Hasekura Tsunenaga Statue

A bronze statue of the 17th-century samurai diplomat Hasekura Tsunenaga, in full court dress with his sword at his side, stands on the seafront not far from the Church of the Holy Japanese Martyrs. The statue was a 2014 gift from the Japanese city of Sendai (Hasekura's home) to mark the 400th anniversary of his landing at Civitavecchia.

It is a small monument but takes on more meaning when combined with the Japanese Martyrs church a couple of hundred metres away — the two together make Civitavecchia, improbably, the most significant single place in Italy for early Japan-West contact. Free, on the public promenade.

things to do sight
A story
Hasekura was sent in 1613 by the daimyo Date Masamune at the head of the *Keicho* embassy — Japan's first formal diplomatic mission to the Western world. He sailed across the Pacific, crossed Mexico overland, took ship across the Atlantic and landed at Civitavecchia in October 1615 before going on to meet Pope Paul V. By the time he returned home in 1620, Japan had effectively closed itself to the West and his mission was politely forgotten for nearly three centuries.