Jacques Specx, the brother of
Cornelius Specx, sailed on a fleet of eleven ships that left
Texel in 1607 under the command of
Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff. After arriving in
Bantam two ships which were dispatched to establish the first official trade relations between the
Netherlands and
Japan. . The text commands: "Dutch ships are allowed to travel to Japan, and they can disembark on any coast, without any reserve. From now on this regulation must be observed, and the Dutch left free to sail where they want throughout Japan. No offenses to them will be allowed, such as on previous occasions" – dated 24 August 1609 (
Keichō 14, 25th day of the 6th month); n.b., the
goshuin (御朱印) identifies this as an official document bearing the
shōguns scarlet
seal. The two ships Specx commanded were
De Griffioen (the "Griffin", 19 cannons) and
Roode Leeuw met Pijlen (the "Red lion with arrows", 400 tons, 26 cannons). The ships arrived in Japan on 2 July 1609. Among the crews were the chief merchants Abraham van den Broeck and Nicolaas Puyck and the under-merchant Jaques Specx. The exact composition of the delegation is uncertain; but it has been established that van den Broeck and Puyck traveled to the Shogunal Court, and
Melchior van Santvoort acted as the mission's interpreter. Santevoort had arrived a few years earlier aboard the Dutch ship
De Liefde. He had established himself as a merchant in Nagasaki. ; by Rembrandt (1633) 160 × 127 cm. In 1990 the painting was stolen from the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and has not been recovered; it belonged to Jacques Specx in 1651 The
shōgun granted the Dutch the access to all ports in Japan, and confirmed this in an act of safe-conduct, stamped with his red seal. (Inv.nr.1a.). In September 1609 the ship's council decided to hire a house on Hirado island (west of the southern main island Kiushu). Jacques Specx became the first
opperhoofd (chief) of the new company's factory. In 1610, Specx sent a ship to Korea. ==Gallery==