The Keichō Embassy and Japanese-Spanish Relations in the Early Seventeenth Century Joshua Batts Submitted
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Circling the Waters: The Keichō Embassy and Japanese-Spanish Relations in the Early Seventeenth Century Joshua Batts Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2017 © 2017 Joshua Batts All rights reserved ABSTRACT Circling the Waters: The Keichō Embassy and Japanese-Spanish Relations in the Early Seventeenth Century Joshua Batts This project examines the fraught diplomatic and commercial relations between Tokugawa Japan (1600–1868) and the Habsburg Spanish empire in the early seventeenth century. Vessels from Japan called at the port of Acapulco in New Spain three times within a decade, the first attempt in world history at a bilateral commercial relationship across the Pacific. In doing so, the ships also challenged the Spanish monopoly over the waterways between Latin America and Asia. Japanese commercial and diplomatic outreach peaked with the Keichō Embassy to Southern Europe (1613–1620), an effort that dispatched Japanese representatives to the court of Philip III in Madrid, but failed in its mission to secure regular contact between New Spain and northeastern Japan. In analyzing these events, I contrast Japan’s pursuit of commercial and diplomatic expansion with Spanish ambivalence and insularity, inverting essentializing narratives defined by Japanese isolation and European engagement. The project also compares the diplomatic models employed by each polity. I argue that Spain’s established imperial vision and the shogunate’s emerging hierarchical model of foreign relations placed both polities at the pinnacle of their respective diplomatic frameworks, handicapping efforts to communicate, build trust, and integrate each into the worldview of the other. Ultimately, a Spanish policy of containment closed off the Americas to Japan; soon after, the Tokugawa divested from its relationship with the Spanish Philippines in the face of alternative commercial partners and ongoing religious tension. The project thus integrates Japanese history into world history and the history of the Pacific, while questioning the notion of a straightforward commitment to expansion among Europe’s early-modern empires. Table of Contents Notes on Places, Dates, and Names ii List of Abbreviations iv Acknowledgments v Introduction 1 1. Sailing East 28 2. Confounding the Court 90 3. Submitting to Orders 147 4. The Gate Ajar 203 5. Lost at Sea 253 Conclusion 303 Bibliography 310 Appendix A: Maps 319 Appendix B: Images 322 Appendix C: Timeline of Vessel Traffic 330 i Note on Places, Dates, and Names Places The city of Edo was the de facto capital of the Tokugawa shogunate, and is the present- day city of Tokyo. “Mexico” refers to the capital city of New Spain, not to the contemporary country. In order to avoid repetition and confusion in the text, “the archipelago” always refers to Tokugawa Japan, and “the islands” always refers to the Spanish Philippines. Date Masamune’s political base in northeastern Japan went by multiple names in the sources. As a daimyo, Date ruled over Sendai domain (仙臺藩, Sendai han), and governed from a city of the same name. However, Spanish documents most often referred to Date as the “King of Ōshū” (Rey de Voxu, and so on). “Ōshū” (奥州) denoted a large province in the northeast under the imperial system predating both the Tokugawa and Date. The daimyo’s holdings constituted a significant portion of Ōshū, but Date did not lay formal claim to the entire province. Today, the entire northeastern region of the island of Honshu is referred to as Tōhoku (東北, literally “east-north”), denoting an area much larger than either Sendai domain or the imperial province. Sendai City remains by far the largest urban center in Tōhoku. I refer to Date’s domain as Sendai when discussing events in Japan, but replicate the Spanish use of “Ōshū” or “King of Ōshū” when discussing European sources and use Tōhoku when discussing contemporary Japan. Dates In the seventeenth century Japan used a twelve-month lunar calendar and marked the years through a succession of eras proclaimed by the imperial court. Most of the events discussed in the following pages took place during the Keichō (1596–1615) and Genna (1615–1624) eras. For example, Date’s vessel the San Juan Bautista first departed Japan in the eighteenth year of the Keichō era, on the fifteenth day of the ninth month (Keichō 8.09.15), corresponding to ii October 28, 1613. Dates throughout have been converted to the Gregorian calendar, unless Japanese dates are quoted in the source. In these instances, the Gregorian date follows. The footnotes present dates in yyyy.mm.dd format. Thus January 26, 1615 is rendered 1615.01.26. When Japanese chronicles are cited, the Gregorian date again follows its Japanese counterpart. Names & Spellings Spanish officials and representatives are referred to by their family name or a shorthand of their noble title. Instances of the latter kind include “Salinas” for Luis de Velasco, Marqués de