William Adams

William Adams (24 September 1564 – 16 May 1620), known in Japanese as Miura Anjin (三浦按針: "the pilot of Miura") was an English navigator who, in 1600, was the first of his nation to reach Japan during a five-ship expedition for the Dutch East India Company. Of the few survivors of the only ship that reached Japan, Adams and his second mate Jan Joosten were not allowed to leave the country while Jacob Quaeckernaeck and Melchior van Santvoort were to go back to the Dutch Republic to invite them to trade. Adams and Joosten settled in Japan and became two of the first ever (and very few) Western samurai.
Category:Last Name Adams
Category:Born 1564
Category:Died 1620