Yamada Nagamasa

Yamada Nagamasa is believed to have been born around 1590 in Suruga Province (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture). He is said to have worked as a palanquin bearer in his youth before, inspired by the era's booming vermilion-seal ship trade, crossing the sea to Siam (present-day Thailand). There, at Ayutthaya, a 'Japanese quarter' had long been home to a community of Japanese merchants and mercenaries, and it was here that Nagamasa rose to prominence.

Leading a contingent of Japanese volunteer soldiers, Nagamasa distinguished himself repeatedly in the internal conflicts and foreign wars of the Ayutthaya kingdom. His service earned him the deep trust of King Songtham, who granted him the high court title of Okya Senaphimuk. As a Japanese who had risen deep within a foreign court, he also served as an intermediary in trade and diplomacy between the Tokugawa shogunate and the Siamese kingdom.

However, in 1630, he became entangled in the succession struggle that erupted after King Songtham's death, and is said to have been poisoned while serving as governor of Ligor (present-day Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand). He died at the age of 41. As a leading example of an early-Edo Japanese who ventured overseas, his story symbolizes an era of foreign exchange on the very eve of Japan's turn toward national seclusion. The site of Ayutthaya's Japanese quarter is preserved today as a Thai historical site, keeping his legacy alive.