Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
2010 bookcrossing review:This was a really interesting read. I didn´t realise when I picked it up, but Samurai William - William Adams, was the guy who inspired the character in the book which was then turned into the tv series Shogun... that was a roundabout way of describing it... but anyway. This is history from the 1600s. Samurai William was an Englishman who travelled on a dutch ship round to Japan, to get stranded there. He ended up in Japan for decades, and got on very well with the Shogun at the time, and managed to live well within Japanese society. But this book is about trading of this period with Japan, and also about the Dutch, Portugese, Jesuits and other Englishmen who came to Japan and the different ways they treated the locals and how successful they were. Of course it all eventually came to an end when all foreigners got kicked out and Japan went into a long reclusive period of refussing to have anything to do with the rest of the world until the Americans eventually sailed up a couple of hundred years later and forced them to open up to the world again. When I went to Nikko, which is a bit further north of Tokyo, one of the things we saw was the grave-memorial site of either the first guy, or the grandson thereof, who shut Japan off from the rest of the world.In a way, you can understand it a bit. Everyone who turned up just saw the Japanese as a big cash bag, or wanted to preach to them how wrong they all were and how they should be Catholics instead. And the sailors who turned up and behaved very badly. Interesting that some of the cultural differences then still seem so familiar now. Europeans were uncivilised, unwashed and smelly - I think the Japanese are still not impressed by sweaty Europeans. But then on the other hand the Europeans were shocked by the brutality of executions and torture, and the lack of mercy or clemancy - even little kids would be beheaded or burned at the stack. Extreme crowd control.What is also a bit mind boggling is the journey itself from Europe to this part of the world - it took over a year, many died from things like scurvy and tropical diseases that they picked up from islands in the tropics that they had to stop off at to replenish supplies with... either that or they were eaten by some of the locals along the way. And yet they kept going! In some ways, we really don´t know we´re born these days.
You would think will over 300 pages this book was going to be long winded and potentially stuffy reading, it is not! It is a very enjoyable read of late 16th to early 17th century Japan and the early European traders that went there. Giles Milton brings a great way to enjoy history that isn't focused much in mainstream education or scant attention in other areas of written history. I ahve to say this time in England is not one I'm very familiar with and have made a point not to familiarise myself with it, however, with a historian like Giles Milton I will have to reaccess my thinking. Using first hand accounts and other documents written from the period Giles Milton creates a feeling one has gone back in time, his methods make for very lively and interesting read. I look forward very much to reading more of Giles Milton's books that brings history back to life almost as though you were there living it yourself. William Adams from this book is certainly a name that won't be forgot down the next decades and centuries. A man that had come from nothing in England to being a very important person in Japan, one of the first few and rare non-Japanese people, and he and others created a rather remarkable picture of Japan no other person outside of Japan had seen before. Then as suddenly as Japan and all it's mysteries and secrets were revealed to be sealed up again hidden. Fascinating.
What do You think about Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan (2003)?
The story of William Adams, the first Englishman to live in Japan and gain high esteem in the shogun's court, is interesting. Giles Milton is a good storyteller, and the story is one of treacherous sea voyages, unruly seamen, and the rivalry and hate between the Catholic (Spanish and Portuguese) and Protestant (British and Dutch) colonizers. As with Nathaniel's Nutmeg, which is the only other book I have read by Milton so far, he tells the story of all, not just the title character, with its twists and turns. The wealth of information gathered here from historic records and letters is impressive, though at the same time Milton's easy going yet elegant language makes everything read like one epic story.Why only three stars then? Well, compared to Nathaniel's Nutmeg, I found the fumbling adventures of Englishmen in Japan to be less captivating. It seems that there was very little business done, many incompetent "factors" who were just criminal-minded or good old drunks, and the only competent man, William Adams, was stuck in Japan, unwillingly trying to help the Englishmen to survive the shogun's and the local lord's trade policies. Beyond that there seems to be just a lot of sitting and waiting and drinking and whoring. In the end, I am not sure what the historical impact of this brief British presence in Japan was. Perhaps none. Certainly, for two centuries no other foreigner had access to the shogun's court like William Adams had.
—Blue
An excellent book. This is the factual historical recounting of William Adams, the Englishman washed up on the shores of 1600 AD Japan during the reign of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu...also known as Toronaga in James Clavell's novel, SHOGUN. Clavell's novel was made into a mini-series on TV back in the 1980's, Adams is Blackthorne in that series. Not only is it the history of Adams, but also the Portuguese, Spanish, English and Dutch traders in Japan...you come away educated from this book...much more than mere entertainment. I was pickled silly pink to find this book and could not put it down until completed...this is a MUST read for anyone who has read Clavell's works
—James Clark
Thoroughly enjoyable, well written history book. It is disappointing that the sources don't provide more direct information about Samurai William and much of the book is about events and characters peripheral to him. The early 17th century in Japan whilst being characterised by high taste in clothes, grooming and etiquette was a violent age where cruel and barbaric executions were a regular occurrence. The Europeans who arrived there were unable to cooperate because of national rivalries and religious differences and the English and Ditch sailors in particular were extremely badly behaved and so it is no wonder that the Japanese threw them out of the country after 50 years.
—Philip Lane
