Monument to William Adams, on the emplacement of his former Tokyo townhouse, in Anji-Cho, today Nihonbashi, Murocho 1-10-8, Tokyo. Personal photograph.
The English text reads:
IN MEMORY OF
WILLIAM ADAMS, KNOWN AS MIURA ANJIN.
THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO SETTLE IN JAPAN.
COMING AS PILOT ON BOARD THE CHARITY IN 1600.
WHO RESIDED IN A MANSION BUILT ON THIS SPOT.
WHO INSTRUCTED IEYASU, THE FIRST TOKUGAWA
SHOGUN, ON GUNNERY, GEOGRAPHY, MATHEMATICS
ETC., AND CONSTRUCTED FOR HIM SEVERAL SHIPS
ON THE EUROPEAN MODEL, WHILE RENDERING
VALUABLE SERVICES IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS, AND
WHO MARRIED A JAPANESE LADY, MISS MAGOME
AND DIED ON APRIL 24 1620, AT THE AGE OF
FIFTY SEVEN YEARS.
William Adams was born in the state of Kent in England in 1564 (Western Calendar), came to Japan in the 5th year of Keicho 5 (1600), was greeted by Tokugawa Ieyasu, entered Edo, where he was given a mansion in this place. He made achievements in shipbuilding, gunnery, geography, and mathematics, and then became a trade adviser during Ieyasu Hidetada's reign, contributed to the trade between Japan and the UK, and died in the 6th Year of Genna (1620).
Miura Anjin gives his name to an area in Sagami Province, and being originally a ship's master, this place was also called Anjin Town until the beginning of the Showa era.)
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Monument to William Adams, on the emplacement of his former Tokyo townhouse, in Anji-Cho, today Nihonbashi, Murocho 1-10-8, Tokyo. Personal photograph.