Salinas, “Lerma” for Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, Duke of Lerma, etc. Unless otherwise specified, “Habsburg” refers to the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg, most notably Philip III. As noted above Spanish sources most often referred to Date Masamune as the “King of Ōshū,” distinguishing him from Tokugawa Ieyasu, the “Emperor of Japan” (emperador de Japón). The daimyo was not a king, nor was the retired shogun an emperor, but the two appellations were accurate as a bald statement of hierarchy. Unless otherwise noted, the “Emperor of Japan” always refers to a Tokugawa, not to any member of the imperial family in Kyoto. Ieyasu’s son Hidetada held the position of shogun from 1605 while Ieyasu presided over affairs in “retirement.” Spanish sources most often referred to the younger Tokugawa as “the prince” (el príncipe) until he became “emperor” himself after Ieyasu’s passing. Conversely, Japanese source approximated the names and titles of Spanish counterparts phonetically or applied Japanese words such as “lord” (国主, kokushu) and “king” (国王, kokuō). The use of these titles in Japanese and Spanish sources are discussed in more detail in the relevant chapters. Finally, all quotes from Spanish sources retain the original orthography. iii List of Abbreviations – Archives and Source Collections AGI Archivo General de Indias, Sevilla AGS Archivo General de Simancas ASV Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Vatican City DNS Dai Nihon shiryō SDS Sendai-shi shi: Tokubetsu hen 8 (Keichō ken’ō shisetsu) iv Acknowledgements The output is individual but the input was a group effort. Greg Pflugfelder’s mentorship has been instrumental. He moves seamlessly from the finer details to the big picture, spotting an out of place en-dash in one breath before elegantly reformulating an entire line of argument in the next. He has enthusiastically supported me wherever my sources and interests led. Many faculty members at Columbia lent their time and energy to this project. Carol Gluck pushed me to tighten my writing and focus my ideas. She also encouraged me to stay in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Adam McKeown reaffirmed my interest in world history, and introduced me to the world of maritime history. Pamela Smith improved my critical faculties as a reader. Eugenia Lean taught me to take useful notes, and encouraged me to develop the kernel that became this dissertation. Robert Goree provided trenchant readings of early work and trenchant questions of early assumptions. David Lurie permitted me to bounce some of my wilder ideas off his office walls. I benefitted from the feedback of a stellar committee. Catrina Pizzigoni opened my eyes to new sources and kept her door open for conversations about where they were taking me. David Spafford sifted through drafts with a fine-toothed comb and good humor, and showed me how to structure prose for new audiences. Antonio Feros provided incisive feedback on future pathways and challenged me to better conceptualize diplomatic encounters across empires. Tonio Andrade graciously responded to a cold email with warm words, and encouraged me to think about my connections to larger debates. In Japan, Matsukata Fuyuko gave generously of her time, and provided me with opportunities to present my work. Umemori Naoyuki sponsored my affiliation at Waseda, and allowed me to join his interdisciplinary and international seminar of scholars. Kamiya Nobuyuki v made me feel at home in his seminar, and my classmates there cheerfully shouldered the burden of helping me keep pace. Igawa Kenji advised me on the state of Japanese sources in European archives. Shimizu Yūko answered questions and graciously shared her work. Birgit Tremml- Werner lent her time and insight to discussions of research questions and archival logistics. She also recommended the scholarship of Emilio Sola, who kindly met with me in Salamanca and in turn introduced additional Spanish-language resources. Adam Clulow provided advice and feedback while modeling how to research and write a diplomatic history of the Tokugawa world. Timon Screech, Peter Shapinsky, and Robert Eskildsen all lent an ear, providing comments, questions, and encouragement. Robert Hellyer introduced me to all three, and first put me in touch with Professor Matsukata; he also reached out each time he passed through Tokyo and offered feedback and advice along the way. Robert Marks helped start me on this path over a dozen years ago, and has offered encouragement every year after. A fellowship from the Fulbright Student program supported my initial research in Japan; a Waseda 125 Visiting Scholar grant permitted me to return the following year. In the interim, an International Dissertation Research Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council enabled a semester-long research outing to southern Europe, an indispensable experience for a budding historian operating outside his comfort zone. A Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies allowed me the time and financial support to do just that.