Confrontacin Transpacfica.

El Japn y el Nuevo Mundo Hispnico 1542-1639 by Lothar

Knauth
Review by: C. R. Boxer
The Americas, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Oct., 1973), p. 276
Published by: Academy of American Franciscan History
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/980561 .
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B o o k Reviews>
Co nfro ntacidn Transpacifica.
El
Japdn y
el Nuevo Mundo
Hispa'nico
1542-
1639.
B y
Lo thar Knauth.
(Ciudad
Universitaria: Universidad
Nacio nal Aut6no ma de
M6xico ,
1972.
Pp.
423.
Prtlo go .
Intro ducci6n.
B iblio graffa.
Glo sario . Indice. No
price.)
The relatio ns between New
Spain
and
Japan
in the sixteenth and
seventeenth
centuries,
whether direct o r via the
Phillippines,
can be charac-
terized as
tenuo us,
fleeting,
and
ultimately
abo rtive.
They
were
typified by
the
embassy
o f Hasek ura Ro k uemo n and
Fray
Luis
So telo ,
O.
F. M. to
Mexico ,
Spain,
and
Italy
in 1613-16 o n behalf o f Dat6
Masamune,
the
Daimy5
o f
Sendai. The aims and
o bjects
o f this ill-asso rted
embassy
were best
summarized
by
the
Japanese
histo rian, To k uto mi,
who
aptly
characterized it
asa co mbinatio n o f
Japanese
who wished to usethe
Kingdo m
o f Heaven fo r
tradeand o f
Spaniards
who wished to usetradefo r the
Kingdo m
o f Heaven.
This
dicho to my
was the ro ck o n which fo undered all effo rts to maintain a
meaningful dialo gue
(as
it is termed
no wadays)
between the two
empires.
The Castilian Cro wn and the Ro man Church were
primarily
interested in
spreading
their
faith;
whereas the
Japanese
autho rities wished to fo ster
co mmercial relatio ns witho ut
having
to favo r the missio narieso f a
fo reign
religio n. Misunderstanding
and co nflicts were inevitable.
The
sto ry
has o ften been to ld
befo re,
and this reviewer canno t see that
Lo thar Knauth hasadded a newdimensio n to it. The autho r
has, ho wever,
an enviable
linguistic range
and he has
pro duced
an excellent
synthesis
o f
Japanese
and
Euro pean
so urces. Readers who are familiar with the
standard wo rk s o f
James
Murdo ch
(A Histo ry o f Japan during
the
Century
o f Early Fo reign Interco urse, 1542-1651, Ko be, 1903),
and Michael
Co o per,
S.
J. (They
Cameto
Japan.
An
Antho lo gy o f Euro pean Repo rts
o n
Japan,
1543-1640, Lo ndo n,
1965)
will
hardly
need to
peruse
this bo o k . On the
o ther
hand,
it is invaluablefo r
Spanish-American
readerswho do no t have
access to
English-language
wo rk s o n
Japan
and who areunfamiliar with the
Japanese
histo rical
back gro und,
which is
supplied
here in
great
detail.
C. R. B OXER
Yale
University
New
Haven,
Co nnecticut
276
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