c. 1561–1633 Interpreter to Hideyoshi and Ieyasu; grammarian of Japanese Also written: João Rodrigues “Tçuzzu” · João Rodrigues «Tçuzzu» · ジョアン・ロドリゲス
The Portuguese Jesuit whose Japanese was good enough to make him the interpreter — Tçuzzu — between the mission and two successive rulers of Japan. Expelled to Macau in 1610, he wrote the first great grammar of the Japanese language.