Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 19, Episode 5 - A Samurai in the Vatican - full transcript

♪♪♪

[ Bell tolling, birds chirping ]

-Coria del Río,

an hour's drive outside the city
of Seville in Spain.

-iCuatro!

IDos, tres!

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

-In this city
of just 20,000 people,



nearly 700 of its citizens
share the last name Japón,

Spanish for "Japan."

Why do they all have
such an unusual surname,

that of a country
13,000 miles to the west?

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

To track down the answer
to this question,

one Spanish scholar traveled
around the world

and discovered a long forgotten,

17th-century chapter in
global history... ♪♪♪

...a Japanese
diplomatic mission to Europe

led by two starkly
different men... ♪♪♪

...a Spanish missionary
and a samurai.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪



-"Secrets of the Dead"
was made possible in part by

contributions to your PBS
station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

♪♪♪

-September 15, 1613.

A ship leaves
the eastern coast of Japan,

sailing toward New Spain
...present-day Mexico.

♪♪♪

It's the start
of an incredible journey.

The samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga

and the Franciscan monk
Luis Sotelo

would travel half the globe,

in hopes of establishing

a diplomatic and commercial
relationship

between Spain and Japan.

It's an unlikely mission,
made all the more so

by how different
the two men seemed to be,

but they both had personal hopes
that brought them to this point.

[ Bell clanging ]

♪♪♪

Four hundred years later,

there are only a few traces
of Hasekura's trip

to the other side of the world,

some in Europe, others in Japan.

♪♪♪

Jesús San Bernardino Coronil,

a professor of Asian studies
at the University of Seville,

was a student
when he first learned

about the legend of the samurai
who visited Western Europe.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
I had Juan Manuel Suárez Japón

as professor of geography

and he told us the story
of the samurai

who traveled
up the Guadalquivir River.

I was completely surprised
and stupefied.

I thought it was
a fascinating story.

There are still a lot
of unclear elements,

lots of questions that
researchers haven't answered.

There are documents
that haven't been

published, studied, translated.

There's a whole world left
to discover.

-San Bernardino's first stop
on his search

to find out more
about the Keicho mission,

as it was known,
was Seville's City Hall.

♪♪♪

-[Interpreter] I wanted to know
who he was, this samurai Hasekura.

Why would a Franciscan monk
accompany a samurai?

Who was this Lord Date Masamune?

What was their importance?

♪♪♪

-There, he found a letter
in Japanese

announcing the arrival
of a group of Japanese diplomats

led by the samurai Hasekura.

♪♪♪

-Esto es una C.

-C.

- C-ji-i-lla.
- C-ji-i-lla.

-With the help of Professor
Rafael Abad de los Santos,

who reads 17th-century Japanese,

San Bernardino
deciphered the letter.

♪♪♪

-Aquí está Date Masamune.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] The letter
was sent to the city of Seville

from Date Masamune,
a very important Japanese lord.

What are the letter's goals?

There are two of them.

The first is that he wishes
to have missionaries sent

to Japan
to help Christianity grow.

♪♪♪

The second goal is
that he wishes to establish

a direct route
from Japan to Seville.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

-Date Masamune came
from a long line of feudal lords

who ruled over the Tohoku region
in Northern Japan.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

-A legendary warrior and leader,

he was a skilled power broker,

following the family tradition

of creating strategic
partnerships and relationships.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

[ Gong crashes ]

-Europeans first arrived
in Japan in 1543

and established profitable
trading ports in Hirado

Funai, and Nagasaki

on the southern island of
Kyushu.

♪♪♪

The leaders of these districts
grew rich,

buying and selling silk

the Spanish and Portuguese
brought from China,

along with Asian spices

and goods made
in the colony of New Spain.

And, for the Spanish,
the Japanese had

one particularly
valuable resource... silver.

Date Masamune was eager
for his northern province,

including the city of Sendai,

to take part in this
commercial activity,

and his ambitions stretched

beyond welcoming
the Europeans to Japan.

In 1600,

Date relocated
to the Northeastern Coast,

transforming what had been
a small fishing village

into the thriving and prosperous
city which he would name Sendai.

In his palace at the top
of a cliff,

he could see the value of his
new home's strategic location.

