William Adams

William Adams

William Adams (Japanese: ウィリアム・アダムス, Hepburn: Uwiriamu Adamusu, kyūjitai: ウヰリアム・アダムス; 24 September 1564 – 16 May 1620), better known in Japan as Miura Anjin (三浦按針, 'the pilot of Miura'), was an English navigator who, in 1600, became the first Englishman to reach Japan. He did so on a trading ship called Liefde under the leadership of Jacob Quaeckernaeck; it was the only vessel reaching Japan from a five-ship expedition launched by a company of Rotterdam merchants (a voorcompagnie, or predecessor of the Dutch East India Company). Among the few survivors of the expedition who reached Japan, for more than a decade, the authorities did not allow Adams and his second mate Jan Joosten to leave the country. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William Adams has received more than 82,668 page views. His biography is available in 29 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 28 in 2019). William Adams is the 52nd most popular explorer, the 470th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 442nd in 2019) and the 8th most popular British Explorer.

William Adams, also known as Miura Anjin, was a navigator and explorer who helped the Tokugawa shogunate establish trade with the Western world. He is most famous for his role in the opening of Japan to the Western world.