‘Yong lads of very good capacitie.’ Christopher and Cosmus, Anglo-Japanese pioneers

Abstract

On 12 November 1588 two young Japanese men, known to posterity only by their English names Christopher and Cosmus, arrived in London with Thomas Cavendish, who had just completed the third known circumnavigation of the globe. Sources described them as intelligent and literate in Japanese, but also able to speak English, and hence they were consulted and celebrated by English scholars and courtiers; possibly also by Queen Elizabeth I. Three years later they attempted to sail with Thomas Cavendish for Japan via South America, but the English fleet failed to make it through the Strait of Magellan. Christopher and Cosmus almost definitely died on the voyage, along with most of their colleagues, although exactly where and when is not clear. This article attempts a research-based reconstruction of their lives and posits answers to outstanding questions, where did they come from in Japan, why were they on the Spanish galleon sailing to North America, and what was their legacy? It also looks at the aftermath, and later Anglo-Japanese relations.