His region had
a natural asset...

Sendai stood
on the Pacific Ocean,

at the edge of a current
that traveled straight

to the West Coast of New Spain.

Date began to consider
whether he could send

his own trading ships
from Sendai to New Spain,

without relying on the Europeans
as intermediaries.

But Spain had exclusive control
of trade across the Pacific.

To avoid conflict,

he needed Spain's permission
to make

direct commercial contact
with its colony.

At the end of the 16th century,

Spain and Portugal were united
under the banner

of the king of Spain,
Philip III.

The Iberian Empire was immense,

covering portions of Italy,

colonial territories in
the Americas... ♪♪♪

...as well as Western
Africa... ♪♪♪

...and parts of India.

♪♪♪

"You can circle the world

without ever leaving
Philip's lands,"

wrote the poet Lope de Vega,
at the time.

♪♪♪

But, for Date,
trade with New Spain

was just one piece
of a larger plan.

His ultimate goal was

to unite the provinces of Japan

and become its shogun.

♪♪♪

Date hoped
that Hasekura and Sotelo

would serve as useful tools

in establishing
a partnership with Spain.

♪♪♪

Wanting to find out more
about the mission,

San Bernardino traveled
to Sendai.

♪♪♪

[ Horn blaring ]

♪♪♪

Unlike the united
Spanish empire,

Japan was deeply divided

until the start
of the 17th century.

The country's dozens
of regional lords

spent their time making war
and vying for power.

One of these lords,
Tokugawa Ieyasu,

rose above his enemies

and became the country's
first shogun.

And he supported efforts to make
Sendai an international port.

The pieces of Date's plan
were falling into place.

♪♪♪

Today, a large statue
of Date sits

between the remains
of his Aoba Castle

and the Sendai City Museum.

♪♪♪

The museum has a number
of items related

to both Date and
Hasekura... armor, portraits,

and accounts of Hasekura's life.

♪♪♪

Toru Sasaki is
the museum's curator.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

-He, too, has studied
Hasekura Tsunenaga's story.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

-[Interpreter]
As for Hasekura Tsunenaga,

before the departure
of the Keicho mission to Europe,

what we currently know is
that Date Masamune

was dispatched
to the Korean Peninsula...

...and Hasekura accompanied
Date for a war.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

-[Interpreter]
The functions he had were,

for example,
collecting information

or, on behalf of Date,
acting as a messenger.

That was his role.

♪♪♪

Hasekura Tsunenaga
was born in 1571,

to a family of samurais
that had fought

on behalf of the Date clan
for several generations.

♪♪♪

But in 1612,

his father was charged
with corruption

and sentenced to death.

It was his duty to commit
seppuku... ritual suicide...

According to the honor code
of the samurai.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ Squelch ]

♪♪♪

The family's property
was confiscated

and Hasekura was stripped of his
responsibilities as a samurai.

♪♪♪

It was a shameful incident
for the family,

bringing great dishonor.

♪♪♪

As was custom,

Hasekura should have ended
his own life as well,

but Date offered him
an alternative.

♪♪♪

-[ Conversing in Japanese ]

-If Hasekura would sail halfway
around the world

and secure trade rights
from the Spanish,

Date would restore honor
to the Hasekura clan,

return its property,

and allow him to serve
as a samurai again.

♪♪♪

It was a chance for Hasekura
to redeem his family name

and Date likely knew

the former samurai
would do whatever was asked.

♪♪♪

As eager as Hasekura
may have been,

Date understood that,

if the mission had any hope
of success,

the samurai would need help
with the language

and navigating an extremely
foreign culture.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Father Luis Sotelo arrived
in Japan in 1603,

speaking Japanese fluently.

[ Creaking ]

A Franciscan monk,

he came from an important
Spanish family

and was highly ambitious.

-[ Conversing in Japanese ]

♪♪♪

Having barely arrived
in the Land of the Rising Sun,

he established a church
in the shogun's capital...

Edo, present-day Tokyo.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
For Luis Sotelo,

it's a chance to accomplish one

of his greatest dreams...

To convert Japan
to Christianity.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] He believes
that the efforts, so far,

have not been sufficient,

that the Jesuits could do more,

and he thinks that Franciscans
could do better

and that he could succeed
where others have failed.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-Christianity in Japan
was viewed with suspicion.

