A Gentleman from Japan: The Untold Story of an Incredible Journey from Asia to Queen Elizabeth’s Court

Lockley (history, Nihon Univ. Coll. of Law; African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke) tells the story of the first recorded Japanese person to visit Great Britain. In 1586, English explorer Thomas Cavendish set off to circumnavigate the globe. Spain had made a fortune creating an empire and bringing in valuable trade goods from Asia. England wanted in on the action. In the Pacific Ocean, Cavendish captured a Spanish galleon loaded with treasures from Asia; it was headed to Mexico. On board was a Japanese man named Christopher, the only name for him in the historical record. He had been captured in Japan as a boy, sold to pirates, and subsequently enslaved again by the Spanish. The English were eager for any information they could find about Asia, so Christopher was ordered to get on Cavendish’s ship and go with him to England. Eventually, feted for his knowledge about Japan and China, Christopher became the first known person of Japanese descent to meet an English monarch, Queen Elizabeth I.