Samurai of Ayutthaya

Yamada Nagamasa was an early 17th Century Japanese merchant soldier who has at various times been a folk hero to the Japanese. His popularity hit peak in Japan as recently as WW2 with text books published by the education department claiming he was “....filled to the brim with courage and honesty.” Mostly unknown in the English-speaking world his life and times are well told in this excellent monogram. Both primary and secondary sources are extensively researched and along with his cultural impact via film, books etc author Cesare Polenghi has written a compelling picture from little evidence extant. The endnotes are excellent and the bibliography has plenty for anyone with a thirst for further knowledge on this very niche subject.

Typical of these style monograms a knowledgeable overview of events helps but that should not stop anyone with little to no knowledge on 17th Century Siam and Japan not making historical discoveries of events and people they may never have heard of. I had no idea that Ayutthaya was once the capital of Thailand or that it was eventually razed to the ground in one of several wars between Thailand and Burma.

In truth there is little that can be written with any certainty about Yamada Nagamasa other than he was the leader of a large Japanese trading village in Ayutthaya that may have consisted of many who had left their homelands after the end of the civil wars of the Sengoku Period. Trade to the homeland was lucrative for both Siam and Japan. This came crashing down with the death of the King, Song Tham in 1628. His heirs were assassinated by eventual king Prasat Thong and with that many of the nobility close to the dead king. Yamada Nagamasa was not to survive these changes and was thought to have eventually been poisoned. Yamada Nagamasa was an important link to the homeland so this event caused a breakdown with the Shogunate. There was to be no contact between either nation for about 250 after.

This is an exceptional book and highly recommended to anyone with a liking of micro history.