It was a potential threat
to the ruling class,

but it also offered
unknown opportunities.

-I think, with the arrival
of the Christian missionaries,

they brought a whole set of new
possibilities for the Japanese.

And, remember,
we're in warring-states Japan,

so you've got lots
of different feudal lords,

all vying against one another,
all trying to get ahead.

And the Christian missionaries,
together with the traders,

bring the possibility of trade.

They bring the possibility

of intellectual
and artistic exchange.

They bring the possibility
of guns and of weapons.

-Almost as soon as they arrived
in 1549,

Christian missionaries in Japan

faced difficult and often
dangerous circumstances.

-It was an immense challenge
to the early missionaries...

"How do we preach
the Christian faith

in a way that's intelligible
and understandable

and convincing to a culture
which is so different

from our own,
from European culture?"

-Some Christians went so far
as to destroy Japanese temples.

In return, the country's
highest leader decided

to make an example
of those involved.

On February 5, 1597,

26 Christians were tortured
and paraded through the city

before being crucified

on the Tateyama hilltop
near Nagasaki.

-Japan was suddenly seen
as an incredibly dangerous place

to go as a missionary

and, if you step foot in Japan,
as a missionary,

you're facing
almost certain death.

-Cum Sancto Spiritu,
in gloria Dei Patris.

Amen.

♪♪♪

-The church Sotelo established
in Edo was destroyed in 1612.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

-He was arrested and imprisoned,
along with other missionaries.

♪♪♪

-¿Sabeis qué ha pasado
en la cuidad de [indistinct]?

-And, like he did with Hasekura,

Date offered Sotelo
an alternative to prison...

Would he consider
accompanying a samurai

on a voyage halfway
around the world,

in hopes of signing
a trade treaty?

♪♪♪

As an incentive,
Date told Sotelo

he would support Catholicism
in his territory.

♪♪♪

Date likely believed that,

in addition
to financial prosperity,

if he had the support of Japan's
growing Catholic population,

he might then also have
a large enough base

to become the country's leader.

♪♪♪

And it was a chance for Sotelo

to further
his own ambitious plans

to become bishop of Japan.

♪♪♪

Date Masamune,

the lord who dreamt
of being shogun.

Luis Sotelo,
the Franciscan missionary

who wanted to become bishop
of Japan.

Hasekura Tsunenaga,

the samurai who longed
to restore his family's honor.

These three characters' fates
and ambitions were bound.

But they faced
an immediate challenge.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] At that time,
the Japanese didn't have

great enough maritime
and naval knowledge.

♪♪♪

That's why they needed
foreigners...

Mostly Dutch or Spanish...

To guide them and help them
for building and navigating...

♪♪♪

...and that was the case
in the building of the ship

that would be called
the San Juan Bautista.

♪♪♪

-Modeled on the Spanish galleon,

the San Juan Bautista
was built in Sendai in 1613.

Construction took 45 days
and required

800 shipwrights, 700
smiths, and 3,000 laborers.

In 1993, a group
of Japanese citizens

built a full-size replica
of the ship

to mark Hasekura's
incredible journey.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

-[Interpreter]
Here it is...

This is the San Juan Bautista.

♪♪♪

It is an old style
of galleon ship.

♪♪♪

That is Hasekura's flag
on the mast.

The other, with the
Rising Sun on it, is Date's.

There's a portrait
of Hasekura Tsunenaga in Rome

and it has a little ship
on his right side.

That is all we had,

so we referred to this picture
to make the ship.

♪♪♪

-The San Juan Bautista sailed
away from the Japanese coast

with 180 passengers onboard...

Japanese merchants, Franciscans,

crew members, and warriors.

The captain set the course east.

As Hasekura and his countrymen
looked out at the immense ocean,

could they comprehend
the distance they would travel?

After three long months at sea,

the San Juan Bautista set
sights on the coast of Mexico.

[ Chorale plays ]

♪♪♪

Docking in the Bay of Acapulco
on January 28, 1614,

the group immediately set off
for Mexico City,

the seat of the viceroy
appointed by King Philip III.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪
[ Bell tolling ]

♪♪♪

The delegation's members
found a growing city,

very different
from those of Japan.

