Hasekura Tsunenaga, in Rome, 1615 (oil on canvas)

Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga (1571-1622) was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai. In the years 1613 - 1620, Hasekura headed a diplomatic mission to the Vatican in Rome, traveling through New Spain (arriving in Acapulco and departing from Veracruz) and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. This historic mission is called the Keicho Embassy, and follows the Tensho embassy of 1582. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manila, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. He is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the Americas and in Europe.