Mukai Tadakatsu (1582–1641), more generally known as Mukai Shōgen (Jp:向井将監), was the Admiral of the fleet (Jp:お船手奉行) for the

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

during the beginning of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, in the early 17th century. Between 1604 and 1606, under the order of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Mukai Shogen, who was Commander in Chief of the Navy of Uraga, built Japan's first Western sailship together with William Adams and carpenters from the city of Itō. The ship was 80 tons, and allowed them to survey Japanese coasts. A second, larger ship of 120 tons, capable of sailing on the high seas was again ordered by Tokugawa Ieyasu. She was later lent in 1610 to a Spanish embassy, and crossed the Pacific Ocean. She was named by the Spanish ''

San Buena Ventura ''San Buena Ventura'' was a 120-ton ship built in Japan under the direction of the English navigator and adventurer William Adams for the ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ieyasu. The ship was built in 1607, and followed the construction of a smaller 80-to ...

''. He is then recorded as having participated to the preparation of the embassy of

Hasekura Tsunenaga was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Phi ...

to America and Europe in 1613, by giving his support to the mission and supplying his Chief Carpenter for the building of the '' San Juan Bautista''. He is also reported by

Richard Cocks Richard Cocks (1566–1624) was the head of the British East India Company trading post in Hirado, Japan, between 1613 and 1623, from its creation, and lasting to its closure due to bankruptcy. He was baptised on 20 January 1565 at St Chad's, Se ...

, head of the English Factory in

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...

, to have discussed with him and William Adams an invasion of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

by Japanese forces in 1616.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukai Shogen, Tadakatsu Samurai 1582 births 1641 deaths