At the time,
Spain's colonial cities

followed a plaza and grid system
of organization

decreed by the crown.

Beatriz Palazuelos Mazars

has sought out traces
of the delegation

at the sites it visited.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] This is the old
convent of San Francisco,

which was the colony's
biggest at the time.

-[Interpreter]
It was the biggest in Mexico.

-[Interpreter]
In the city of Mexico.

-[Interpreter] I think
that it's the ideal place

to welcome people,

like those
in Hasekura's delegation.

That was a very practical
solution for the viceroy

because he could perfectly
control the delegation,

if all the Japanese
were locked up here

in San Francisco's monastery.

It was very safe for him.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-In the center of Mexico City,

the Franz Mayer Museum
has some objects

that were brought over from Asia
on the galleons of the period.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
It's marvelous.

-[Interpreter]
Though made of bamboo,

it's still very heavy.

-[Interpreter] Can you
imagine how much it weighed

with all the clothes inside?

♪♪♪

-While some silver items
were produced exclusively

for the empire's
Catholic citizens,

Spain exported most of the
valuable silver to China.

♪♪♪

In exchange for the silver,

China offered the Europeans
cloth...

Satin, velvet, fine embroidery;

and, especially,
silk, flowery or plain,

decorated with golden
and silver flowers.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] It represents
the first globalization,

with things coming from China
and then going to Manila.

And not just China,

since there are goods from Japan

and we have spices
from the Maluku Islands.

Soon, the slaves will arrive

as the Portuguese
bring them from Manila

and they reach Acapulco
and New Spain.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
It's really globalization.

♪♪♪

-Because of its
strategic location halfway

between Asia and Europe,

New Spain served
as a commercial hub,

growing rich as a link for the
Atlantic and the Pacific.

♪♪♪

The Japanese delegation settled

into its temporary home
in Mexico City,

as they prepared for their
first important meeting.

They requested an audience
with the viceroy,

Diego Fernández de Córdoba,

hoping he might grant them
the right

to trade directly
with New Spain.

♪♪♪

De Córdoba did allow
the merchants

who accompanied Hasekura

to sell the goods they'd brought
with them on the voyage.

-[ Speaking Japanese ]

-But he avoided the question
of Japan having

an independent trade
relationship with New Spain.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] One of the
concerns he may have had,

as the viceroy of New Spain

and at the court of Spain,
in general,

and throughout the
Iberian empire,

is that, if they had agreed
to the Japanese request,

the Japanese would have then

learned how to sail the course.

But, until then,

only Spanish navigators
knew how to do this

and, if the Japanese spoke
of the route,

the Dutch and English
could also learn the secret.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
If the secret is lost,

not only would the economy
be endangered,

but Spanish territory itself
would be at risk

because the British might
attack California or New Spain

and conquer those lands.

♪♪♪

-But meeting with New Spain's
viceroy was just a formality.

Only King Philip III

could permit Japan to trade
directly with New Spain.

♪♪♪

While Hasekura and Sotelo
sailed for Europe,

a number of the Japanese
merchants remained in Mexico.

♪♪♪

Hasekura, Sotelo,
and about 30 other Japanese

began the long march

across the volcanic
and desert terrain

to Veracruz,

where another ship was waiting
to take them to Spain.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

As they were crossing the sea,

Hasekura and Sotelo
were doubtless unaware that,

in Japan,
the shogun had issued a decree

forbidding Christianity.

-La corredera dice
que navegamos...

-Date Masamune declared
he would continue

to protect missionaries
in his territory up north,

but it was unclear
how long that would last.

♪♪♪

At the same time, the viceroy

secretly sent a letter
to King Philip in Spain,

hoping to maintain
the colony's monopoly

on Pacific trade in Asia.

♪♪♪

[ Horse neighs ]

Correspondence
between New Spain's viceroy

and his distant king
can be found

in the Archives of the Indies
in Seville.

♪♪♪

That's where, amid hundreds
of other documents,

San Bernardino was able to read

Diego Fernández de Córdoba's
warning to the Spanish court.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
"For Father Luis Sotelo

to continue his mission,

not much happened at this time."

-[Interpreter] "May his
energy and daring carry him,

for he travels
to Castillo and Rome

with a chimerical delegation
and requests monks for Japan."

