Immortalised as John Blackthorne
in James Clavell
, William Adams is the intrepid explorer who caused a cultural revolution
, was the first westerner to be accepted by Japanese society
, and, most impressively, is the only white man to ever be made samurai.
William Adams was born in the English county of Kent
on September 24, 1564. Adams father passed away of ill health when Adams was a child of 12, who then got apprenticed to Master Shipwright
Nicholas Diggins at Limehouse
. Adams spent the next 12 years of his life learning shipbuilding, navigation
, and, essential for plying the seas at the time, astronomy
He served in the Royal Navy
with Sir Francis Drake
for a period of time, before leaving the service to become a Pilot for the merchant company Barbary Traders
. During his time as Pilot Major, he took part in a 2 year expedition to the arctic circle, trying to find a Northern Passage along the coast of Siberia to the Far East. The expedition was unsuccessful.
In 1598, Adams, then 34, went to Holland
and was chosen as Pilot Major for a five-ship expedition to the Far East.
William Adams led the fleet out of Rotterdam in June, 1598 on the flagship De Hoop
. During the then perilous voyage, which led the fleet via the west coast of Africa
, across to the east coast of South America, through the Magellan Straits
, and up the coastline of Chile, they were scattered and the majority of the fleet was lost. The Pilot Major changed ships, moving from De Hoop to to the De Liefde
(originally called Erasmus
, which is the name of Pilot Major Blackthorne's ship in Shogun
) and waited for the remainder of the fleet
at Santa Maria Island. The only ship that arrived was Adams' previous posting, the De Hoop
. It was in the later stages of November, 1599, when the two remaining ships set sail westward for the mythical region of the Japans. The ship De Hoop was claimed by a sudden typhoon in February, 1600. Meanwhile, the crew of the De Liefde were slowly succumbing to scurvy
and other mal-nutrition
related diseases common for sailors
at the time.
The De Liefde
sighted land in April, 1600, and made landfall 2 days later at Bungo, now Usaki
City. Only 9 of the remaining 24 crewmembers could actually stand, and they were all soon taken in custody after claims by Portuguese Missionaries
, the only western influence in Japan at the time, that they were pirates
and the vessel was seized. They were imprisoned in Osaka Castle
under orders of the present Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu
(the basis for the character of Toranaga
in Clavell's novel).
However, Ieyasu began having conversation
s with Adams, whom the Japanese dubbed Anjin-san (Honourable Pilot). Through the course of their discussions, Adams informed Ieyasu about modern warfare, weapons and seafaring, intriguing him greatly. Eventually, William Adams was made a revered diplomatic and trade advisor
and gave him many privileges of the Empire that were denied Westerners. In 1604, Ieyasu asked Adams to build an 80-ton ship with his sea-faring knowledge, in Western style, at Ito
. This was completed to Ieyasu's delight, who then ordered Adams to build a 120-ton vessel.
Tokugawa Ieyasu's gratitude
for Adams' service was such that he gave him incredibly generous rewards
, including a large house in the new capital of Edo
and 20 servants. However, the best was yet to come. Adams received two swords, the badge of rank for samurai
, and was dubbed Hatamoto
, one of the highest ranks a samurai could achieve. Adams is the first and only Westerner to achieve this.
The sword and companion sword, katana
, not only transformed Adams into samurai, he was reborn, and renamed Miura Anjin
. Ieyasu was not yet done, granting Anjin a sizeable fief at Hemi, near present-day Yokosuka
. He granted Anjin a sizeable stipend salary, and the means to marry Oyuki, by all accounts a beautiful woman, the daughter of Magome Kageyu, a noble samurai and official of Edo Castle
, which stood in present day Tokyo
Anjin and Oyuki made their home in Hemi, having two children
, Joseph and Sussanna. Adams, however, found it difficult to stay in one place long, and was soon roaming the countryside. In vain, he tried to organise an expedition to the Northern Passage that so eluded him more than a decade ago. The idea never got into the planning stages. He helped the Dutch East India Company
set up a trading mission in the predominantly Portuguese port of Nagasaki
, who soon established a monopoly. Under contract from the East India company, Adams sailed to Indochina
, and Okinawa
William Adams, now Miura Anjin, died happily of old age at Hirado, north of Nagasaki, on May 16, 1620. He was 56. Adams had a wife and children in England
, but Ieyasu had forbidden the Englishman to leave Japan. In a true stroke of wisdom, the Shogun decreed that William Adams was dead and that Miura Anjin, a samurai, was born. This made Anjin's wife in England, in effect, a widow
, and "freed" Anjin to serve him on a permanent basis. Also, only as a samurai, was he eligible to marry a samurai's daughter. It's said that by the end of his life, he had no desire to return to England, his home.
Adams surely had the greatest impact on feudal Japan
, opening their eyes fully to the outside world, which, in turn, led to their near-xenophobic
attitude to outsiders, and, eventually, the chilling, near revolutionary battle cry of "Sonno joi
" ('Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian') more than 200 years later.
Expanded upon from the writings at http://hsv.com/writers/jeffog/wa-hist.htm, and various other sources.