From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Japanese warship San Juan Bautista
Japanese warship San Juan Bautista
She transported a Japanese diplomatic mission of 180
people during the first leg of their trip to the Vatican as
envoys to Pope Paul V, headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga
and accompanied by the Spanish friar Luis Sotelo. After
transporting Hasekura to the Spanish possessions of
Mexico, the ship returned to Japan. Hasekura and the em-
bassy went on to Europe, eventually reaching Rome.
Construction
San Juan Bautista was built in 1613 by Date Masamune,
the Daimyo of Sendai in northern Japan, in Tsuki-No-Ura
harbour (Ishinomaki, Miyagi). The project had been ap-
proved by the Bakufu, the Shogun’s government in Edo.
The Shogun already had two smaller ships (80 and 120
tons) built for him by the English pilot William Adams,
and the larger one, the San Buena Ventura, was given to
Spanish shipwrecked sailors for their return to Mexico
Replica of the Japanese-built 1613 galleon San Juan Bautista
Bautista,
in Ishinomaki, Japan. in 1610. The Shogun also issued numerous permits for
Red seal ships, destined to Asian trade and incorporating
Career many elements of Western ship design.
San Juan Bautista is reported to have required 45 days’
Name: San Juan Bautista work, with the participation of technical experts from
the Bakufu, 800 shipwrights, 700 smiths, and 3000 car-
Builder: Date Masamune penters. Two Spanish men are also reported to have par-
Laid down: 1613 ticipated to the endeavour: the friar Luis Sotelo, and the
Spanish captain Sebastian Vizcaino.
Launched: 1613
These efforts were seen with disapproval by the
Commissioned: September 1613 Spanish government in Manila, and Los Rios Coronel sug-
gested that Luis Sotelo should not be allowed into Japan
Fate: Sold to Spain
any further (C.R. Boxer).
General characteristics
Displacement: 500 long tons (508 t) Two trans-Pacific round-trips
Length: 55.35 m (181 ft 7 in) o/a Upon completion, the ship left on October 28, 1613 for
Acapulco in Mexico, with around 180 people on board,
Beam: 11.25 m (36 ft 11 in)
consisting of 10 samurai of the Shogun (led by the Minis-
Draught: 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) ter of the Navy Mukai Shooken), 12 samurai from Sendai,
120 Japanese merchants, sailors, and servants, and
Propulsion: 3-masted sailboat
around 40 Spaniards and Portuguese. The ship arrived in
Complement: 180 Acapulco on January 25, 1614 after three months at sea.
Armament: 16 cannons
After a year in Acapulco, the ship returned to Japan
on April 28, 1615, as Hasekura continued to Europe. It
San Juan Bautista (“St. John the Baptist”) (originally called seems that around 50 specialists in mining and silver-re-
Date Maru, 伊達丸 in Japanese) was one of Japan’s first fining were invited to Japan on this occasion, so that they
Japanese-built Western-style sail warships. She crossed could help develop the mining industry in the Sendai
the Pacific in 1614. She was of the Spanish galleon type, area. A group of Franciscans led by Father Diego de Santa
known in Japan as Nanban-Sen (南蛮船, lit. “Southern Catalina, sent as a religious embassy to Tokugawa Ieyasu
Barbarian ships”). also sailed on the ship. The San Juan Bautista arrived in
Uraga on August 15, 1615.[2]
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Japanese warship San Juan Bautista
its interdiction in 1614, and Japan was moving towards
a period of Seclusion. Because of these persecutions, the
trade agreements with Mexico he had been trying to es-
tablish were also denied. In the end, his embassy seems
to have had few results, and he died two years later of ill-
ness.
San Juan Bautista today
A new San Juan Bautista was reconstructed in 1993 on the
basis of the records of the House of Date. Although the
exact blueprints have not been found, the ship’s dimen-
sions were recorded properly, permitting the reconsti-
The San Juan Bautista is represented in Claude Deruet’s paint- tution. The ship is currently on display in a theme park
ing of Hasekura Tsunenaga in Rome in 1617, as a galleon with in Ishinomaki, in northern Japan, close to the location
Hasekura’s flag (red swastika on orange background) on the where she was originally built. The replica survived the
top mast. 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami intact with minor
damages, and there are hopes of using the ship as a sym-
bol of the town’s reconstruction.[3]
See also
• Manila Galleon
• List of ships of the Japanese Navy
• Red seal ships
• Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)
References
Nicolas de Cardona, in his 1632 edition of "World Exploration", [1] Nicolas de Cardona "Geographic Descriptions", by
published this view of the bay and city of Acapulco, mention- Michael Mathes, ISBN 0-87093-235-7 p75
ing the presence of "a ship from Japan" (letter "D"), probably [2] Gonoi, p87
the San Juan Bautista (Gonoi, p53). Cardona was in Acapulco [3] "Watanoha, Ishinomaki: The San Juan somehow
between end of 1614 and March 21, 1615. The full legend reads: survived" (サン・ファン号「何とか耐えた」
A. The ships of the expedition. 石巻・渡波). Kahoku Online Network. 2011-03-18.
B. The castle of San Diego.
• “The Christian century in Japan 1549-1650” C.R.
C. The town.
Boxer ISBN 1-85754-035-2
D. A ship that has come from Japan.
E. Los Manzanillos. • “Quand le Japon s’ouvrit au monde” Francis
F. El Grifo.[1] Marcouin and Keiko Omoto ISBN 2-07-053118-X
In September 1616, the San Juan Batista headed again External links
to Acapulco, at the request of Luis Sotelo. She was sailed
• Reconstitution of the San Juan Bautista
by Captain Yokozawa Shogen, but the trip went wrong
• Ship plan
and around 100 sailors died en route. San Juan Bautista
• Ship interior
finally arrived in Acapulco in May 1617. Sotelo and
• Ship guns
Hasekura met in Mexico for the final trip back to Japan.
• Various views of the ship
In April 1618 the San Juan Bautista arrived to the Philip-
Coordinates: 38°24′32″N 141°22′08″E / 38.40889°N
pines, where she was sold to the Spanish government
141.36889°E / 38.40889; 141.36889
there, with the objective of building up defenses against
the Dutch. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620.
By the time Hasekura came back, Japan had changed
quite drastically: Christianity was being eradicated since
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/in-
dex.php?title=Japanese_warship_San_Juan_Bautista&oldid=447822659"
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Japanese warship San Juan Bautista
Categories:
• Replica ships
• Ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy
• Galleons
• 1610s ships
This page was last modified on 1 September 2011 at 08:30. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
3