ADAMS, WiLbiAm The first Englishman in Japan, whose romantic story is closely connected with the opening of that em pire. He was born in Kent, near the mouth of the Thames. Ilaving entered the service of some Dutch merchants, he sailed, in 159S, for the east, from the Texel, as the chief pilot of a fleet of five small ships. After a severe voyage, the Charity, in which Adams was sailing. anchored off the coast of Bungo (Kiushiu). lyeyasu had recently come to power, and Adams, after a brief imprisonment, was taken into his favor and employed in the government service, to its great advantage. He built vessels and gave help ful information in respect to the intrigues of the Spanish and Portuguese. At a later day he received the revenues of the village 116mi, near Yokosuka, the modern imperial dockyard in Yeddo Bay. In 1613, the Moe, an English ship, brought other Englishmen to Firando, and, with Adams, they proceeded to establish a factory, of which Richard Cocks was chief. In 1616
Tyeyasu died and foreigners soon fell into dis favor. Not being allowed to return to his wife and children in England, Adams married a Japa nese wife, and their descendants are still living. He died :Nlay 16, 1620, and was buried on a bill above Hemi-Mura, where his tomb and that of his Japanese wife were discovered in 1S72 by James Walter, an American. A street in Yedo was named after him, and a celebration is still held in his honor. Letters of Adams may be found in Purchas his Pilgrimcs, and in the pub lications of the Hakiuyt Society. Consult: The Diary of Richard Cocks, 105-22 (London, 1883) ; Hildreth, Japan as It Was and Is (Boston, 1855) ; and Griffis, The Mikado's Empire (New York, 1876).