During the second half of the sixteenth century, Japan was experiencing an epochal transformation: the territorial division and anarchy that characterized the military since the Onin War (1447-1477) were giving way to reconciliation and the reunification of the country under one legitimate center of power. The first proponent of this process was the warlord (daimyo ) Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) that since 1568, when he made his triumphal entry into Kyoto, was the de facto ' most powerful man in Japan. In order to extend its power is limited while that of his enemies, Nobunaga, among other things, protected and promoted the Society of Jesus and Christianity in Japan since she recently promoted. The Jesuits, the archipelago since 1549 alongside the Portuguese merchants, who were "confidential" trade in Japan (under the Treaty of Tordesillas del 1494 ), detenevano inoltre una sorta di monopolio per la conversione cattolica di quel paese. E' in un tale clima che ebbe origine un fatto oggi poco conosciuto: mi riferisco alla prima missione diplomatica giapponese in Europa ; in questo articolo ne illustrerò sinteticamente le cause, i protagonisti, e lo svolgimento complessivo.
Innanzi tutto, questa ambasceria fu voluta e organizzata dal gesuita italiano Alessandro Valignano (1539-1606), presente in Giappone fin dal 1579 in qualità di Visitatore delle Indie Orientali, al fine di raggiungere scopi ben precisi. In primo luogo, il missionario voleva inviare legati giapponesi in Europe to end the widespread skepticism of the Japanese, who believed that Jesus faces great dangers to arrive in a poor country, dangerous and potentially hostile as their own, primarily to escape a situation in Europe that had to be even worse, the Valignano therefore wanted to touch the Japanese the splendor of the Old Continent and show them that it had nothing to envy (anzi!) in Japan. Second, the delegation was to raise the prices of the Jesuits to the Pope, with the eyes of the pope of the new converts from distant lands precisely at a time when much of Europe had passed to the Protestant cause. Consequently, the Valignano si aspettava dalla corte romana sostanziali aiuti finanziari per le missioni gesuitiche e, cosa ancora più importante, un breve papale che rinnovasse il monopolio della Compagnia in Giappone.
L'ambasceria è anche conosciuta in giapponese come Tensho shonen shisetsu ; essa deve il suo nome al periodo in cui ebbe luogo (l' era Tensho , appunto: tra il 1573 e il 1591) e alla giovane età degli "ambasciatori" ( shonen shisetsu ) o alla loro destinazione, l'Europa ( ken -O shisetsu ). In particolare, i legati appointed to this diplomatic mission were four young noblemen of Kyushu, sent as representatives of some local gentlemen known to be great protectors of the Christians, the two officers were sent Ito Mancio (representing Yoshishige Otomo Sorin, daimyo of Bungo) and Chijiwa Michele (in representation of daimyo of Omura, Sumitada, and to Harima, Harunobu), they were then were joined Hara and Martin Nakaura Giuliano . These bound, all very young (Michael Chijiwa, the eldest, was fifteen years old the day of departure) sailed from Nagasaki on February 20, 1582 , accompanied by the same Valignano (but would have stopped to Goa to fill the role of the Provincial of India), his father Diego Mesquita (who will be their mentor for the entire trip), the Nuno Rodrigues father, brother Jorge from Loyola and a few others.
After a long, arduous and not without its pitfalls, the group finally arrived in Lisbon in ' August 1584. In the early days of the "European adventure," that no accident had contact only the Catholic side of the continent (Portugal, Spain and Italian states), everything went according to plan the Valignano: Japanese nobles were "driven" especially in churches , sanctuaries, seminars and visits to prelates, so as to bring to Japan an uplifting testimony of Western Christendom. However, the diplomatic mission was immediately carried out is not provided by the Visitor: as soon as he was aware of their arrival, Pope Gregory XIII decided to treat and consider the four young people as true ambassadors, giving them honors as the Public Consistory, usually reserved for the most distinguished diplomats and accredited. The example of the Pope was naturally followed by the other sovereign, Philip II in the head, which vied for honors in excel in demonstrations. To this is added then the curiosity and the popular enthusiasm for these "strange" characters whose mere appearance (not to mention the attitude, the gifts and habits) could not but arouse the public interest.
After being so joyfully received in the principal courts of Mediterranean Europe, especially those Italian, Japanese, made the four noble April 13, 1586 the long journey back: After a break just endless waiting for them to Goa where the Valignano, came with him to Nagasaki only 1590. Meanwhile, the situation in the archipelago was greatly altered by the Catholic minority: Nobunaga died, the new ruler of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), initially favorable to the Company, had come to look with suspicion, as to lay against it edict of expulsion in a five-point (July 25, 1587), the situation was further exacerbated by the Jesuits at the end of their monopoly broken down ' arrival of the religious orders related to the English crown (Franciscans and Dominicans), following the reunification of the latter with the Portuguese made by Philip II, moreover, clashes with the Jesuits, the Franciscans and Dominicans on the method of evangelization had further irritated the Japanese. No wonder then that the embassy had not reached the goal at the end of the much hoped Valignano: the testimony of the young ambassadors did not praticamene alcuna rilevanza in Giappone. In compenso però, la missione diplomatica aveva portato a un esito insperato e inatteso: aveva fatto conoscere all'Europa, e in particolare all'Italia, un mondo fino ad allora considerato dai più solo come il mitico Cipangu di Marco Polo .
