First Europeans in Japan

Fernao Mendes Pinto 9: With Francis Xavier in Japan

Saint Francis Xavier preaching in Goa (1610) by André Reinoso - (Museu de São Roque - Wiki)

The story of Fernao Mendes Pinto intersects with that of the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier, and takes him back to Japan.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

Sources:

  • The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

  • App, Urs. “St. Francis Xavier’s Discovery of Japanese Buddhism: A Chapter in the European Discovery of Buddhism (Part 1: Before the Arrival in Japan, 1547-1549).” The Eastern Buddhist 30, no. 1 (1997).

  • Rubiés, Joan Pau. “Real and Imaginary Dialogues in the Jesuit Mission of Sixteenth-Century Japan.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 55, no. 2/3 (2012).

  • Willis, Clive. “Captain Jorge Álvares and Father Luís Fróis S.J.: Two Early Portuguese Descriptions of Japan and the Japanese.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, no. 2 (2012).


Fernao Mendes Pinto 8: First in Japan

Nanban byōbu, by Kanō Sanraku, 17th century - (Wikimedia)

The first Europeans wash up on Japanese shores, bringing the musket as they do so, and Pinto would have you believe that he is with them.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

Sources:

  • The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

  • Cooper, Michael. The Southern Barbarians: The First Europeans in Japan. Kodansha, 1971.

  • Lidin, Olof G. Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan. Routledge, 2003.

  • Perrin, Noel. Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879. David R. Godine, 1979.