In the Service of the Shogun: The Real Story of William Adams“Exhaustively researched. . . . Students of Japanese history and culture owe Cryns a debt of gratitude for this impressive achievement.”—Wall Street Journal • “William Adams comes alive in the revelatory In the Service of the Shogun. . . . Fans of the novel Shogun and the television series would do well to pick this one up.”—Washington Independent Review of Books From the historical advisor for the record Emmy Award–winning television series Shōgun, a gripping biography of the English ship pilot who would become one of the most influential Westerners in feudal Japan. In 1600, English helmsman William Adams washed ashore in Japan and was interrogated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan’s most powerful warlord and soon-to-be shogun. Far from executing Adams as a pirate, Ieyasu made him one of his most trusted advisers. This biography traces Adams’s rise from a humble pilot to a position of immense influence in Japan’s foreign relations. It unravels the subsequent diplomatic maneuvers of the Western powers in the Shogun’s empire and Adams’s eventual downfall. The first full biography of Adams based on original Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese sources, In the Service of the Shogun includes much previously unknown information. Frederik Cryns tells the authentic story of Adams’s checkered life in its historical context, taking us on a compelling journey into Adams’s complex inner feelings and cosmopolitan heart. |
Contents
| 9 | |
| 11 | |
| 15 | |
2 The Disastrous Voyage of the Liefde | 35 |
3 Winning the Shoguns Favour | 77 |
4 Shaping Ieyasus Foreign Policy | 111 |
5 The Coming of the English | 152 |
Other editions - View all
In the Service of the Shogun: The Real Story of William Adams Frederik Cryns No preview available - 2025 |
In the Service of the Shogun: The Real Story of William Adams Frederik Cryns No preview available - 2024 |
Common terms and phrases
Adams’s anchor Annobón arrived in Hirado ashore Asia asked Adams Bantam became Beuningen Blijde Boodschap Cape captain captured cargo carrack coast Cocks Cordes crew days later Drake Dutch Dutch East India Dutch ships East India Company Edo Castle England English ships English trading post envoy favourable fleet friends and countrymen Fushimi Castle Geloof Gerritsz gifts Haegen Hidetada Hideyori Hideyoshi Hirado Honda Masazumi Hoop island Japan Japanese Jesuits junk Keichō king Kyoto land Liefde lord of Hirado Mahu Mapuches Masazumi merchants Morocco Nagasaki Nobunaga Osaka Castle Patani pilot pirates Portuguese priests Puyck Quaeckernaeck Recio red seal pass replied returned to Hirado Rotterdam sailors Santvoort Saris Saris's sent set sail Shō Nei shogun Shōzaburō Siam Spain Spaniards Spanish ships Specx stay Strait of Magellan Sunpu Tokugawa Ieyasu took town unknown friends Uraga Usuki Usuki Castle Vivero Vizcaíno voyage wanted warlords Weert Wickham wife wind wrote