The Voyages of Kammu Takigawa: EUIII AAR

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Introduction

Under the fair rule of Shogun Hanazono, Japan began its expansion. In the 1450's both the Kurils and Sakhalin were made Japanese colonies with native co-operation. It was in the 1470s that Hanazono commissioned a explorer, Kammu Takigawa to sail the South Seas and claim it for Japan.

Takigawa was born in 1443 to a poor family in Musashi. He was brought into the navy as a boy and soon became keen to command his own ships. This wish was granted in 1470 when Hanazono made him commander of 5 ships and ordered him to 'explore to the south'. For years, Japan had been isolated and now he was ordered to end that isolation.

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Takigawas 1st Voyage

In 1471, Takigawa sailed south. It was not long before he landed on the island of Saipan, and later, Guam. He found the islands more or less uninhabited and began the construction of a colony on the isles.

He then carried on, except to the west where he made landfall in the Phillipines and ordered a colony built in the northeast section. After this, he made the final part of his 1st voyage, south to New Britain and New Guinea. He tried to land, but the natives drove him off, killing several of his men and making it a nessecity to land the army on the islands later on.