1613: The Departure of the Keichō Embassy and the Nationwide Christian Ban
Date Masamune, lord of Sendai, dispatched an embassy led by his retainer Hasekura Tsunenaga to Spanish Mexico and onward to the courts of the King of Spain and the Pope. Ironically, just after the mission's departure, the shogunate extended its Christian prohibition edict to daimyo domains across the entire country, making this a year in which the expansion of overseas contact and the tightening of domestic religious control advanced side by side.
Events this year
4/25
Following Okubo Nagayasu's death in Sunpu, an investigation of his subordinates revealed illicit wealth accumulation. Seven of his sons were ordered to commit seppuku, and the Okubo clan was extinguished.
Sources 新潟県佐渡市「史跡佐渡奉行所跡」
6/11
The English East India Company's ship Clove, carrying John Saris, entered Hirado harbor, and an English trading post was established there.
Sources 外務省「日英関係のあけぼの」
10/28
The embassy sent by Date Masamune and led by Hasekura Tsunenaga departed Tsukinoura aboard the San Juan Bautista, bound for Mexico, Spain, and Rome.