William Adams

William Adams (September 24, 1564–May 16, 1620), also known in Japanese as Anjin-sama (???, "Mr Pilot") and Miura Anjin (????, "the pilot of Miura"), was an English navigator who went to Japan, and is believed to be the first Briton ever to reach Japan.

Religious rivalries

Adams, a Protestant by religion, was seen as a rival by the Portuguese and Catholic religious orders in Japan. Catholic priests insisted that he was using his influence on Ieyasu to discredit them:

Related Topics:
Protestant - Catholic

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In his character of heretic, he constantly endeavoured to discredit our church as well as its ministers".. He and others "by false accusation ... have rendered our preachers such objects of suspicion that Ieyasu fears and readily believes that they are rather spies than sowers of the Holy Faith in his kingdoms. (Padre Valentim Carvalho).

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Ieyasu, influenced partly by such counceling, and partly by social troubles, expelled the Jesuits from Japan in 1614, and demanded the Japanese Catholics abandon their faith.

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Adams also apparently warned Ieyasu against Spanish approaches, explaining that they typically try to establish Catholic converts as a prelude to invading a country.

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