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William Adams
Sign in to saveAlso known as Anjin-sama, Anjin Miura, William Adams (1564-1620), Wiliam Adams (1564-1620), Wiliam Adams, Will Adams
English navigator who travelled to Japan
Key facts
- Born
- ( 1564-09-24 ) 24 September 1564, Gillingham, Kent , Kingdom of England
- Died
- 16 May 1620 (1620-05-16) (aged 55), Hirado , Nagasaki , Tokugawa Shogunate
- Resting place
- William Adams Memorial Park, Sakigata Hill, Hirado , Nagasaki Prefecture , Japan
- Other name
- Miura Anjin ( 三浦按針 )
- Occupation
- Navigator
- Known for
- First Englishman to travel to Japan Among the first known Western Hatamoto One of the first Englishmen to travel to Thailand, Third Englishman to travel to Vietnam
- Term
- 1600–1620
- Successor
- Joseph Adams
- Spouses
- Mary Hyn ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1589 ) Oyuki ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1613 )
- Children
- John Adams (son) , Deliverance Adams (daughter) , Joseph Adams (son) , Susanna Adams (daughter)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- William
- Family name
- Adams
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of England
- Place of birth
- Gillingham
- Place of death
- Hirado Island
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Anglicanism
- Conflict
- Spanish Armada
- Military branch
- Royal Navy
- Image
- William-Adams-before-Shogun-Tokugawa-Ieyasu.png
- Residence
- Nihonbashi-Muromachi
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- William Adams (1564 – 1620) (sailor)
- date of birth
- 1564-09-24
- date of death
- 1620-05-16
- Commons Creator page
- William Adams
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- Commons gallery
- William Adams
- name in native language
- William Adams
- nickname
- 按針様
- social classification
- hatamoto
- member of the crew of
- De Liefde
via Wikidata · CC0
~31 min read
Encyclopedic overview
William Adams (24 September 1564 – 16 May 1620), better known in Japan as Miura Anjin (三浦按針; 'the pilot of Miura'), was an English navigator who, in 1600, became the first Englishman to reach Japan. He was later granted samurai status, and was recognised as one of the most influential foreigners in Japan during the early 17th century.
He arrived in Japan as one of the few survivors of the ship Liefde under the leadership of Jacob Quaeckernaeck. It was the only vessel to reach Japan from a five-ship expedition launched by a company of Rotterdam merchants (a voorcompagnie, or predecessor, of the Dutch East India Company). Soon after his arrival in Japan, Adams and his second mate Jan Joosten became advisors to shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, and each was appointed as hatamoto.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “William Adams” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.