First Japanese in Europe: Incredible Story of the Tensho Embassy (1582 - 1590) // DOCUMENTARY

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00:00 Introduction
3:14 Japan: The Idea
6:43 The Journey
10:04 Portugal
14:56 Spain
21:23 Italy and Rome
29:33 Home Again

Written by Thomas Lockley.

Edited and narrated by David Kelly.
Art by Matthew Cartwright.

— Music courtesy of:-
Epidemic Sound

Bibliography:
Boscaro, Adriana. 1973. Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the 1587 Edicts Against Christianity
Oriens Extremus, 20, 2, pp. 219-241.

Cooper, Michael. 2005. The Japanese Mission to Europe, 1582-1590. Folkestone: Global Oriental.

Frois, Luis. 2014. The First Description of Japan, 1585. A critical English-language Edition of Striking Contrasts in the Customs of Europe and Japan. Abingdon: Routledge.

Lee, Adele. 2018. The English Renaissance and the Far East. Vancouver: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

Markley, Robert. 2006. The Far East and The English Imagination, 1600-1730. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Massarella, Derek (ed.), & Moran, J. F. (tr.). 2012. Japanese Travellers in Sixteenth-Century Europe. A Dialogue Concerning the Mission of the Japanese Ambassadors to the Roman Curia (1590.) Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing (on behalf of the Hakluyt Society.)

Moran, J. F. 1996. The Japanese and the Jesuits. Alessandro Valignano in sixteenth-century Japan. Abingdon: Routledge.

Üçerler, M. Antoni J. 2003. Alessandro Valignano: man, missionary, and writer
Renaissance Studies, 17, 3, pp. 337-366

Image credits:

We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.

[VoicesofthePast]

Hope you enjoy it folks! Big shout out to Thomas Lockley, the writer - lots more great stuff coming this year from him. His book on Yasuke is amazing, check it out:

One correction - Nakaura has been beatifed, not quite canonized yet. Nearly there mind.

[untruelie]

"He had never been hugged before - let alone by the ruler of half the world." This scene is somehow hilarious, absurd and wholesome at the same time.

[anthonypalo]

imagine being a samurai, a knight, and a saint.. Nakahura was quite a fellow.

[David_ESP]

Interesting fact from a spaniard:

Some japanese people from a posterior Japanese embassy loved so much Spain that they settled there, mostly in a town in Andalusia called "Coria del Río". You can trace the Japanese lineage of some of their descendants because of the surname "Japón" which is the spanish word for Japan.

[eiRagnaRok]

I don't think we give enough credit to the audio quality of this channel, it sets the mood so perfectly.

[Elephantstonica]

Imagine being this young bloke who comes all the way from Japan, then when turning up in Spain is promptly hugged by Philip II.

[Archphoenix]

Imagine you are an italian bandit trying to rob a caariage and 4 samurai come out looking like nothing you have ever seen before, that must have been really weird

[Bakerb]

I can only imagine what these four embassies from Japan would have felt after returning to Japan with such an amazing new perspective on life and the world, only to be later forced to renounce it or face death.

[pavelstaravoitau]

I love how when ambassadors from the east came to Europe, everyone was so nice and accomodating to them.

[silentobserver]

This is how history needs to be taught. We need to show future generations more first person accounts.

[lese]

What struck me the most is the discrepancy between how big Europeans thought Japan was vs how big it is

[ChrissieBear]

The story of one of the young nobles dancing with the older woman was wholesome.

[BrianFaure]

It’s so crazy now we can fly from Rome to Japan in hours when it took them 4 YEARS of travel

[ZachValkyrie]

I'm sorry, but I completely lost it at "Queen Elizabeth was not amused."

[Schmats]

They could make an anime or just a series of this. Something educational and fun at the same time. Truly a worthy story of more recognition.

[Artur_M.]

The stories of far journeys and different cultures interacting with one another are some of my favourites ones. I've heard about the Tensho Embassy, but I didn't even realize how young its members were. It was great to hear about it in such detail.

[CrossedKatana]

I can only imagine how incredible those 8 years must have been.

[KyoushaPumpItUp]

From what I read, there are people who now doubt that Chijiwa rejected Christianity after a rosary was found in his tomb back in 2017.

[beaudanner]

What an epic story. Better than fiction, it should be made into an entire multi season episodic

[samadams]

It's crazy how much untold history there is within easy reach. Thanks for taking this down off the shelf for us.