About 140 Japanese people were on board for the embassy. Sebastian Vizcaíno, whose own ship was damaged, also sailed on the San Juan Bautista to return to New Spain.
Some of the Japanese traders who had stayed in New Spain from Tanaka's first trip took the chance to return home. They sailed back to Japan on the San Juan Bautista in October 1614.
It is not known if Tanaka Shōsuke continued with Hasekura to Europe. He might have stayed in New Spain waiting for Hasekura to return. Or, he might have gone back to Japan in October 1614.
