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Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga (1571-1622) (Japanese:支倉六右衛門常長, also spelled Faxecura Rocuyemon in period European sources, reflecting the contemporary pronunciation of Japanese), was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai. He led an embassy to Mexico and then Europe between 1613 and 1620, after which he returned to Japan. He was the first-ever Japanese official envoy to the Americas, and became the key protagonist in the first recorded instance of Franco-Japanese relations.

Although Hasekura's embassy created a strong impression in Europe, it happened at a time when Japan was moving towards the suppression of Christianity, so that European monarchs such as the King of Spain ultimately denied the trading agreements Hasekura had been seeking. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with little results in an increasingly isolationist Japan.

Early life

Little is known of the early life of Hasekura Tsunenaga. Keramos decoro (2002). He was a mid-level noble samurai in the fief of Ōshū in northern Japan, who had the opportunity to directly serve the daimyo Date Masamune. They both had roughly the same age, and it is recorded that several important missions were given to him by Date as his representative.

It is also recorded that Hasekura served as samurai of the Japanese invasion of Korea under the Taiko Toyotomi Hideyoshi, during 6 months, in 1597.