Developing some ideas from
this WI....
Here's the preliminary background:
1598 - William and Thomas Adams ship out as pilots with a Dutch merchant fleet on an expedition to the Far East, the ships are separated in the South Atlantic
1599 -
De Liefde and
De Hoop meet up at Floreana Island off the Chilean coast and set off for Japan
1600 –
Febuary - a typhoon hits the two ships which are separated
April 19 – the
De Liefde arrives in Bungo. Captain Jacob Quaeckernaeck, Thomas Adams, and 19 crewmen are arrested after being accused as pirates by Jesuit priests
April 21 -
De Hoop arrives with William Adams off the coast of Satsuma, Shimazu Iehisa sees an opprotunity to offset Portugese influence, and treats Adams well
May 12 - the survivors of
De Hoop arrive in Osaka and imprisoned
May 15 - William Adams arrives in Osaka, seeking an audience with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and convinces him to free the survivors of
De Hoop
October 23 – Battle of Sekigahara
1604 – William Adams, having become an informal counsellor to Ieyasu, is given Samurai status; Ieyasu sends Quaeckernaeck forth to encourage trade with Dutch East India Company
1606 – Dutch trade mission arrives in Hirado, Adams recieves word of the British settlement at Bantam and convinces Ieyasu to foramlly invite British trade as well as Dutch
1607 – Satsuma Invade the Ryukyu Kingdom
1608 - John Saris arrives in Japan to negotiate trade relations for the English East India Company and establishes a factory in Satsuma, Thomas Adams returns to England
1610-1618 - William Adams leads several Red Seal trading expeditions, making a tidy profit
1620 - William Adams dies peacefully in Satsuma
1640 - Sakoku Policy instituted, Chinese and Dutch only allowed contact through Dejima, British allowed contact through Satsuma