Tenshō embassy


The Tenshō embassy was an embassy sent by the Japanese Christian Lord Ōtomo Sōrin to the Pope and the kings of Europe in 1582. The embassy was led by Mancio Itō, a Japanese nobleman, who was the first official Japanese emissary to Europe.

Embassy

The idea of sending a Japanese embassy to Europe was originally conceived by the Jesuit Alessandro Valignano, and sponsored by the three Kirishitan daimyōs Ōmura Sumitada, Ōtomo Sōrin, and Arima Harunobu. Mancio Itō was chosen to act as a spokesman for the group dispatched by Ōtomo Sōrin, who was daimyō of the Bungo Province on Kyūshū and a close relative of Mancio's father; Shurinosuke Itō. On February 20, 1582, Mancio Itō left Nagasaki in company with three other noblemen:
They were accompanied by two servants, their tutor and interpreter Diogo de Mesquita, and their mentor Valignano, who only accompanied them as far as Goa in Portuguese India, where he was to take up new responsibilities. They spent nine months visiting the Portuguese territories of Macau, Kochi, Madagascar and Goa on their way to Lisbon, where they arrived on 11 August 1584. From there, the ambassadors went on to Madrid and then to Rome, which were the two main goals of their journey. In Spain they visited Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Madrid, where they met with Philip II who was king of Spain and Portugal. They visited El Escorial monastery, the Alcalá University, Murcia and Alicante. In Rome, Mancio Itō became an honorary citizen and taken into the ranks of European nobility with the title Cavaliere di Speron d'oro. During their stay in Europe, they met with King Philip II of Spain, Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Pope Gregory XIII, and his successor Pope Sixtus V.
The ambassadors arrived back in Japan on July 21, 1590. On their eight-year-long voyage they had been instructed to take notes. These notes provided the basis for the De Missione Legatorum Iaponensium ad Romanam Curiam, a Macau-based writing by Jesuit Duarte de Sande published in 1590. According to Derek Massarella, "Valignano conceived the idea of a book based on the boys’ travels, one that could also be used for teaching purposes in Jesuit colleges in Japan," but "despite its authors’ intentions," De Missione "made no lasting impact on Japanese perceptions of Europe.
The four were subsequently ordained as the first Japanese Jesuit fathers by Alessandro Valignano.
Mancio Itō died in Nagasaki on November 13, 1612. Martinho Hara was banished from Japan by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1614, and acted in Macau. He died in Macau on October 23, 1629. Miguel Chijiwa left the Society of Jesus before 1601, and died in Nagasaki on January 23, 1633. Although he is generally believed to have abandoned Christianity, the discovery of what appear to be rosary beads in his grave in 2017 place this in some doubt. Julião Nakaura was caught by the Tokugawa shogunate, and died a martyr by torture in Nagasaki on November 21, 1633. He was beatified on November 24, 2008.

Itinerary

1583

  • February Four Japanese, Mancio Itō, Miguel Chijiwa, Julião Nakaura and Martinho Hara, with Alessandro Valignano, Father Nuno Rodrigues, translator Diogo de Mesquita, and a servant depart Nagasaki.
  • March 9 Macau. Chinese servant joins group.
  • Malacca to Cochin and Goa.
  • September 12 Valignano prepares letter of instructions at Goa and Father Nuno Rodrigues takes charge.

1584

1585

1586

  • April 8 Depart Lisbon for return.

1587

  • May 29 Reached Goa, reunited with Valignano.

1590

  • July 21 Arrival in Japan