History is littered with grand projects and dashed expectations that are no less intriguing than its moments of triumph and heroism. A large portrait in oils of a splendidly attired, mid-ranking samurai posing regally in a Roman palace in the early 1600s bears witness to one such episode.
In 1613, the same year that the British East India Company’s ship, the Clove, arrived in south-western Japan, a galleon carrying an embassy of Japanese left from the northeast in the opposite direction. This was not the first delegation sent from Japan to Europe; in 1582, four teenage boys were sent by three Christian daimyo of Kyushu to pay their respects to the Spanish king and the pope.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.