Harada Kiemon

Japanese: 原田喜右衛門 - はらだ・きえもん

Years of birth: unknown. A trader from the early modern period. He was a Christian, baptized as Paulo, but later apostatized. He had been engaged in trade with the Philippines for some time. In 1591, Toyotomi Hideyoshi encouraged the Philippine Islands to pay tribute, and the following year, Dominican Juan Cobo came to Japan as a return envoy. Kiemon accompanied Cobo, who was returning home, to the Philippines as the second envoy. However, Cobo was shipwrecked off the coast of Taiwan on the way back, so the Philippine side sent Pedro Baptista of the Franciscan Order and others as the second return envoy. In this way, the Philippine side was trying to postpone Hideyoshi's military deployment by making frequent trips back and forth. Under these circumstances, Kiemon advised Hideyoshi that the Philippines was lightly defended, so it would be easy for Hideyoshi to conquer it. However, in 1592, Hideyoshi began his military campaign against Korea, so no effort was put into the Philippine issue. He also advised Hideyoshi on the occupation of Taiwan, persuading him of the importance of being a midway point to the Philippine Islands, and even requested to conquer Taiwan himself, but Hideyoshi could not afford this. At that time, Kiemon lost all his assets, and without the ability to do so, he finally stopped trading with the Philippines. According to the Spanish merchant Avila Girón, Kiemon was a wealthy merchant, but he liked to spend money, showed off more than was appropriate for his status, and ended up bankrupt. He described him as a very intelligent, shrewd, devious, and persevering man. <References> Avila Girón, "Record of the Kingdom of Japan" (translated by Iwao Seiichi et al.), "Collection of Letters from Foreign Countries" edited by Murakami Naojiro, and Nakata Yoshinao, "Studies on the History of Foreign Relations in the Early Modern Period"

(Yasunao Nakata)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
近世初頭の貿易家。洗礼名をパウロと名乗るキリシタンであったが,のち背教している。かねてからフィリピン貿易に従事。天正19(1591)年豊臣秀吉がフィリピン諸島に入貢を促し,その答礼使としてドミニコ会派のフアン・コボが翌年来日。喜右衛門は帰国するコボと共に,第2回の遣使としてフィリピンに渡った。だがコボが帰途台湾沖で遭難したため,フィリピン側は第2回目の答礼使として,フランシスコ会のペドロ・バプチスタらを派遣。このようにフィリピン側ではたびたびの往復で秀吉の出兵を遷延させる策に出ていた。この状況下,喜右衛門はフィリピンは防備が薄いので,秀吉の征服は容易であると進言した。しかし文禄1(1592)年秀吉が朝鮮出兵を開始したため,フィリピン問題には力が入らなかった。さらに台湾の占領も秀吉に進言し,フィリピン諸島との中間地点の重要性を説得,自ら台湾征服を願い出ているが,これも秀吉に余裕がなかった。当時喜右衛門は全財産を失い,その能力もなくついにフィリピン貿易を中止した。スペイン人商人のアビラ・ヒロンによれば,喜右衛門は裕福な商人であったが,浪費好きで,身分不相応に見栄を張り,破産していたと伝えられる。人柄は極めて聡明で,抜け目のない,腹黒い,目はしのきく男であると評している。<参考文献>アビラ・ヒロン『日本王国記』(岩生成一他訳),村上直次郎編『異国往復書翰集』,中田易直『近世対外関係史の研究』

(中田易直)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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