Jan Joosten van Lodensteyn (or Lodensteijn; 1556–1623), known in Japanese as Yayōsu (耶楊子), was a native of

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

and one of the first Dutchmen in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and the second mate on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan in 1600. Some of his shipmates were Jacob Quaeckernaeck,

Melchior van Santvoort Melchior van Santvoort (c. 1570 – 1641) was one of the first Dutchmen in Japan, was a purser on the Dutch ship ''De Liefde'', which was stranded in Japan in 1600. Some of his shipmates were Jacob Quaeckernaeck, Jan Joosten, and William Adams ...

, and William Adams. Although not allowed to return to the Netherlands, Joosten was allowed to take a Japanese wife and was given a permit to engage in foreign trade. He was privileged to wear the two swords of the samurai and received an annual stipend which placed him (along with Adams) among the ranks of the '' hatamoto'' or direct retainers of the '' shōgun''.

Early life in Japan

Jan-Joosten-van Lodensteyn-and-William-Adams-with-Ship-Liefde-first-encounter-in-Kyushu-Japan-1600

''De Liefde'' (''the Love'', sometimes translated as ''the Charity'') departed Rotterdam in 1598, on a trading voyage that was a five ship expedition to the East Indies. After making it through the Straits of Magellan, they became separated, but later rejoined the ''

Hoop Hoop or Hoops may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Hoops'' (TV series), an American animated series Music * Hoops (band), an American indie pop band * ''Hoops'' (album), a 2015 album by The Rubens ** "Hoops" (The ...

'' (''Hope'') off the coast of Chile, where some of the crew and captains of both vessels died in an encounter with natives. They decide to leave hostile Spanish waters and sell their woolen cloth cargo in Japan rather than in the warmer Moluccas. The two ships encountered a storm and ''Hoop'' was lost. With a decimated and sick crew (only 24 were still alive, and several were dying) the damaged ''De Liefde'' made landfall off Bungo (present-day Usuki) on the coast of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

in April 1600. Portuguese

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missionary priests claimed that the ship was a pirate vessel and that the crew should be executed. The ship was seized on orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the '' daimyō'' of

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

(modern Tokyo) and the future '' shōgun,'' and later the crew was ordered to sail her to Sakai (near Osaka) and then on to Edo. Some of them were received by Ieyasu, who questioned them at length on European politics, wars and foreign affairs. The crew eventually went separate ways when some decided they should split the money provided as compensation for their losses of the ship and cargo. The nineteen bronze cannons were unloaded from the ship and, according to Spanish accounts, later used at the decisive

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

on October 21, 1600 (between Tokugawa forces and their rivals).

Trading

Joosten is reported to have made a fortune in trade between Japan and Southeast Asia, chartering several Red Seal Ships under license from Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was reported by Dutch traders in Ayutthaya to be aboard junks carrying rich cargoes in early 1613. After the establishment of the Dutch Factory in Hirado, he became a middleman between Dutch merchants and the shogunate. He is also said to have been to Siam on one of his ships, with the Japanese adventurer and author

Tenjiku Tokubei Tenjiku Tokubei (1612 - c. 1692) (Japanese: 天竺徳兵衛) was a Japanese adventurer and writer of the early 17th century. He traveled to Southeast and South Asia, hence his "Tenjiku" (Japanese: 天竺, East Asian name of "India") nickname. He ...

. Later, he attempted to return to the Netherlands, but after reaching Batavia, he was denied permission by Dutch authorities to proceed further. He drowned in the South China Sea in 1623 when his ship sank as he was returning to Japan.

Memorials and legacy

Statue of Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn, Tokyo Station

For his services, Jan Joosten was granted a house in

(now Tokyo) in an area that came to be called "Yayosu Quay" ( Yaesu) after him — his name was pronounced ''yan yōsuten'' in Japanese (short version: ''Yayōsu'' (耶楊子)) — the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station is also named for him. Yaesu-dōri (Yaesu Avenue) has a monument dedicated to Jan Joosten and his life after his arrival in Japan on ''De Liefde'' with his shipmate William Adams. In 1999 his home town of Delft named Jan Joostenplein (Jan Joosten Square) after him (it is off Van Lodensteynstraat, which is named for a relative). There is a sculpture of "De Liefde" in the courtyard.

References

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Notes

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