Life Stories and Personal Memories > Personalities and Biographies
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:
--- Quote from: grandarog on May 24, 2020, 06:21:56 PM ---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.
--- End quote ---
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:
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
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").
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