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] The viceroy sees
Sotelo as a man on a small seat,

which means that he considers
his reasoning

poorly founded or defended.

That's why the king sees him
as a sort of... utopian.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] In truth, it's very
interesting what was happening.

While Sotelo and Hasekura

were working so hard
towards their goal,

there were people working
to make the delegation fail.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-October 5, 1614.

After two months
crossing the Atlantic,

the galleon laid anchor

at the mouth
of the Guadalquivir.

♪♪♪

Hasekura, Sotelo, and the rest
of the delegation sailed

up the river toward Seville,
aboard two ships.

♪♪♪

Led by the Moors
from 711 to 1492,

and then reconquered
by Christians,

at the time of Hasekura's visit,

Seville was one
of the most important

and powerful cities in Europe,

its prosperity a direct result

of trade
with the Americas and Asia.

♪♪♪

The Japanese ambassador

was received with pomp,
as a state guest.

Noblemen and merchants showed
him the city's monuments

and he stayed
in the king's own room

at Real Alcázar,
the royal palace.

♪♪♪

[ Birds chirping ]

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
It was six days of dinners,

comedies, dances, parties.

♪♪♪

We know, from accounts,
that Hasekura

was very moved
and grateful in every way.

♪♪♪

He didn't know how to show
his thanks for the reception,

which was such an honor.

Something like that would never

have happened for
him in Japan... ♪♪♪

...because he wasn't daimyo.

He was just a simple samurai.

[ Bells tolling ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Chorale plays ]

-One can only imagine the sense
of culture shock

Hasekura likely experienced
upon arriving in Seville.

♪♪♪

The city's cathedral
was elaborately decorated

with gold and silver symbols
of Christianity,

which must have seemed
very strange to the samurai.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] The missionaries
working in Japan since the 16th century

had understood that the image
of Christ suffering

was not welcomed
by the Japanese...

...because it seemed
inconceivable

and horrible to them

to show an image
of a god suffering like this...

...a fate reserved
only for criminals...

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] ...a form of
punishment for bad people.

It seemed absolutely
incompatible with a god.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

-[ Vocalizing ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

-With the promise of conversion

and the global spread
of Catholicism,

Sotelo may have felt
that the mission depended

on the samurai
embracing Christianity,

despite the clash of cultures.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

November 1614.

♪♪♪

The party left for Madrid,

where they would meet
with King Philip and his court,

in hopes of securing the king's
approval of a trade agreement.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

A month later,

the samurai and the Franciscan
reached the Spanish capital.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

There, the two men met
an Italian writer,

Scipione Amati,

who would chronicle
the delegation's journey.

♪♪♪

"On January 30th
in the year of our Lord 1615,

the ambassador
and Father Sotelo arrived

with their group
in the royal room,

where the ambassador
put on some exquisite clothes

that are only used
for formal occasions."

♪♪♪

According to Amati's
written account,

Hasekura gave King Philip III
a letter.

San Bernardino found the letter
in the archives

of the Spanish monarchy
at the Simancas Castle.

And, in it, San Bernardino read
about an important decision

Hasekura made
during his travel...

To become a Catholic.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
This is the letter sent

by the ambassador Hasekura
to Philip III...

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] "The honor of being
received by Your Majesty is such

that it leaves me as happy

as a dark place upon which light
has been shed."

-[Interpreter]
"Light has been shed."

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
"'Light has been shed.'

It's the light
of His Catholic Majesty,

the light of faith.

He is shown as a dark man

who has been enlightened,

through the king
and the christening,

and who is transformed.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
Hasekura requests

the presence of the king
at his christening.

-There is speculation

about Hasekura's motivations
and intentions,

with some scholars
doubting his sincerity.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
Hasekura wasn't as invested

in the christening, most likely,
as in the king's presence.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] It's the
formal aspect, the solemnity,

that really justifies
his mission.

-Hasekura's request
to be christened

likely improved Sotelo's image

and demonstrated
to the royal court

that there were Japanese
wishing to practice Catholicism,

providing additional incentive

to have a strong relationship
with the country.

[ Chorale plays ]

Philip III answered
the Japanese ambassador.

