Research & Article

Yamada Nagamasa became head of the Japanese community in Ayutthaya in the 1620s, and died during a succession dispute in 1630. Japanese documents show that he was a person of modest origins who managed by his own wits to turn himself into an important intermediary between the Siamese court and the Japanese shogunate. In the era of the Imperial Japanese Army’s “southern advance”, Yamada Nagamasa was projected as a pioneer of Thai-Japanese cooperation and friendship. Thai scholarship has tended to react against this enthusiasm. Newly translated documentary information concerning Yamada Nagamasa’s life and exploits offers an opportunity to re-evaluate his historical role from both Thai and Japanese perspectives.