Will Adams "Shogun"

[Archi93]

About 19 years ago, we had a Japanese school boy staying with us for 10 months as part of a youth exchange program. We took him to the Will Adams memorial on Watling Street, Gillingham. He was absolutely amazed. He obviously had heard of Will Adams in his school in Japan, and held him in high honour. He was very surprised to find a memorial to him here.
We also took him to the Will Adams festival in Gillingham, which he thoroughly enjoyed.The photos show him standing in awe by the memorial by A2, Gillingham, taken in 2001

[Mike Gunnill]

For my pennyworth. From research I think Mike's Picture is of a memorial to Will Adams at at Hemi, near Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Martin R has his purported Grave stone on Hirado Island where DNA would appear to have proven his gene,s .Some doubt as due to the acidic soil not a lot of bone remains were found.There is a Statue to him in Nagisa Park, Ito, Shizuoka, below.

I think grandarog, someone should tell Medway Council!


Mike

[MartinR]

Thanks Grandarog.  You may have worked it out correctly, I note that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka has the paragraph:

The adventurer William Adams (inspiration for a character in the novel Sh?gun), the first Briton to set foot in Japan, arrived at Uraga aboard the Dutch trading vessel Liefde in 1600. In 1612, he was granted the title of samurai and a fief in Hemi within the boundaries of present-day Yokosuka, due to his services to the Tokugawa shogunate. A monument to William Adams (called Miura Anjin in Japanese) is a local landmark in Yokosuka.

[grandarog]

For my pennyworth. From research I think Mike's Picture is of a memorial to Will Adams at at Hemi, near Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Martin R has his purported Grave stone on Hirado Island where DNA would appear to have proven his gene,s .Some doubt as due to the acidic soil not a lot of bone remains were found.There is a Statue to him in Nagisa Park, Ito, Shizuoka, below.

[MartinR]

Mike, how certain are you of that?  The two image appear to be different places, could yours be a memorial rather than the grave.  I've copied the data from the image on WikiCommons below, it appears to be right, but I am no expert in Japanese and have never visited the place so am just reporting what is online.  Joseph Adams (his Japanese son) retained the title of Miura Anjin, but the smaller inscription would appear to identify the grave marker as the father.
The larger inscription says:
? (mi)  ? (ura)  ? (an)  ? (jin)  ? (no)  ? (haka) 
("The Grave of Miura Anjin").
The smaller inscription says:
? (u)  ? (wi)  ? (ri)  ? (a)  ? (mu)  ? (a)  ? (da)  ? (mu)  ? (su) 
("William Adams").

[Mike Gunnill]

I have just read a report that the Burial place of Will Adams has been found in Japan.
     An urn found on the island of Hirado near Nagasaki has been proven to contain his Ash,s.
     Although there is a Memorial to Will at Gillingham very little is taught about him in UK History.
    In Japan he is well known and his stoty is taught as part of their school curriculum.
    Events are planned in Japan to mark the 400th Anniversary of his death.They will include the unveiling of a Memorial Sculpture at the British Embassy in Tokio.

From a book, I did with Medway Council - the grave of Will Adams.

[MartinR]

His grave has been known since he was buried, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(sailor,_born_1564)#Death_and_family_legacy  What appears to be new is that bones from his grave have been positively identified as his.  Photograph of the grave marker taken from WikiCommons and attributed to "Robbot":

[grandarog]

I have just read a report that the Burial place of Will Adams has been found in Japan.
     An urn found on the island of Hirado near Nagasaki has been proven to contain his Ash,s.
     Although there is a Memorial to Will at Gillingham very little is taught about him in UK History.
    In Japan he is well known and his stoty is taught as part of their school curriculum.
    Events are planned in Japan to mark the 400th Anniversary of his death.They will include the unveiling of a Memorial Sculpture at the British Embassy in Tokio.