Detail of Hasekura’s portrait during his mission in Rome in 1615, by Claude Deruet, Coll. Borghese, Rome, from wikipedia.

On January 25, in 1614, almost 400 years ago, samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga was the first official Japanese Embassador to set foot on the Americas. First stop? Acapulco Mexico of course!

What’s left of him today? A few statues on the outskirts of Acapulco, a replica of San Juan Bautista, his Japanese-built galleon docked in the harbor of a theme park in Ishinomaki Japan, and Gisaku (2005), a Spanish animated film based loosely on Hasekura’s travels.

From Wikipedia’s featured article for today. If you care to read more, the article lives here: Hasekura Tsunenaga (支倉六右衛門常長)

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