ABSTRACT
In 1611, the sixteenth year of the Keichō era, the retired shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868), received an array of gifts from a delegation from colonial Mexico (then New Spain) sent by the viceroy Luis de Velasco on behalf of the Spanish King Philip III. The delegation, led by the Spanish navigator Sebastián Vizcaíno, had come to officially thank the shogunate for the good treatment and safe return of the interim governor of the Philippines, Rodrigo de Vivero, who had shipwrecked off the coast of Japan two years prior. 1 Since 1605, Ieyasu had retired as shogun to enable his son Hidetada to take over, ensuring the succession of the Tokugawa line after a long period of civil war. Nevertheless, Ieyasu remained at the center of political matters, particularly diplomatic affairs. On the other end, Vizcaíno hoped to secure the continuity of the increasingly fraught Catholic mission to Japan, cement official trade relations with the Spanish empire, and demand an end to commerce with the rival Dutch. 2 After a first audience with Hidetada, Vizcaíno and his diplomatic retinue eventually made their way to Ieyasu's castle at Sunpu (present-day Shizuoka) with a host of diplomatic gifts.
