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5 unusual facts about Tanaka Shōsuke


Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas

He received in 1610 the embassy of Luis Sotelo and Tanaka Shōsuke, which had sailed from Japan on the Japanese sailship San Buena Ventura, and agreed to send an ambassador to Japan in the person of the famous explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno, with the added mission of exploring the "gold and silver islands" which were thought to be east of the Japanese isles.

Rodrigo de Vivero, 1st Count of Valle de Orizaba

He was accompanied by 23 Japanese representatives on his way back, led by the Kyoto trader Tanaka Shōsuke (田中勝助).

Tanaka Shōsuke

A contemporary journal, written by the historian Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, a noble Aztec born in Amecameca (ancient Chalco province) in 1579, whose formal name was Domingo Francisco de San Anton Muñon, gives some account of the visit of Tanaka.

He decided to send an embassy to Japan in the person of the famous explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno.

Also among them was Father Muños, a Franciscan Father, sent by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a representative to negotiate the establishment of trade between Japan and Nueva España.



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