Background
Wlliam was bom in Gillingham in Kent on the 24th of September, 1564.
Wlliam was bom in Gillingham in Kent on the 24th of September, 1564.
William acted as advisor to Ieyasu, handling matters pertaining to foreign trade, and on Ieyasu’s orders also undertook to build several Western style sailing ships. He did his best to promote relations between England and Japan, and when John Saris arrived at the head of a fleet of English ships in the fifth month of 1613, he helped arrange for the opening of an English trading office at Hirado in the tenth month of 1613.