One of the first Western Samurai

Jan Joosten van Lodensteiyn monument at Yaesu underground shopping mall in Tokyo Station.

Joosten (1556–1623) was one of the first Dutchmen to ever travel to Japan. He arrived in 1600 aboard the ship De Liefde with the famous English navigator William Adams. He became one of the first (and few) Western samurai.  Joosten was known in Japanese as Yayosu, and in connection with this, the area near his mansion came to be known as Yaesu.

Continue the Travel

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