Samurai William

the Englishman who opened Japan

352 pages

English language

Published Sept. 26, 2003 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

ISBN:
978-0-374-25385-1
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In 1611, the merchants of London's East India Company received a mysterious letter from Japan, written several years previously by a marooned English mariner named William Adams. Foreigners had been denied access to Japan for centuries, yet Adams had been living in this unknown land for years. He had risen to the highest levels in the ruling shogun's court, taken a Japanese name, and was now offering his services as adviser and interpreter. Seven adventurers were sent to Japan with orders to find and befriend Adams, in the belief that he held the key to exploiting the opulent riches of this forbidden land. Their arrival was to prove a momentous event in the history of Japan and the shogun suddenly found himself facing a stark choice: to expel the foreigners and continue with his policy of isolation, or to open his country to the world. For more than a decade …

8 editions

Subjects

  • Adams, William, -- 1564-1620
  • British -- Japan -- Biography
  • Pilots and pilotage -- Great Britain -- Biography
  • Japan -- Officials and employees, Alien -- Biography
  • Great Britain -- Officials and employees -- Japan -- Biography
  • Japan -- Relations -- Great Britain
  • Great Britain -- Relations -- Japan