Tracing Adams' footsteps...
Ito, a popular seaside onsen hot spring resort an easy train ride from Tokyo, lies at the northern end of the Izu Peninsula. William Adams was tasked by Tokugawa Ieyasu to build and commission Japan’s first galleons using [...] Learn more →
Ito, Shizuoka
Hirado is one of Japan’s little known but most intriguing places. Firstly, its name is most un-Japanese sounding and is, in fact, derived from Firando, with which Portuguese traders dubbed the port town in the 16th Century. Learn more →
William Adams became the first English person to arrive in Japan when his ship, De Leifde, was washed ashore on Kuroshima, a small island off the coast of Usuki, in April 1600. Adams and his shipmates quickly found themselves [...] Learn more →
The Nihonbashi district was the commercial centre of Edo, the original name given to Tokyo, and also Japan during the ascendency of the samurai. Nihonbashi, which literally means ‘Bridge of Japan’, is derived from the river crossing where the nation’s major thoroughfares converged [...] Learn more →
Tokugawa Ieyasu rewarded William Adams’ loyalty with the status of hatamoto, a high ranking samurai in the direct service of Tokugawa shoguns. This status also came with a fief, which for Adams was at Hemi in Yokosuka [...] Learn more →
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