ABSTRACT
The spirit who appears to the writer and poet Torquato Tasso (1544–1595) in Il Messaggiero [The Messenger], a dialogue written in 1582, makes a clear distinction between the figure of the messenger and the ambassador. He states: “the ambassador is a man who represents before a prince the person of another prince in order to foster alliance.” 1 The messenger, on the other hand, has the task of reporting to his receiver a message in the exact words of his master. 2 Moreover, according to Tasso’s spirit, while the ambassador is of a noble and cultivated nature, and able to modulate eloquence and prudence, the messenger is often of vulgar and plebeian nature, and is untrained in the language and manners of courtly circles. 3 After two years from the printing of Tasso’s dialogue, an exceptional legation from Japan, composed of eight young Japanese converted to Catholicism, complicated and challenged the neatly framed distinctions articulated by Tasso. The legates were noblemen who represented their respective Japanese feudal lords. Nonetheless, their journey to Europe was organized and put into effect by the authority of the European Jesuits in Japan. The explicit objective of the Jesuits was to offer the obedience of Japanese converts to Pope Gregorio XIII. It was also meant to promote the Jesuit mission in Europe, and conversely, it was hoped that the legates would become eyewitness promoters of European culture and religion upon their return to Japan. 4 Finally, the embassy had the less publicized task of raising funds for the mission, as well as acquiring a printing press. 5
