ABSTRACT
The valour of the Japanese and their double-handed swords seem to have excited the admiration of the Spanish. This chapter attempts to provide a consecutive account of the early relations of Japan with the Philippines. The Spanish Expedition under the command of Legaspi arrived in the Philippines in 1565, but it was not until 1571 that the city of Manila was founded. During the early years of occupation the Spanish were no doubt too occupied in pacifying the natives of the interior and establishing themselves, to think iuuph of other expeditions, military or otherwise, to other lands. The period from 1611 in Japan is one of continual persecution of the Christians, many of whom, however, came down to the Philippines. Japanese, however, occasionally arrived in Manila from shipwrecks, which would tend to show that their vessels came down to the Philippines, if not to Manila.