-"We are pleased by your request
to become Christian

and we are most pleased

that the holy sacraments
be celebrated in our presence."

-Aceite [indistinct]

y en Jesucristo, Nuestro Señor,

para que tengais vida eterna.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

-Ego te baptizo,

in nomine Patris et Filii
et Spiritus Sancti.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

-At his baptism,
he took on a new name.

Hasekura Tsunenaga
would henceforth be called

Felipe Francisco Hasekura.

♪♪♪

It symbolized a stark change

from all that he
had ever known...

His culture and identity.

♪♪♪

Did Hasekura's conversion
have any influence

on Philip and his decision
regarding trade?

A great deal was at stake
for Spain.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-An agreement with Japan would
increase the amount of silver

Spain was able
to import and sell.

It was a key resource,

becoming more difficult
to find in New Spain.

But the additional trade

would also benefit
New Spain substantially,

raising concerns
that its prosperity

would lead to cries
for independence.

[ Gunfire ]

[ Shouting, swords clashing ]

♪♪♪

The king of Spain avoided

giving the diplomatic mission
a definitive answer.

Instead, he passed
the responsibility on

to someone else.

♪♪♪

If the Pope agreed, Philip
would then allow Japan

to trade directly
with New Spain.

♪♪♪

Hasekura and Sotelo
would have to travel on to Rome,

to meet the Pope at the Vatican.

♪♪♪

August 22, 1615.

Almost two years after their
departure from Japan,

Hasekura and Sotelo
left Madrid for Barcelona,

where three boats were waiting
to take them to Italy.

♪♪♪

At the Vatican, the delegation
was once again well-received

and given a reception reserved

for the most
important dignitaries.

♪♪♪

Amati, the Italian chronicler,
described the scene.

♪♪♪

"The lords and ladies of Rome
were standing by the windows

bearing luxurious carpets.

Fifty horsemen arrived
with their captains,

behind whom were the delegation
members on horseback.

Then came the ambassador
Don Felipe Francisco Hasekura,

with his Swiss guard
alongside him."

♪♪♪

The grand reception

may have eased worries
Hasekura might have had

after the king of Spain
left his requests unanswered.

♪♪♪

From now on,
the delegation's fate

would depend
on the sovereign pontiff.

♪♪♪

Today, two places in Rome
bear witness to the visit

from Hasekura Tsunenaga
and Luis Sotelo.

♪♪♪

The first is
in the Quirinal Palace,

once the home of the pontiff
and, now, the residence

of the president
of the Republic of Italy.

♪♪♪

Pope Paul V
received visitors here

and painters captured
the delegation's image

on the palace walls in fresco.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] I like this
image, especially because

it shows a sort of complicity
between the two,

with Hasekura listening
very carefully

to what Sotelo is saying.

They're whispering,
talking quietly,

thinking about their strategy,

how best to go about their goal
with the embassy.

It's like a snapshot
of the moment for the embassy,

where things seem to be going
very well, clearly.

♪♪♪

-The arrival
of the Japanese delegation

was well-known throughout Rome
and the Vatican.

♪♪♪

The Vatican City archives also
hold evidence of the visit...

The two letters Date Masamune
gave the samurai,

who, in turn,
gave them to the Pope.

♪♪♪

There is one letter in Latin,
and one in Japanese.

In both, Date Masamune

declared his total submission
to the Pope.

-[ Speaking Italian ]

-[Interpreter]
This is Date Masamune's sign?

-[Interpreter]
Yes, Date's seal.

-[Interpreter]
And this, do you think

these are gold pieces?

-[Interpreter] Yes, it's
paper that has gold particles.

But also, particles of silver.

[ Conversing in Italian ]

So, it starts here.

-[Interpreter]
Here.

-[ Speaking Italian ]

-[Interpreter]
Date Masamune acknowledges

the universal holy spirit
across the entire world

and, thus,
in the first part, he says

that he wishes to embrace
and welcome Christianity.

-[ Speaking Italian ]

-[Interpreter]
He also asks someone

to be named a bishop,
so as to establish

a diocese on his territory.

- [ Speaking Italian ]
- [Interpreter] To Sendai?

-[Interpreter]
And the trade reason

is not explicitly put forth,
but we can sense it.

