TheTenshō embassy (Japanese: 天正の使節, named after theTenshō Era in which the embassy took place) was anembassy sent by theJapanese Christian LordŌtomo Sōrin to thepope and the kings of Europe in 1582. The embassy was led byMancio Itō (伊東 マンショItō Mansho, 1570–1612), a Japanesenobleman, who was the first official Japanese emissary to Europe.
The idea of sending a Japanese embassy to Europe was originally conceived by theJesuitAlessandro Valignano, and sponsored by the threeKirishitandaimyōsŌmura Sumitada (1533–1587),Ōtomo Sōrin (1530–1587), andArima Harunobu (1567–1612). Mancio Itō was chosen to act as a spokesman for the group dispatched byŌtomo Sōrin, who wasdaimyō of theBungo Province onKyūshū and a close relative of Mancio's father; Shurinosuke Itō. On February 20, 1582, Mancio Itō leftNagasaki in company with three other noblemen:
They were accompanied by two servants, their tutor and interpreter Diogo de Mesquita, and their mentor Valignano, who only accompanied them as far asGoa inPortuguese India, where he was to take up new responsibilities. They spent nine months visiting the Portuguese territories ofMacau,Kochi,Madagascar andGoa on their way toLisbon, where they arrived on 11 August 1584.[2] From there, the ambassadors went on toMadrid and then toRome, which were the two main goals of their journey. In Spain they visitedTalavera de la Reina,Toledo,Madrid, where they met withPhilip II who was king of Spain and Portugal. They visitEl Escorial monastery, theAlcalá University,Murcia andAlicante. In Rome, Mancio Itō became anhonorary citizen and taken into the ranks ofEuropean nobility with the titleCavaliere di Speron d'oro ("Knight of the Golden Spur"). During their stay in Europe, they met with King Philip II of Spain,Francesco I de' Medici,Grand Duke of Tuscany,Pope Gregory XIII, and his successorPope Sixtus V.
The ambassadors arrived back in Japan on July 21, 1590. On their eight-year-long voyage they had been instructed to take notes. These notes provided the basis for theDe Missione Legatorum Iaponensium ad Romanam Curiam ("The Mission of the Japanese Legates to theRoman Curia"), a Macau-based writing by Jesuit Duarte de Sande published in 1590.[3] According to Derek Massarella, "Valignano conceived the idea of a book based on the boys’ travels, one that could also be used for teaching purposes in Jesuit colleges in Japan," but "despite its authors’ intentions,"De Missione "made no lasting impact on Japanese perceptions of Europe.[4]
The four were subsequently ordained as the first Japanese Jesuit fathers by Alessandro Valignano.
Mancio Itō died in Nagasaki on November 13, 1612. Martinho Hara was banished from Japan by theTokugawa shogunate in 1614, and acted in Macau. He died in Macau on October 23, 1629. Miguel Chijiwa left theSociety of Jesus before 1601, and died in Nagasaki on January 23, 1633. Although he is generally believed to have abandoned Christianity, the discovery of what appear to be rosary beads in his grave in 2017 place this in some doubt.[5] Julião Nakaura was caught by the Tokugawa shogunate, and died a martyr by torture in Nagasaki on November 21, 1633. He wasbeatified on November 24, 2008.
