In 1598, a fleet of five ships from the Dutch East India Company sailed to South America with the intention of plundering Spanish treasure ships on the western coast of the New World – before heading across the Pacific to Asia. One of those ships – with 24 men (out of nearly 500) – reached Japan nearly two years later, led by an English Pilot named William Adams. It is the unlikely start of a journey that will see Adams become the first European to be granted the status of Samurai. Adams’ story has been popularized with the novel Shogun and two television series of the same name.
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Episodes
Samurai William Adams – Part 1
A Dutch East India Company fleet sails to South America – with William Adams as a pilot – with the intention of plundering Spanish treasure ships and heading to Asia. Only of those ships – led by Adams – will reach Japan. This is the story of the harrowing journey from Europe to Asia.
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Samurai William Adams – Part 2
English pilot William Adams has led his ship to Japan. But in this episode, he and his men – wracked by starvation and scurvy – must now negotiate the various powers of this exotic land. There are the Japanese warlords, the Portuguese, and the Jesuits, who all would like nothing more than to see Adams and his comrades executed. But there are other elements who have interest in the strangers – including the land’s most powerful lord – Tokugawa Ieyasu. It will fall on Adams to negotiate a way out of the dangerous situation he and his fellow crewmen face.
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Samurai William Adams – Part 3
English mariner William Adams continues to rise in prominence in the court of the new Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. He will be so successful, he will become the first European to ever be granted the title of Hatamoto – or bannerman
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Samurai William Adams – Part 4
In the final chapter in our series on William Adams, we details the opening of Japan to the Dutch and English, as well as the final years of the man’s remarkable life.
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Maps
Important locations in South East Asia
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