♪♪♪

-Christianity remained
very unpopular.

Would Date Masamune
really be able

to protect members of the faith?

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Italian ]

-[Interpreter] The first anti-Christian
edict was drafted in 1589...

-[ Speaking Italian ]

-[Interpreter] though the missionaries
continued to preach their faith.

-[ Speaking Italian ]

-[Interpreter]
Then in 1613,

a severe persecution
began... ♪♪♪

...of which news
from Japan reached

both the Spanish kingdom

and His Holiness in the Vatican.

♪♪♪

But I think the Pope
was determined to maintain

a cautious attitude.

♪♪♪

-A few days after the meeting,

Paul V named Luis Sotelo
Japan's second bishop.

But, much like Philip in Spain,

the Pope avoided making
a decision on the trade deal,

insisting that it was Spain
that must approve

Sotelo's appointment
and any business agreements.

♪♪♪

The Franciscan monk understood

he was no closer
to accomplishing his mission.

♪♪♪

At the start of 1616,

the two men had no choice
but to return to Spain,

in hopes of seeing Philip again.

♪♪♪

While Sotelo and Hasekura
traveled back across Europe,

the king of Spain received
a letter from the Vatican,

recommending the monarch
not meet

the two foreign diplomats
a second time.

♪♪♪

And, in Japan,

Spain was now facing
stiff competition

for the sale of foreign goods.

While Hasekura and Sotelo
were away,

Spain's enemy, the Dutch,

opened their own trading outpost

in Hirado, near Nagasaki.

It would later be moved
to Dejima Island,

where its remains
can still be seen today.

♪♪♪

Unlike the Spanish
and Portuguese,

the Dutch were only interested
in commercial trade.

Converting Japanese citizens
to Christianity was

of no interest.

They agreed to all of the
Japanese trade stipulations...

Surveillance, inspections,

and prohibition of
all religious worship.

The Dutch were easy partners

and won the support
of the shogun.

♪♪♪

Hasekura and his
Japanese companions stayed

at a monastery
near Coria del Río,

while Sotelo arranged passage
for the group

on a ship leaving Spain.

-Hola.
Buenos días.

- Buenos días.
- ¿Qué tal?

♪♪♪

-But, refusing to give up,

the two men concocted a scheme
that would allow them

to stay in Europe
for a longer period of time.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] They ended up
thinking of a theatrical illness,

with Hasekura complaining
of fever

and Luis Sotelo
seemingly breaking a leg.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] Sotelo knew that,
in Spain, he still had a chance

to influence
the king and the court.

But, he knew that,
once he'd climbed on that boat,

all chances would be lost.

[ Door creaking ]

♪♪♪

-By faking injury and illness,

key members of the delegation
were able to remain in Spain,

and still hoped they might
accomplish their goals.

♪♪♪

The galleon that was supposed
to carry them back

across the Atlantic left
without the two men.

♪♪♪

In the spring of 1616,
the monk and the samurai

received a last letter
from Philip III.

It was a final refusal.

There would be
no trade agreement,

nor a new bishop for Japan.

Hasekura and Sotelo had failed
in their mission

and would have to make
their way back to Asia.

[ Bell clanging ]

♪♪♪

But not all of the delegation's
members returned

to the Land of the Rising Sun.

♪♪♪

The citizens of Coria del Río
have always been curious

about why some members
of the community

have the last name Japón.

♪♪♪

The city's archives may hold
the key to understanding more

about the origins
of the curious surname.

- [ Speaking Spanish ]
- [Interpreter] What exactly is

this document we're
about to see?

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] This document
is the christening register.

The parish has kept these
registers here since 1548

and this is where we see

the last name Japón recorded
for the first time,

specifically, the entry
for a baptized girl, Catalina.

Catalina, daughter of
Martín, Martín Japón.

-Many of the people
in Coria del Río

with the family name Japón

feel a connection to Hasekura
and his delegation.

♪♪♪

-But are the Japón
of Coria del Río

descendants
of Hasekura's companions?

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

- Sí, sí, sí, sí.
- Entonces, yo pienso...

-Angel Luis Schlatter Navarro

took on the enormous task
of checking all the civil files

in all the city halls
and churches of the region.

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
I did various calculations

and have seen lots of documents.

