Nagamasa Yamada was an adventurer of the early Edo period.
Background
Nagamasa Yamada was born in 1590 in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Nagamasa gained considerable influence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century and became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, which is on the Malay Peninsula in present-day southern Thailand.
Education
Nagamasa is said to have been a palanquin bearer for the lord of Numazu. He became involved in Japanese trade activities with Southeast Asia during the period of the Red seal ships and settled in the Ayutthaya Kingdom (modern-day Thailand) around 1612.
Career
While still young, Yamada Nagamasa showed restlessness and, after killing a man, he fled to Formosa, from where he took a ship to Siam. At that time Siam was in a turmoil and he soon began taking an active part in the upheaval and rose to a high post in the Siamese Government. In this capacity, he made efforts to establish commercial relations between Japan and Siam and advised the King of Siam to send an envoy to Japan in 1621. Following his piece of advice, three Siamese envoys came to Japan in 1623, in 1626 and in 1629. Later Yamada attacked Rokkon, a neighboring country to Siam and took its king prisoner. In recognition of this he was crowned king of Rokkon and married a Siamese princess. In the continued internal strife he was poisoned to death. His life and exploits have formed the theme for many dramas and novels.