Background
Staro Araki was born in the family of a samurai in Kumamoto, he moved to Nagasaki in 1588.
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Staro Araki
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In 1592, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, in a move to suppress Japanese pirates along the China coast, selected a number of merchants in Kyoto, Sakai and Nagasaki and gave them permits to engage in trade with foreign countries. Sotaro gave up his samurai status to become a merchant to go abroad and joined a group of mer chants trading with Tonking, Luzon, Siam and Amoy.He plied between Japan and those foreign lands on Shuinsen (ships with permits of Hideyoshi for foreign trade bearing vermillion seal marks), braving many dangers. He was so trusted by the King of Annam that he eventually married Anio a relative of the king.