For me, an approximate estimate
is that there were

six Japanese members
of the delegation

who stayed in Seville.

These Japanese stayed in Spain
because they were very young

and, when they arrived
and saw everything

that was happening here...

Remember that Seville
wasn't a political capital,

but the economic capital
of Spain and the New World...

The New York of its time.

It was like a panorama
opening before them.

Thinking
of their little village,

they must've thought,
"Look, my village is here.

I'm going to make my life here."

-Four hundred years
after this delegation,

nearly 700 inhabitants
of Coria del Río

still carry the memory
of its visit

and the name Japón.

It's one of the legacies
of Hasekura's journey.

♪♪♪

1617.

The return trip seems
to meander.

♪♪♪

Having crossed the Atlantic
to New Spain,

Hasekura and Sotelo
cross the Pacific

and reach the Philippines
in April of 1618.

♪♪♪

After two years there,

the samurai finally set foot
on Japanese soil

and had to face
the failure of his mission.

♪♪♪

His journey had lasted
seven years.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Did Date Masamune understand,
from his samurai's account,

that he needed
to give up on his plans?

♪♪♪

Did he decide to ally himself
with the new shogun?

♪♪♪

Shortly after Hasekura's return,

Date outlawed Christianity.

♪♪♪

Missionaries were
to leave the region,

Christians had to renounce
their faith,

and he promised a reward

for anyone who would tell
of hidden Christians.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Hasekura died roughly 2
years after his return

in obscure conditions... ♪♪♪

...leaving one important
question unanswered...

Was his conversion
to Christianity sincere?

Had the samurai truly embraced

the predominant
European religion?

♪♪♪

The Sendai City Museum
holds several clues,

items that were all confiscated
from Hasekura's home

by Date Masamune's
guards... a simple cross,

a crucifix, a rosary, and
a few other belongings.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
Had he not been Catholic,

the first thing he would've done

would've been
to hide these documents

that could lead him
to being hung

or lead him to his death.

♪♪♪

-Historians also know that
roughly 20 years later,

Hasekura's son
was accused of being Christian

and ultimately excicuted for failing
to turn in his Christian servants

who were also tortured and
killed.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter] And the fact that he
converted his own family to Christianity,

with all the risk
that implied for them,

shows that
Hasekura's transformation

was complete and sincere,
from the heart,

a true interior transformation.

♪♪♪

-1623.

Despite being forbidden
from returning to Japan,

Luis Sotelo disguised himself
as a merchant

and boarded a Chinese boat
in Manila

that was bound for Japan.

♪♪♪

But he was discovered
and imprisoned.

♪♪♪

Several months later,

the monk was pulled
from his captivity

and bound to a post,
alongside other Franciscan,

Jesuit, and Dominican priests.

He would be burned alive.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

From 1639 on,

Japan cut off its relations
with the West

and would remain isolated
from the world

for the next 200 years.

♪♪♪

Only the powerful
Dutch East India Company

maintained trade relations
with the country,

while also developing
trade routes throughout Asia.

♪♪♪

China benefited
from this reorganization

and grew very rich.

But the Iberian Peninsula's
trade in Asia quickly declined

and Spain's empire would
crumble, ending in 1640.

♪♪♪

-[ Speaking Spanish ]

-[Interpreter]
I don't think that the Spanish

missed the boat
on globalization.

On the contrary, I think
that they fought for it.

The fact of fighting to prevent
the opening of a new front,

make it into the Pacific front,

to keep the Dutch and British

from attacking the Spanish
territories on the Pacific,

is exactly what allowed Spain

to keep
its American territories.

They were preserved
for three centuries,

to such a point
that the Spanish language

and Spanish civilization
thrived there.

And that's why there's now
a Hispanic civilization

and that Spanish is
the second most spoken

indigenous language
in the world.

♪♪♪

They didn't lose globalization.

They won it.

♪♪♪

-Hasekura stood on the cusp
of the modern world,

attempting to bridge
the East and West.

♪♪♪

His voyage brought together
trade, religion, and culture,

allowing for a global exchange
of people and ideas.

♪♪♪

His fate provides a human face

to the beginnings
of globalization

that would give rise
to the interconnected

and international world
we know today.

♪♪♪