The Tenshō Embassy: A Letter to Bianca Cappello, Benacci’s Illustrated Pamphlet, and Gifts of European Dogs

This article re-examines the materials surrounding the Tenshō Embassy’s interactions with Medici women, a newly located copy of a pamphlet, and the gift of European dogs. It focuses on specific evidentiary items held in the State Archives of Florence and the University of Bologna Library to reveal the diplomatic strategies of the Jesuits and the cultural exchange of the mission. The work asks how the embassy’s visit aroused the interest of influential women and how the Society of Jesus sought to deepen connections through gifts and correspondence.

The author argues that the Society of Jesus utilized the embassy to cultivate interest in Japan among European elites and perhaps to secure prestigious gifts like hunting dogs as status symbols for Japanese rulers. It is plausible that Jesuit missionaries encouraged the embassy to bring back elegant large hunting dogs favored by European nobility, using them as gifts to further their missionary efforts. The article highlights that while the embassy successfully obtained these animals, there is no record confirming that at least six European dogs obtained in Europe safely reached Japan.

The analysis rests on primary sources from the State Archives of Florence, including a report by Raffaello de’ Medici and a letter from Mancio Itō. Raffaello de’ Medici reported that the embassy was taken to Mass at Santa Monaca specifically to please Camilla Martelli, who desired to see them. During a visit to Bianca Cappello’s study, Mancio Itō selected her portrait from her collection of jewels and gold works. The letter to Bianca Cappello, dated March 11, 1585, is written on red washi paper adorned with gold foil, a choice intended to attract European elites, in a color that in Europe symbolized Christian virtues. The author suggests that the Spanish portion of this letter, which contains Portuguese elements, was likely drafted by the Portuguese Jesuit Diogo de Mesquita and transcribed by the Japanese Jesuit Jorge de Loyola, who also wrote the Japanese text.

A significant finding is the discovery of a second extant copy of the Benacci pamphlet, titled Avisi venuti novamente da Roma delli XXIII di marzo MDLXXXV, at the University of Bologna Library. Previous research confirmed only one copy existed, housed in the National Library of Venice. The illustration in this pamphlet depicts the envoys wearing kamishimo with shaved temples; it is surmised that this reflects the remnants of the traditional topknot hairstyle and head-shaving practice the envoys had observed prior to their enrollment in the seminary.

The article details the gifts of dogs in Ferrara and Vila Viçosa. In Ferrara, during the embassy’s stay from June 22 to 25, 1585, Duke Alfonso II d’Este presented four Brittany dogs to the embassy after the members expressed admiration and desire for them. Later, in 1586, Duke Teodósio II de Bragança purchased two dogs—a greyhound and a pointer—from a groom for 20,000 réis to present to the embassy in Vila Viçosa. The work notes that European dogs were regarded as rare animals in Japan, often depicted in Nanban screens showing Portuguese merchants walking them on leashes.

This article is particularly useful for readers curious about the specific gifts and personal interactions of the Tenshō Embassy in Italy. It covers the embassy’s time in Florence in March 1585, the Benacci pamphlet, and the gifts of dogs in Ferrara and Portugal, but leaves open the specific types of Brittany dogs and whether the animals reached Japan. It is a journal article of 12 pages, published in Sundai Shigaku 187 (2026), written in Japanese. The work is freely available from the Meiji University repository.

Read the full text free ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Related articles on Nanban.pt

• The Tenshō Embassy: Japanese Princes in Renaissance Europe
• Nanban Screens: Imagining the Foreign

Reviewed by Nanban.pt editorial, 2026-10-07.

← All reviews