The crest (mon) of the Tokugawa Clan, which became a symbol of the shogunate. It is colloquially referred to as the “Hollyhock Crest” because of the hollyhock leaves which adorn it. Source: Public Domain
A set of armor which belonged to Tokugawa Ieyasu. The decoration on the left would have been mounted on his helmet during battle and would have helped identify him on the battlefield. Source: Public Domain
A painting which includes Edo Castle. The various moats, bridges, and gates made this city very defensible. Source: Public Domain
A painting of Tokugawa Ieyasu himself. Note the crests which adorn the fabric bunched above his head. Source: Public Domain
The signature of Tokugawa Ieyasu, which would have been affixed to official edicts and other documents. Source: Public Domain
first of all, great job doing the podcast, enjoying it a lot. Just wanted to leave a comment as my ears perked up when you mentioned foreign relations during the edo period/tokugawa shogunate which you were gonna do a bonus episode on at the end of the season. My comment basically amounts to an interesting story i’m not sure you will include involving Hasekura Tsunenaga. If you aren’t gonna do it, a tl;dr is that a diplomatic embassy left for Spain in 1614 from Sendai headed by this samurai. It was an attempt to communicate with Phillip III of Spain on the part of the Japanese government that in the long run amounted to naught. However, when the embassy arrived, some of its members liked the idea of catholic Spain and decided to stay, settling in Spanish lands for good, more specifically in the relatively small Andalusian town of Coria del Rio near Seville. What’s neat about this is that centuries later, there are townsfolk from the town of Coria with the last name “Japón” (e.g “Juan Japón”), meaning “Japan” in Spanish, which are the descendants of this japanese embassy that decided to take root in this new world (to the point that if you meet a Spanish person with a “Japón” last name, you automatically know they have family in Coria). There’s a Spanish documentary called “las huellas del samurai” (the footprints of the samurai) about the subject. Just thought it’d interest you.
Another listener already asked about Hasekura Tsunenaga, but I appreciate the tip nonetheless! I have not seen “Las Huellas del Samurai,” but I’ll try to find a way to watch it. I did watch a good video about him and his descendants on PBS. He will definitely be included in the bonus episode, which will also feature various other Japanese adventurers, some of whom ended up in very surprising places and situations! Cheers!
Good afternoon,
first of all, great job doing the podcast, enjoying it a lot. Just wanted to leave a comment as my ears perked up when you mentioned foreign relations during the edo period/tokugawa shogunate which you were gonna do a bonus episode on at the end of the season. My comment basically amounts to an interesting story i’m not sure you will include involving Hasekura Tsunenaga. If you aren’t gonna do it, a tl;dr is that a diplomatic embassy left for Spain in 1614 from Sendai headed by this samurai. It was an attempt to communicate with Phillip III of Spain on the part of the Japanese government that in the long run amounted to naught. However, when the embassy arrived, some of its members liked the idea of catholic Spain and decided to stay, settling in Spanish lands for good, more specifically in the relatively small Andalusian town of Coria del Rio near Seville. What’s neat about this is that centuries later, there are townsfolk from the town of Coria with the last name “Japón” (e.g “Juan Japón”), meaning “Japan” in Spanish, which are the descendants of this japanese embassy that decided to take root in this new world (to the point that if you meet a Spanish person with a “Japón” last name, you automatically know they have family in Coria). There’s a Spanish documentary called “las huellas del samurai” (the footprints of the samurai) about the subject. Just thought it’d interest you.
Another listener already asked about Hasekura Tsunenaga, but I appreciate the tip nonetheless! I have not seen “Las Huellas del Samurai,” but I’ll try to find a way to watch it. I did watch a good video about him and his descendants on PBS. He will definitely be included in the bonus episode, which will also feature various other Japanese adventurers, some of whom ended up in very surprising places and situations! Cheers!