Were there Japanese Samurai emigrating to Central America following the fall of the Aztec Empire (anywhere from 1521-1600)?

by MaliciousMack

I saw this post on Instagram and wanted to see if any historians could verify it’s accuracy

If true, are there any metrics for how many came, and for how long? Did they have any effect on culture in the area?

y_sengaku

While there is always more to be explored, /u/drylaw and I once wrote a reply to the similar question to OP in How interconnected was the world of 16th - 17th century Mexico? Was it possible to encounter destitute Japanese samurai and West African maroons as depicted in 1493 by Charles C. Mann?

In addition to the official arrival of Shosuke TANAKA, Japanese merchant and co. in 1610 and the visit of successive Japanese diplomatic envoys to Spain, there were some Japaneses came to Mexico by way of Manilla- Acapulco Pacific Galleon route and categorized under Chinos ('the Asians', in a literal meaning, 'the Chinese') in the early 17th century.

The Japanese had established a quarter in Manila until the rupture of diplomatic relationship between Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan and Spain, and scholars estimate their numbers amounted to ca. 1500 (in 1610) and ca. 3000 (in 1624). At least some of them had a background either of mercenaries (ex-Samurai) or of pirate-smuggler (Wako).

Some new research has also revealed that some Japanese who called themselves in Spanish names rather than Japanese born name appeared as slaves, sailors, and merchants in the 17th century archives of Mexico, though the surviving evidence is fragmentary and it is unfortunately difficult to estimate their exact numbers.

Reference:

  • Mann, Charles C. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. New York: Alfred a Knopf Inc., 2011. [Japanese trans. FUSE YUKIKO. Tokyo: Kinokuniya Pub., 2016.]
  • Slack, Edward R. "The Chinos in New Spain: A Corrective Lens for a Distorted Image." Journal of World History 20, no. 1 (2009): 35-67. Accessed January 3, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40542720.